As soon as I read Lewis' last paragraphs about the dearth of risktakers in fiction writing, I immediately thought JEANETTE WINTERSON (yes, the name appeared in my head in all caps). Then I thought of some other great contemporary Brits: Julian Barnes, Penelope Lively, Graham Swift. All of them risktakers. Their works are postmodern, yet they contain the passion that is often missing from postmodern writers.

What do the rest of you think? Are the British novelists of the last 30 years or so the great risk-takers of our time? Or is there sufficient evidence in this country that risk-taking is not dead with (e.g. Dave Eggers, Mark Danielewski, Toni Morrison, etc.)?