Blog Catalog Discussion: Who is your favorite writer?

Anniepooh on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

Anniepooh — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:21:57 -0600

Peter Mayle and M.F.K. Fisher

angstless on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

angstless — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:57:06 -0600

Dorothy Parker by far!
Dorothy, my dear
You’ve seen me through another year.
Your vitriolic wit
accounts for all I’ve writ.

I claimed sex's revolution.

Then set about, as losers will
turning all of them to imbecile.
Thought I had men dead to right.
But you know I’m a poison pen neophyte.

DeadRooster on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

DeadRooster — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:55:41 -0600

My favorite writers are:

Ray Bradbury (my VERY favorite)
Richard Matheson
Harlan Ellison
Robert Bloch
Mark Twain
Dave Barry
Stephen King

I know, it's an odd combination.

Vinty on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

Vinty — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:53:29 -0600

Augustine "Og" Mandino. Captivates my imagination and inspires me to challenge myself everyday.

Epicharis on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

Epicharis — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:46:32 -0600

Virginia Woolf. She expresses the feelings I could never articulate and pulls me completely into every moment.

HorsePucky on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

HorsePucky — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:45:27 -0600

Pincola-Estes is a spiritual storyteller who gets deep into the soul.

HorsePucky on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

HorsePucky — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:44:24 -0600

I have several favorite writers. What does that say about me?

HorsePucky on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

HorsePucky — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:42:43 -0600

Dave Barry's humor makes me laugh 'til I cry.

wastedlola on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

wastedlola — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:46:04 -0600

Nabokov can string together a sentence and make it sound nice!

Hangingonahyphen on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

Hangingonahyphen — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:44:46 -0600

Hell yeah, Pat Conroy is number one on my list. I could almost memorize 'The Prince of Tides". My wound is geography... hahaha...

GrimlyFiendish on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

GrimlyFiendish — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:44:27 -0600

Terry Pratchet for his wit and his humerous comments/observations on human nature and society.

LGramlich on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

LGramlich — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:21:54 -0600

My hubby's been reading "Leaves of Grass" since I moved here over 5 years ago now. *LOL* Just not his thing, I guess...

LGramlich on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

LGramlich — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:20:56 -0600

My husband, Charles Gramlich, because he's damned talented. The cliffhangers in "Cold in the Light" were virtually agonizing. It was great.

acousticguitarist on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

acousticguitarist — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:46:17 -0600

Alan Watts

Luisa66 on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

Luisa66 — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:24:46 -0600

Paul Auster (US)
Andrea Camilleri (Italia)
Fred Vargas (France)
Luis Sepúlveda (Cile)

earthwire on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

earthwire — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 02:14:54 -0600

Ayn Rand. She had very different thoughts, favouring individualism and Objectivism captured in an interesting plot and with several good quotes.

roentarre on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

roentarre — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:26:36 -0600

Wylbur Smith!

mosudavidluca on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

mosudavidluca — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:25:58 -0600

CARLO COLLODI!

AnnStorer on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

AnnStorer — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:16:58 -0600

@ drjay:

I haven't had much trouble finding his books so far, though I seem to find them a lot in second-hand stores-- the beaten up old '70s editions in particular-- so maybe they are out of print. Hope you can find a couple though, and reread what you used to like. :)

It's always interesting to read a book you first encountered a number of years ago, and see how your perspective on it has changed.

drjay1966 on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

drjay1966 — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:07:01 -0600

Walt Whitman, America's great prophetic poet.

drjay1966 on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

drjay1966 — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:06:44 -0600

Norman Spinrad--there's a name I haven't seen in a long time. Twenty or so years ago, I was really blown away by his books, though they were mostly out of print. Are they available at all, now?

SweetViolet on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

SweetViolet — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:03:33 -0600

I read that book when I was 14, recommended by my stepmother. Even today, images from that book pop into my mind. It was profound readimg.

