Favorite Author

[GregX]

We've had "favorite director", "favorite actor" let's see who everyone's favorite author is.

I read a lot, and not just comics. I read a lot of books. I try to read a book a week... just the way I am, I love the written word. I am an aspiring author myself.

If I had to pick a favorite author, no contest... William Faulkner. I fell in love with his writing in my senior year of High School when our teacher had us read "Sanctuary"... terrific book. Right now, I am in the middle of "The Wind Palms".

What can I say? Yoknapatawpha County is one of my favorite places to visit when I pick up a book.

[Damien]

I mainly have favorite books, but if I had to pick an author (which I guess I do), I'd say Bret Easton Ellis. I own his collection, have read all of it but the last 100 pages or so of Glamorama, and continue to admire his unrivaled black humor and satire.
Stephen King is also a great author. It's no secret the way he transcends the horror genre.

Other than that, I can only go by books. I loved Fitzgerald's Gatsby, Salinger's Catcher, Chandler's Long Goodbye. I'm reading through the entire Fleming 007 collection, and while Fleming is a terrific writer, I'm mainly reading the series because I'm interested in the original James Bond.

P.S. I also like to think I would name Dostoyevsky as a favorite author, but again, I've only read Notes From the Underground, which is considerably shorter than his other novels and is one of my favorite books.

[Hanshotfirst113]

Shakespeare would be pretty hard to find an equal for. I've heard few things in the English language to match the sheer mastery of Hamlet.


We've had "favorite director", "favorite actor" let's see who everyone's favorite author is.

I read a lot, and not just comics. I read a lot of books. I try to read a book a week... just the way I am, I love the written word. I am an aspiring author myself.

If I had to pick a favorite author, no contest... William Faulkner. I fell in love with his writing in my senior year of High School when our teacher had us read "Sanctuary"... terrific book. Right now, I am in the middle of "The Wind Palms".

What can I say? Yoknapatawpha County is one of my favorite places to visit when I pick up a book.

Faulkner is an acquire taste, to say the least. My teacher (not my fave prof) started us out on Absolom, Absolom!, his hardest work, so that might not have helped. His atmosphere is almost mythological. I'd have to reread the book, and the accursed library wouldn't let me reserve the audiobook which is located miles from my house. And I'm a sllloooowww reader, usually.

[GregX]

I'm a big fan of the Bard, but ironically, Hamlet is not my favorite. I prefer "Othello", "Richard III" and "Titus Andronicus"

[RedNinja84]

Tolkein

[BCVM22]

James Rollins.

[FightingDreamer]

Does nonfiction count? If so, then Roger Ebert. He remains, to me, the most eloquent and purely readable film critic in the business. One of the problems I have with a lot of film criticism is that it's impersonal, relying too much on judging the surface qualities (acting, script, etc.) rather than emotions or feelings. Ebert captures that perfectly.

As for fiction: I'm quickly becoming interesting in both Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett thanks to their awesome Good Omens. Other favorites include Stephen King, Alice Sebold (The Lovely Bones), Tolkien (my personal favorite being The Hobbit), and Elmore Leonard (Get Shorty, Killshot, Out of Sight).

[Hanshotfirst113]

Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore are so talented that it's not fair.

[Draft]

I think James Patterson. Love the Maximum Ride series

[FightingDreamer]

Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore are so talented that it's not fair.

I like Gaiman (need to read Sandman and American Gods, dang it), but I'm a little ambivalent about Moore, and I'll tell you why: His dialogue and characters leave me a bit cold. He's terrific at depicting society and larger themes, but he's only occasionally been able to tug at my heartstrings, most notably in the characters of Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen didn't give me any characters I truly liked or cared about, although perhaps that's Moore's point: There are no heroes. I wish I could be more enthusiastic about Moore, but I just can't.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

I really liked Yoshiyuki Tomino's work on his Mobile Suit Gundam novels, but at this point my favorite author is...either Harper Lee or the guy who did Of Mice and Men.

