Granta 21: The First Twenty-One Years
The revival in 1979 of what used to be a student literary  magazine at Cambridge University is unlikely to have been as  successful had its new founders stuck to the original concept of  "writing about writing." Intended initially as a forum for  literary discussions, Granta developed into a venue for seminal  literary creation, with both fiction and nonfiction prose, and  its success went unmatched. Granta has made outstanding  contributions to contemporary English literature, and this  anniversary volume provides solid proof of its influence. Drawn  from the first 21 years of the magazine's history, it includes  an eclectic mix of the best contributions in fiction, memoir,  and essays by such writers as Nadine Gordimer, Salman Rushdie,  Isaiah Berlin, Seamus Deane, and Diana Athill. Pieces are  reproduced in chronological order, generally one piece for each  year. Topics vary from the social to the political to the  literary and include marriage and divorce, the demise of the  Soviet Union, Cambodia's political predicament and the emergence  of Pol Pot, and writing, publishing, and the crisis of the  English novel. Highly recommended for all libraries and  essential for literary collections. Ali Houissa, Cornell Univ.,  Ithaca, NYCopyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.