mala asked Janet Fitch:

i just started reading michael ondaatjes divisadero, im just beggining to read again and i really like the way he writes. it also reminded me a bit of your novel white oleander. what works would you recommend i read next? (-:

Janet Fitch Hi Mala! Thanks for asking--I like the way Ondaatje writes too... There are several ways to answer this question. The obvious is to recommend more Ondaatje... The English Patient, Skin of a Lion, and his autobiography about growing up in a truly crazy family in Ceylon/Sri Lanka, Running in the Family. There's subject matter--California... Steinbeck's East of Eden, TC Boyle's Drop City, Didion's Play it As it Lays, Joyce Carol Oates' Garden of Earthly Delights, Stegner's All the Little Live Things. Then there's the lyrical style, so Michael Cunningham's work (The Hours, Specimen Days, By Nightfall), Jeanette Winterson (Written on the Body), Duras (The Lover), Denis Johnson (Already Dead), Durrell's Alexandria Quartet... There's also my second book, Paint It Black, if you haven't tried it. Tell me if you like any of these and I'll have more ideas for you! Wish you good reading!

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