[Michael24]

Michael Crichton. He's the only author whose work I follow and read exclusively.

Otherwise, I mostly read by book, not by author.

[Kury Wagner]

Off of the top of my head... Pete Hautman is wonderful; Sweetblood and Godless are fantastic books. Julie Anne Peters is a great author; I've never been disappointed in a book I've read by her. Ned Vizzini impressed me with Be More Chill and It's Kind of a Funny Story. And Susanna Kaysen has such an amazing voice.

[Ishtar]

JK Rowling and S.E.Hinton.

[Charlie]

Douglas Adams (someone had to say it) and Larry Niven.

[mookie75]

I could take the snobby English Major route here, but I'll make the right choice and not do so. While many of the "classics" that I've read in college and the almost 10 years since my graduation are great reads, it still doesn't change the fact that I have 40 Stephen King books on my bookshelves.

[Sampire]

Well, I've currently been reading the Vampire Chronicals, and I like it so far (Interview With The Vampire is one of my all time favourite books, and The Vampire Lestat is just as good, but I have a thing for Louis), so I have to say Anne Rice.

Aside from her, I lovelovelove Rumiko Takahashi. Despite having to play catch up BIG TIME, I'm falling in love with InuYasha manga all over again after not having read it for a while. :anime:

[Hanshotfirst113]

I really liked Yoshiyuki Tomino's work on his Mobile Suit Gundam novels, but at this point my favorite author is...either Harper Lee or the guy who did Of Mice and Men.

That would be John Steinbeck.


I could take the snobby English Major route here, but I'll make the right choice and not do so. While many of the "classics" that I've read in college and the almost 10 years since my graduation are great reads, it still doesn't change the fact that I have 40 Stephen King books on my bookshelves.


Another English Major, huh?

[HG Revolution]

Philip Pullman is pretty amazing. JK Rowling, Philip K. Dick, and Kurt Vonnegut are up there as well.

[Palin Dromos]

Can I just say that I'm thrilled at the number of literature related threads I've noticed here in the last few days.


Philip Pullman is pretty amazing. JK Rowling, Philip K. Dick, and Kurt Vonnegut are up there as well.

I just read Pullman's Dark Materials Trilogy and thoroughly enjoyed it.

My current favorite author is Chrisopher Moore
A Dirty Job, Lamb, and Fluke are all great books.

I also highly recommend Jasper Fforde.
If you love books his Thursday Next series is wildly entertaining.

I also enjoy, Frank Herbert, Michael Crichton, J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, and Edgar Allan Poe.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Alan Moore may rarely create "likeable" characters, but his stories are often ALL ABOUT emotions, feelings and psychology. I think it's the fact that he's willing to plumb the depths of the darker areas of humanity that makes people ambivalent about him, but he's anything but emotionless and dry. But if I were to pick a work from him that's truly uplifting and heart-tugging, I'd say Promethea. Although, many people won't get to the end because of how didactic and lecture-like it is during the middle of its 32 issue run. I didn't mind it, but I understand how many people would. But if you do keep an open mind and read it all the way through, you'll find one of Moore's most genuinely uplifting stories about redemption, spiritual change, and love.

As for my list, I won't lie: my list won't win any platitudes from english teachers, so you won't find Salinger, or Faulkner or Joyce. What did Mark Twain say?

"A classic is something that everybody wants to have read but nobody has read."

I like:

David Gemmell
Robert E. Howard
Edgar Burroughs
Michael Connelly
Raymond Chandler
Tom Wolfe (even though Charlotte Simmons was a dud)

[Gatomon41]

J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis are on the top of my list. Tolkein and Lewis need no introduction. Despite their differing styles, both manage to tell amazing and wonderful worlds that no one today has managed to match. To match it with their craftsmanship, these works also display a great ammount of soul and heart.

Would anyone be suriprised if I said Robert Anson Heinlien? :p
Starship Troopers is perhaps one of the Best SF books out there, and the most conterversal. For being writen in the 1950's, it is still relevant. And his juvenillies are alot of fun to read.

Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle: SF's Simon and Garfunkel. Their best works have always been together. The Mote in God's Eye is probably better than Dune, and alot of fun to read. Niven's Known Space and short stories are fun reads. Pournelle's works are a great blend of Military SF and science, and have alrgely influenced my own writing.

Cordwainer Smith: The best science fiction short-story writer. His works are peotry in momtion, to be told and remembered, and very unique. If you havn't heard of C'mell, or the Game of Rat and Dragon, you're lucky. You have the chance to experience something awesome.

Gene Wolf, Gordon Dicson, David Weber, Anne MacCaffery, Walter Miller Jr., Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, Keith Laumer, Frank Herbert, H.p. Lovecraft, August Derleth, and a lot of SF and Fantasy writers dersve to be mentioned.

[ToOn~g@l]

I have a couple of authors that I really enjoy reading, Brian Jaques author of the Redwall series is probably one of my favorites, his stories are fun and exciting and I always get excited when a new book comes out.

David Clement Davies has only written two books but both are full of adventure you don't want to put the story down. I especially love reading Fire Bringer I've read it a few times and always I am mesmerised.

John Grisham has great law stories that keep you thinking throughout the stories. I loved The Street Lawyer his descriptions were well done.

Micheal Chriton is a great science fiction writer.

and who can forget Douglas Adams and the importance of 42.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

My current favorite author is Chrisopher Moore
A Dirty Job, Lamb, and Fluke are all great books.


Yeah, he's pretty funny. I actually finished reading "Island of the Sequined Love Nun" last week and I have to recommend it for summer reading. I mean, it's TRULY summer reading. A tropical island, a mock-spy plot, and some amusing "dumb" jokes. Perfect reading for a lazy summer day by the patio, along with a cool iced fruit drink.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

That would be John Steinbeck.




Another English Major, huh?

That's the guy! Dang, was that book depressing or what?


Yeah, Lewis needs no introduction for me.

[Road to Gotham]

Rex Stout: Nero Wolfe Mysteries.
Ed Gorman: Westerns.
Elmer Kelton: Westerns.

[purplehairedwonder]

Another English Major, huh?Me too ;)

I just read Pullman's Dark Materials Trilogy and thoroughly enjoyed it.I just read the Golden Compass and really disliked it. I'm a huge fantasy/sci-fi fan, but I hated his writing style and felt like there was a lot of unexplored potential. But this isn't a book review *ducks*

Also, about Neil Gaiman: I started Neverwhere and really couldn't get through it. I think he has good creative ideas, but I didn't think he was a very good author. I felt his writing left something to be desired.

Personally, I don't really have a favorite author. I have books that I like, but I haven't explored a lot of the authors I've read enough to call them a 'favorite' so I just go by the books themselves.

So going along those lines, I love JK Rowling though I know she isn't the best there is. I also like Terry Brooks' Shannara books, Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth books, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time books, Brian Jordan's Redwall books and Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mysteries.

[Baltofan]

Brian Jacques

[Palin Dromos]

Me too ;)
I just read the Golden Compass and really disliked it. I'm a huge fantasy/sci-fi fan, but I hated his writing style and felt like there was a lot of unexplored potential. But this isn't a book review *ducks*
We don't all march to the beat of the same drum, if Pullman didn't work for you that's cool. I agree that Golden Compass does feel incomplete. He goes on to flesh things out more with the other 2 books in the trilogy, but if you didn't like the first one don't worry about it.



Also, about Neil Gaiman: I started Neverwhere and really couldn't get through it. I think he has good creative ideas, but I didn't think he was a very good author. I felt his writing left something to be desired.
Yeah, I like Gaiman, but reading his prose can feel a little bit like wading through molasses. I liked American Gods more than Neverwhere, but it was kinda dense.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Once upon a time, I planned to be an English major, but I didn't like the 1-novel-a-week schedule and to be honest, I really didn't find much relevance in literary analysis. Especially when those teachers start swinging wildly with their ludicrous theories about a book's meanings. Sorry if I don't think Moby Dick is a metaphorical tale about sex or Old Man and the Sea is "actually" a story about capitalism.

