Who are some current and successful writers of so-called meta-fiction?
October 9, 2021 9:03 AM Subscribe
Asking for a friend who writes such stuff rather well and is in the process of pitching their stuff to various agents. A key question they tend to ask is, who's currently doing such stuff and actually selling books? My friend's problem is that pretty everyone that comes to mind in terms of influence is older, often as not dead.
Response by poster: I know they're influenced by JG Ballard and surrealism in general and that they did postgraduate work on Kobo Abe, which gets us to the likes of Kafka, I guess.
posted by philip-random at 9:27 AM on October 9, 2021
posted by philip-random at 9:27 AM on October 9, 2021
Dr. Chuck Tingle, national treasure
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 10:15 AM on October 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 10:15 AM on October 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
(This is the second person I have ever encountered who has heard of Kobo Abe, who wrote my favorite ever book, so I hope your friend gets published). Authors who I think sometimes have that same kind of magic-in-the-weird-not-quite-everyday, but who I am not sure are all alive and who may not be actually selling books: Haruki Murakami, George Saunders, Kazuo Ishiguro, David Mitchell, Tobias Wolff, David Foster Wallace, Paul Auster.
posted by holyrood at 1:00 PM on October 9, 2021
posted by holyrood at 1:00 PM on October 9, 2021
Hugely successful Anthony Horowitz has done a "Hawthorne and Horowitz" series where his narrator's named Anthony Horowitz if that counts. He's more mystery/genre writer than literary which is what I typically associate with metafiction so maybe that counts against? I dunno.
posted by juv3nal at 2:09 PM on October 9, 2021
posted by juv3nal at 2:09 PM on October 9, 2021
Robert Rankin.
Charles Yu -- eg How to Live Safely in a Fictional Universe
Any graphic novel with Deadpool in.
posted by k3ninho at 3:16 PM on October 9, 2021
Charles Yu -- eg How to Live Safely in a Fictional Universe
Any graphic novel with Deadpool in.
posted by k3ninho at 3:16 PM on October 9, 2021
Ian McEwan is successful, alive, and wrote the metafictional Atonement.
posted by Klipspringer at 11:19 PM on October 9, 2021
posted by Klipspringer at 11:19 PM on October 9, 2021
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Could you list some of the authors that your friend is thinking of? That would help to get a sense of the type of meta fiction.
posted by Paper rabies at 9:08 AM on October 9, 2021 [1 favorite]