How many times have you sworn that this yearor maybe next yearyou were finally going to read those great books you skipped back in your school days? Moby Dick. The Age of Innocence. My Antonia. Well, now you have no excuse, because this site features a chapter a day from selected works by legendary American authors. And in case you dont like the current selection, the site archives more than enough chapters from previous entries to keep you busy. Theres also a rapidly growing kids section, so your children can avoid the wish-I-had-read-it boat youre in now. - Dorrit Tulane Walsh
Dr. Salva Gordy looked at the radioactive smear that had been Detroit.... Oh, remember the classics! Take me back to the nasty excitement, wonderfully cheesy covers, dastardly villains, and larger-than-life heroes of pulp magazines! You cant smell the rotting pulp-wood paper here, but Webmaster Nuno Miranda does offer an excellent explanation of pulps, as well as current news in collecting, descriptions of heroes, story titles, and classic excerpts. If youre not a fan yet, you will be after you check out the Pulp Zone. - Dorrit Tulane Walsh
Skip the New Age intro copy, and this site isn't all that bad. Well, at least its a little different than most literary sites. Star Thrower focuses on autobiographical fiction, and its amazing how many variations can exist within that genrerevisiting childhood memories, recalling just when a marriage went on the skids, becoming a Buddhist, and so on. Unfortunately, Star Thrower Publishing features just as many variations in quality, from awful to excellent. Avoid the Webmasters own work in progress unless you really like overly detailed biographical works. - Dorrit Tulane Walsh
The Fourth Turning has created quite a stir by predicting that between now and the year 2006, America is going to face a momentous crisisone that will result in either our blowing ourselves up or finally evolving into the Jetsons. (Im paraphrasing.) Sound interesting? It is, and thats one reason why this site is so effective: It provides just enough excerpts and facts to get you firmly hooked and panting to read the details. Youll find complete information on the authors, a FAQ, talk forums, historical background, and lots of quotes from well-known people who swear by this book. - Dorrit Tulane Walsh
I take myself very seriously. I am (dramatic pause) the body of words. Thats not a quote; its just my interpretation of the vibe at this site. A collaboration between writer/poet E. A. Belille and graphic artist David Brady, Body of Words, for all its high-art yearnings, does have something interesting to say. The site features some self-conscious writing, engaging visuals, and dramatic anatomical design. Roll it up, smoke it, and you get a virtual prose-poem of laments, frustrations, and hang-ups. Its good stuff, but a joke or two wouldnt hurt. - Daniel Alarcon
Simply put, Literascape is in the business of providing readers with books. Its virtual bookstore boasts more than 80,000 titles; its journal, the New Reader, keeps you abreast of whats worthwhile in the world of literature, nonfiction, and poetry; and its special service for schools and libraries supplies kids with books on the cheap. Some of the posting and news wont seem relevant unless you live in Vancouver, Canada, but, hey, dont you think its about time you expanded your knowledge of foreign cultures? - Daniel Alarcon
Why dont people get published? So many obstacles stand in between the artist and the public: short-sighted editors, publishers with no vision, and people with money unwilling to take risks. The life of the writer is a big gamble and a perpetual drain on the ego. But The Unpublished Author will not reject you. Any and all submissions are welcome, provided you have a copy of the rejection letter from another publishing house. Now Im not going to lie and say I was blown away by the underground talent at this site; to be blunt, everything I read was mediocre. Nonetheless, the project is worthwhile, and the fact that its just getting under way is encouraging. Writers need a venue to develop their talents. Something good will come of this. - Daniel Alarcon
Three times yearly, a shot of Web literature comes crashing online, speaking truth and shredding the idea that nothing of substance can handle a medium as overwhelming as the Internet. Blue Moon features real writers with real things to say. Fiction, poetry, nonfiction, book reviewsits all here to take over your brain with good thoughts, creative words, and an idea or two more than you might normally be used to. Dont be scared; dive right in. - Daniel Alarcon
Site of the month!!
There is one problem with this site, and that is the persistent temptation to hit "print" and be done with it, to read the material the way you read the Sunday paperat your leisure, as you will, on paper. Well, I'm here to tell you: Don't do it! Everything here is worth reading, and book lovers who succumb to this impulse will find themselves going through ink and paper like there was no tomorrow. So before you turn your PC into a printing press, consider very carefully what I am about to say: The New York Times Book Review is better online than it ever was on paper. It's almost as if it were invented for the medium. I know that sounds like cheap evangelism, but think about it: At an average of a few thousand words, book reviews are a reasonable length for online digestion (shorter and nothing gets said; any longer and you start to go cross-eyed). What's more, in the electronic version it's all cross-referenced. Let's say you finish reading a review of the latest Norman Mailer novel. At the site, you're just a click away from reviews and interviews spanning Mailer's career, from The Naked and the Dead right up to the present. And those aren't just any reviews and interviews; after all, where else could you read George Orwell's appraisal of Evelyn Waugh, Salman Rushdie's musings on Thomas Pynchon, Edna O'Brien on Toni Morrison? Looking for one writer or review in particular? You're in luck: The database is searchable by title, author, and keyword. For the 20th century lit major, that's like seventh heaven. In addition to all the materials adapted from the print version of the Review (New and Noteworthy in Paperback, And Bear in Mind, Bookend, etc.), there are also a number of elements marked "Only on the Web." Of these, the browsing bibliophile may find the audio component the most compelling. Reading here (in RealAudio) are such varied writers as Vladimir Nabokov, Stephen King, John Updike, and Isaac Asimov. There are also author interviews from National Public Radio's Fresh Air, plus first chapters and a chat forum where readers can discuss, diss, and deconstruct to their hearts content. Last but not least, links to Amazon.com make impulse purchases dangerously easy. Note: Visitors have to register in order to view the New York Times Online, but the process is free and painless. - Patrick Joseph