Fall Fiction Week at Slate
Slate's annual look at the novel.
Welcome to Slate's Fall Fiction Week. Over the next few days, we'll be supplementing our regular literary coverage with a special issue conceived for your reading pleasure. You can find an updated list of articles on this page each day.
We kick off with a survey. Contemporary authors tackle the question: What's your gravest literary omission—the most important book you've never read? Tune in for their confessions. Also, Stephen Metcalf reviews Philip Roth's Exit Ghost; and Michael Wood dissects Mario Vargas Llosa's The Bad Girl. Later in the week, Joshua Glenn solves an academic debate about Henry James' The Ambassadors; Sarah Schulman challenges the myth of merit-based publishing; Nathan Heller takes on Robert Hass; and much, much more.
Tuesday
"The Great Novel I Never Read:The Sound and the Fury, Swann's Way, and other books that novelists skipped." Posted Oct. 30, 2007.
"What's Love Got To Do With It?: Mario Vargas Llosa dissects an obsession," by Michael Wood. Posted Oct. 30, 2007.
"Zuckerman Unbound: What should we make of Philip Roth's alter ego in his declining years?" By Stephen Metcalf. Posted Oct. 30, 2007.
"The Lost Art of the Rant: How the Web revived a storied tradition of expletive-laced tirades," by Daniel Seidel. Posted Oct. 30, 2007.
"Was George Plimpton a Literary Giant: Uh, no. Why does Philip Roth insist on arguing that he was?" By Timothy Noah. Posted Oct. 30, 2007.
Wednesday
"Fall Books: Our take on this season's books," by Michael Agger, Tyler Cowen, Timothy Noah, Amanda Schaffer, Jack Shafer, Dana Stevens, and John Swansburg. Posted Oct. 31, 2007.
There Is Nothing Miraculous About a Tornado, Wolf Blitzer
A Huge Discovery About Prime Numbers—and What It Means for the Future of Math
Steve Jobs’ Dream Device Has Arrived, and It's Made by Microsoft
Illustration by Charlie Powell.