<p>Alright so for my AP English class we have a 12-15 page research paper due in February and the topic is to read two books by the same author and then pick a theme that is prevalent in both books and write about it. My problem is I'm having trouble picking an author so I figured you guys could help me. The guidelines for picking an author are that they must have literary merit (been reviewed in the NY Times, London Review of Books, etc.), be a contemporary author (must be alive...which sucks), written more than two books, and cant be J.K. Rowling lol. So any opinions are greatly appreciated, thanks!</p>
<p>Tamora Pierce.</p>
<p>he books are for a slightly younger demographic (middle school-ish), but I absolutely love it.</p>
<p>Aww, I was gonna say Kurt Vonnegut. He fits everything except being alive, and he's an awesome writer.</p>
<p>Oh well. Douglas Adams is also dead...</p>
<p>If you're teacher is a feminist, you can try Alice Walker, though I'm not sure if she's still alive. I don't know, if I think of anyone else, I'll post it.</p>
<p>Stephen King and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. All great stuff.</p>
<p>I realllllllly recommend Marquez. (read 100 Years of Solitude if you pick him, it's hard, but good)</p>
<p>How about Maya Angelou?</p>
<p>I agree with UnleashedFury about Stephen King. He's one of my favorite authors. Also check out Michael Crichton and Dan Brown. They write some awesome thrillers.</p>
<p>William Gibson (science fiction author with lots of themes you can use). Walter Mosley (African-American detective writer). Gore Vidal (Burr and 1876). Margaret Atwood. Toni Morrison. Charles Frazier (has only written two books, so the choice is easy). T.R. Pearson</p>
<p>Although I really like some of Stephen King's books, I suspect your teacher may doubt whether he qualifies for "literary merit." Same for Dale Brown (although I've read and enjoyed those, too).</p>
<p>What kind of books do you like?</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions so far guys. I'm basically open to any kind of books as long as they're engaging and have a good plot, I'm not really into any science fiction books though and I would like an author that doesn't write HUGE books since I dont really have to time to read two 700 page books with all my other classes. Keep the comments coming :-)</p>
<p>I would go with Kurt Vonnegut. I doubt your teacher would care since he died recently and his works are still considered contemporary I believe.</p>
<p>I'm a big fan of Dan Brown and John Grishamn</p>
<p>If two "books" doesn't mean those books have to be novels, my suggestion is that you could consider J.D. Salinger. He hasn't written anything for years but he's still alive so it meets that qualification. As far as themes go, you could definitely do Salinger and adolescence (The Catcher in the Rye, any short stories about the Glass children, etc).</p>
<p>Ultimately, it's just best to choose an author whose work you feel passionately towards.</p>
<p>Kurt Vonnegut is such a good writer and so intellegent...he only died a few months (or years?) ago. You could beg your teacher to let you do him since he's pretty contemporary...I would!</p>
<p>Yea see the only problem with Kurt Vonnegut is were already going to be reading one of his books during the year so I don't think she would go for that. And yea the books have to be novels :-/ I love Dan Brown too but I'm not sure if he qualifies for this...</p>
<p>Johnathan Safran Foer, Dave Eggers, George Saunders, Zadie Smith--all have been New-Yorker-affiliated, all are excellecent, all are the equivalent of (good) indie music (what I mean by this is that they are not necessarily mainstream unless you're in the New Yorker/contemporary writer scene)</p>
<p>Alright I'm going to do Zadie Smith. I just read about her and her books and they sound really good. Thanks tina<em>digs</em>irony!</p>
<p>Kurt Vonnegut-- you have so much to choose from.
Chuck Palahniuk- fun reads, lots of reoccuring themes
Shakespeare- same reason as Vonnegut</p>
<p>John Grisham. He uses the same themes in pretty much all his books. They're good reading too.</p>