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THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021 • THE BULLETIN GO! MAGAZINE • PAGE 7 LOCAL LITERARY HIGHLIGHTS bendbulletin.com/goread Notable books of the ’90s BY DAVID JASPER • The Bulletin T he 1990s was a great decade for readers, and it was kind to some writers, as well — we’re looking at you, top-selling author of the decade John Grisham, who dominated bestseller lists along with Stephen King and Danielle Steel. Among other developments in the literary world, the ’90s saw the advent of Oprah’s Book Club, founded in September 1996, championing literature and helping to bring many relatively unknown writers to a vastly wider audience. Young adult fare such as Louis Sachar’s hu- morous book “Holes” and the first three Harry Pot- ter books, all dropped in the late 1990s, har- bingers of the YA moment the following de- cade. So many no- table books were written in the 1990s that it dy seems foolhardy to attempt any sort lat- of list encapsulat- ing them, but that won’t stop GO! Magazine from giving it a whirl. What follows are some of the decade’s more memorable titles, drawn from various sources and culled from prize winners and finalists, old best- sellers lists, these are books that seem to have permeated more deeply into popu- lar culture, including film adaptations: “JURASSIC PARK,” BY MICHAEL CRICHTON (1990) This book by science fiction author Crichton debuted a few years before Ste- phen Spielberg turned it into unforgetta- ble movie magic with the first movie of the franchise. “AMERICAN PSYCHO,” BY BRET EASTON ELLIS (1991) The literary bratpacker’s third book spawned no shortage of spawne controversy, as well as a controv film sta starring Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, psychotic killer of the the ps title. “WAITING TO EXHALE,” “WAITIN BY TE TERRY MCMILLAN (1992) (1992 McMillan’s novel M about abo the lives and friendships frie of four Black Bla women in Ar- izona izo later spawned a 1995 1 film starring Whitney W Houston an Angela Bassett, and a according to and K Kirkus, is now being ad adapted for the small screen. “JESUS’ SON,” BY DENIS JOHNSON (1992) Johnson’s short-story collection was so influential “It’s safe to say that almost every writer has read it, and about half of them have tried to emulate it,” Emily Temple wrote at lithub.com in 2018. “THE SHIPPING NEWS,” BY E. ANNIE PROULX (1993) After his marriage ends bleakly, Prou- lx’s antihero Quoyle finds his hope re- stored after he moves to the hardscrabble world of Newfoundland in this Pulit- zer and National Book Award-winning novel. “MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL,” BY JOHN BERENDT (1994) Berendt’s book, based on a killing in Savannah, Georgia, enthralled readers and led to a marked rise in the number of tourist visits. “PROZAC NATION,” BY ELIZABETH WURTZEL (1994) Wurtzel wrote with candor and wit about depression and addiction in the memoir of which New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani called “wrenching and comical, self-indulgent and self- aware.” She went on to work as an attor- ney before her January 2020 death. Continued on next page