Seeking relatively well-known, canon-caliber fictional accounts of imaginary encounters between actual, historically significant figures -- especially encounters that could well have taken place, but which we know did not or remain undocumented. Philip Levine's poem "On the Meeting of Garcia Lorca and Hart Crane" typifies what I'm looking for. Mark Twain's _A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court_ does not (respectable evidence out there of a historical Arthur notwithstanding). The literary field is rife with examples, I know -- say, some novel casting Charles Lindbergh and Adolf Hitler into a tete-a-tete. But, ack, I'm drawing a blank. [more inside]
posted by taramosalata on Feb 5, 2009 - 31 answers

Can you recommend good books about Los Angeles? Non-fiction preferred but fiction as well. [more inside]
posted by jeremias on Oct 29, 2008 - 25 answers

LiteratureFilter: Yo metafilterland. I'm on a quest for two things: literary representations of the new york city subway, the more personal and sensorial the better, and literary representations of a new york city without subways, circa before 1904. Non-fiction and suggestions are welcome as well, as are examples that use less stringent definitions of "text" (film, song lyrics, dance etc).
posted by billtron on Sep 22, 2008 - 21 answers

What was going on with the occult and belief in the supernatural in Civil War-era America? [more inside]
posted by robocop is bleeding on Sep 18, 2008 - 18 answers

Recent poetry, fiction, histories re: Cork, Ireland? The question title says it all, except maybe to clarify: not looking for authors from Cork so much as stories about or set in Cork. Even better if it's something that is likely to be on the shelves at a book store in the US. Thanks.
posted by quarterframer on Aug 7, 2008 - 3 answers

I'd like to broaden my horizons by getting a better understanding of life in different cultures and time periods. Please recommend great books or films (fiction or non-fiction) which paint a broad, immersive, reasonably accurate picture of a place and time. [more inside]
posted by MetaMonkey on Jul 12, 2008 - 29 answers

I'm looking for any historical or anthropological studies of fiction. Any ideas? [more inside]
posted by Ms. Saint on Jun 21, 2007 - 14 answers

I am looking for well regarded books/scholarly papers about writing. Most specifically in the areas of Nonfiction (the essay style of article writing) and Children's Fiction (for a young adult audience). Any tips? Go as far and broad as you can. I'll be off to the British library tomorrow, so the sky is the limit. [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Jan 9, 2007 - 6 answers

I need ideas for an alternate history novel that I am thinking of writing. What changes history more, ideas or actions? [more inside]
posted by ND¢ on Aug 9, 2006 - 39 answers

The Protagonist: What can you tell me? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Jun 8, 2006 - 17 answers

The Great Books: where should I start? I seek timeless wisdom. [more inside]
posted by evariste on Feb 21, 2006 - 74 answers

What are your favorite books about submarines? [more inside]
posted by defreckled on Dec 16, 2005 - 19 answers

Help me find alternative history books [more inside]
posted by dead_ on Dec 14, 2005 - 30 answers

NovelFilter: I just finished Romola, by Eliot, and didn't love it, but want to learn more about Florence in the era--a very interesting time, to put it mildly--with the Medicis, Savanarola, etc. Any good novels or non-boring non-fiction on Florence in the late 1400s-early 1500s?
posted by amberglow on Mar 18, 2005 - 11 answers

I'm trying to learn about the Edwardian era especially (but not exclusively) in England, Ireland, and Canada. What excellent materials (fiction and non-fiction books, movies, websites, etc.) have you read and seen about this period?
posted by orange swan on Mar 1, 2005 - 17 answers

What are your favourite historical fiction novels? [more inside] [more inside]
posted by Johnny Assay on Dec 11, 2004 - 46 answers

As a lay...very lay...student of Roman Republic and Empire, and anticipating the upcoming HBO/BBC series Rome with relish, I'm reading everything I can get my hands on about both Republic and Empire. Currently I'm reading an abridgement of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire I just inherited. What next? [insert Latin for "more inside" here].
posted by WolfDaddy on Sep 2, 2004 - 19 answers