New Yorker Taps a New Generation of Faves

The New Yorker announced the roster of its new list of “20 Under 40” fiction writers of particular esteem, and The New York Times got the scoop:

“They are Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 32; Chris Adrian, 39; Daniel Alarcón, 33; David Bezmozgis, 37; Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, 38; Joshua Ferris, 35; Jonathan Safran Foer, 33; Nell Freudenberger, 35; Rivka Galchen, 34; Nicole Krauss, 35; Yiyun Li, 37; Dinaw Mengestu, 31; Philipp Meyer, 36; C. E. Morgan, 33; Téa Obreht, 24; Z Z Packer, 37; Karen Russell, 28; Salvatore Scibona, 35; Gary Shteyngart, 37; and Wells Tower, 37.”

There are some great writers on this list—I’m already a fan of at least five of them—and of course we all have our ideas about who ought to be on this list and isn’t: I would’ve been delighted to see Cory Doctorow, or Megan Abbott, or Lauren Van den Burg, or Ron Currie, Jr., but that’s the sort of debate that makes these lists an entertaining parlor game, no more meaningful (or meaningless) than trying to put together your fantasy baseball team. Rather than the last word, this should be a conversational jumping-off point, an opportunity for all of us who love great writing to share our favorites with each other and make new discoveries.

I will say, however, that I found the Times‘ choice of headline—”20 Young Writers Earn the Envy of Many Others”—profoundly disappointing; it may well be the case in the days to come, but I think it’s a rather shabby sentiment to launch the list with, although it may tell us much about the ways in which the Times views the contemporary literary scene.

Robert Crumb’s parody of New Yorker icon Eustace Tilley from a 1994 cover

2 June 2010 | uncategorized |