AnnStorer on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

AnnStorer — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:04:36 -0600

There's no way I can narrow it down to just one...
John Varley for his imagination, adventure, and characters' depth.
Henry Miller for being in love with himself and with life, and making me love it too.
Norman Spinrad for interesting concepts and people you can really get attached to (Child of Fortune made me cry!).
China Meiville for his twisted, surreal, excellent landscapes.

Gah, if I thought about this again tomorrow, I'd have a completely different list!

dougist on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

dougist — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 22:18:47 -0500

(Cross post from the Writing a Book group...)

Don DeLillo - Beautiful Joycian proses that makes you stop and after one page, first with wonder, then green with envy because he is just so good - kind of like Mark Helprin without the fantasy, or Annie Dillard with vastly expanded scope.

...oh and Jack Payne!!! You said we get two right?, no? Only one? Ut Oh... decisions... decisions...

Dukepro25 on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

Dukepro25 — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 22:03:19 -0500

Terry Brooks is good.

Knight of the Word

Dukepro25 on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

Dukepro25 — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 22:01:14 -0500

OSC is good. :D

Hoeno on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

Hoeno — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 21:42:46 -0500

If it says a lot about me, then I'd rather not say.

~JD

DaneMorgan on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

DaneMorgan — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 21:20:40 -0500

Orson Scott Card. It's like learning philosophy, with out the learning part.

Abigail and John Adams. My God, is all I can say about those two.

DocNicole on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

DocNicole — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 21:16:03 -0500

I have always loved Michael Crichton for his ability to engage readers about complex scientific matters. Fav book of all time though: "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" Betsy Smith is such an inspiration. I keep this on my fridge:

There is a tree that grows in Brooklyn

Some people call it the Tree of Heaven. No matter where its seed falls,

It makes a tree which struggles to reach the sky. It grows in boarded-up lots and out of neglected rubbish heaps. It grows up out of cellar gratings. It is the only tree that grows out of cement. It grows luchly...

survives without sun, water, and seemingly without earth.

It would be considered beautiful except

that there are too many of it.

Dukepro25 on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

Dukepro25 — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 21:02:09 -0500

My favorite author growing up was Gary Paulsen.

Author of The Hatchet.

The only thing I read now are Self Help books.

Yes - I am a Self Help junkie. lol

So...I really don't have a favorite right now.

But, If I were to pick one, I would say Robert Allen.

jackpayne on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

jackpayne — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:55:28 -0500

My claime to fame? ??? Nobody said me. R.R. Bowker, who adinisters the numbering system that identifies all books published throughout the world, and who publishes "Books in Print," which is in just about every library in the world, said about my Six Hours Past Thursday: "With shades of 20th century American classic Fitzgerald's The Great Gatesby, this novel has every chance of finding a place alongside such classics." (Full book review is in their "Books in Print.")

Oh, well, guess you can't win 'em all.

rfburnhertz on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

rfburnhertz — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:36:03 -0500

Phillip Yancey is awesome.

cnsolanor on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

cnsolanor — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 18:13:23 -0500

John Steinbeck who wrote Of Mice and Men and Cannery Row is superb.

amitchopra22 on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

amitchopra22 — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 18:06:00 -0500

kabir das,
raidas,
and meera bai. cause in all there thoughts i can find my god.

JNMiller on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

JNMiller — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 18:03:38 -0500

Jane Austen and J.K. Rowling.

boytrotters on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

boytrotters — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 18:01:14 -0500

Probably Philip Yancey for me. He's a Christian apologist of sorts, whose gentle style of writing is not of the usual "fire and brimstone", "three step programme to heaven" ilk that you normally come across in a Christian book store. In fact, he takes a more thoughtful, philosophical, exploratory tack that I find very tolerable. :)

Rozie818 on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

Rozie818 — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 12:08:39 -0500

Right now it has to be Nora Roberts writing as JD Robb and here Eve Dallas in Death series. The plots are good but the cast is well developed with humor, heart and humanity.

and to mention
# Jeffery Deaver
# John Sandford
# Andrew Vachss
# