This volume contains about 300 biographies of authors whose works where published between 2000 and 2005, including critical discussion. Novelists, journalists, historians, poets, essayists, critics, and others are profiled and presented in alphabetical order. Updated coverage on established writers such as Margaret Atwood, Joan Didion, and Harold Pinter is included, as well as new authors such as Monica Ali and Audrey Niffenegger. Others examples are Dan Brown, Sophie Kinsella, Khaled Hosseini, Salman Rushdie, ZZ Packer, and Susan Vreeland. Many entries incorporate autobiographical essays. Curry et al. work as writers, poets, and editors. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)