Also, English courses cost a lot of money, book-wise.

[veemonjosh]

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j311/veemonjosh/Author-1.jpg<- This guy right here is my favorite author.

But seriously, Douglas Adams was one of, if not the greatest Sci-fi writer of recent history. His balance of dark humor and entertaining storylines was just pure genius.

[Damien]

Leaping Larry, the one class where it was literally a novel a week turned out to be one of my favorites. The professor actually made it a point of not telling us what the books are about by having us in groups and sharing ideas. Actual quote: "Remember, don't let anyone tell you what something is about. You can say whatever the hell you want, as long as you can back it up." Another great quote from him is, "We're all about death here. We're into death in this class," referring to the emotional downfall found throughout our reading material.
Although, yeah, we also had professors that just told you "what the book is about", which gets old.

My reason for not being an English major would be lack of careers lined up after graduation. I'm learning that the fun way now that I've graduated with my BA in English - Creative Writing. I ran into people who switched to Creative Writing from Bio Med., Engineering...agh. English majors will be the first to tell you not to be an English major. It's probably the same with Philosophy majors. :p

However, that's where I discovered Steinbeck's Mice and Men, Dostoyevsky's Notes, Hemingway's Sun Also Rises (which was awesome, the opposite of Old Man and the Sea), Chandler's Long Goodbye, etc., so it wasn't all bad.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Leaping Larry, the one class where it was literally a novel a week turned out to be one of my favorites. The professor actually made it a point of not telling us what the books are about by having us in groups and sharing ideas. Actual quote: "Remember, don't let anyone tell you what something is about. You can say whatever the hell you want, as long as you can back it up." Another great quote from him is, "We're all about death here. We're into death in this class," referring to the emotional downfall found throughout our reading material.
Although, yeah, we also had professors that just told you "what the book is about", which gets old.

My reason for not being an English major would be lack of careers lined up after graduation. I'm learning that the fun way now that I've graduated with my BA in English - Creative Writing. I ran into people who switched to Creative Writing from Bio Med., Engineering...agh. English majors will be the first to tell you not to be an English major. It's probably the same with Philosophy majors. :p

However, that's where I discovered Steinbeck's Mice and Men, Dostoyevsky's Notes, Hemingway's Sun Also Rises (which was awesome, the opposite of Old Man and the Sea), Chandler's Long Goodbye, etc., so it wasn't all bad.

Odd, my state requires that we read Of Mice and Men in the tenth grade. :shrug:

[Damien]

Yeah, it varies, even city by city, class by class sometimes. In high school, I never ran into Hemingway or Steinbeck. I read Salinger's Catcher, but that was for fun. We only watched the Gatsby movie. In college, professors would say, "Now, I know you probably read this in high school," but I'd be one of two who did not. On the flip side, I read Wiesel's Night in high school, but once in college, I was one of three of four who had read it prior.
So, in the end, depends on where you go to school and who your teacher is.

P.S. Hey, also, thanks for clearing your name up in your sig. I was wondering about that.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Yeah, it varies, even city by city, class by class sometimes. In high school, I never ran into Hemingway or Steinbeck. I read Salinger's Catcher, but that was for fun. We only watched the Gatsby movie. In college, professors would say, "Now, I know you probably read this in high school," but I'd be one of two who did not. On the flip side, I read Wiesel's Night in high school, but once in college, I was one of three of four who had read it prior.
So, in the end, depends on where you go to school and who your teacher is.

Lord, I hit Night back in seventh grade!

Four years ago, now...

[Movie06]

For me my favorite authors are H.P. Lovecraft, Naoko Takuechi, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Frank Miller, Joe R. Lansdale, Mike Mignola, David J. Schow, Nanase Ohkawa, and Kevin Smith.