As the Book Review Editor at the News & Observer of Raleigh, I had the great good fortune to work with Fred Chappell and Robert Morgan after they had already established themselves as leading Appalachian writers who were masters of almost every literary form, including short stories, poetry and the novel.

Many people assume that everyone in publishing dreams of being a writer, that they’d all rather be hacks than flacks.

I’ve never worked in the biz so I don’t know if that’s true (though I can report that EVERY book critic dreams of being a REAL WRITER). However, during my years as a reviewer I did witness a small number of publicists leap across the divide, including the essayist Sloane Crosley and our newest member of Top Ten Land, Jennifer Gilmore.

It’s the kind of New York Times headline that would drive most every self-respecting author into a fit of uncontrollable rage: George Saunders Has Written the Best Book You’ll Read This Year.

We are honored to welcome the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jennifer Egan to Top Ten Land.

D.T. Max is receiving warm reviews for his biography of Top Ten contributor David Foster Wallace, Every Love Story is a Ghost Story.