The authors who appear in the series Critical Companions to Popular
Contemporary Writers are all best-selling writers. They do not simply
have one successful novel, but a string of them. Fans, critics, and spe-
cialist readers eagerly anticipate their next book. For some, high cash
advances and breakthrough sales figures are automatic; movie deals of-
ten follow. Some writers become household names, recognized by almost
everyone.

But their novels are read one by one. Each reader chooses to start and,
more importantly, to finish a book because of what she or he finds there.
The real test of a novel is in the satisfaction its readers experience. This
series acknowledges the extraordinary involvement of readers and writ-
ers in creating a best-seller.

The authors included in this series were chosen by an Advisory Board
composed of high school English teachers and high school and public
librarians. They ranked a list of best-selling writers according to their
popularity among different groups of readers. For the first series, writers
in the top-ranked group who had received no book-length, academic,
literary analysis (or none in at least the past ten years) were chosen.
Because of this selection method, Critical Companions to Popular Con-
temporary Writers meets a need that is being addressed nowhere else.
The success of these volumes as reported by reviewers, librarians, and
teachers led to an expansion of the series mandate to include some writ-

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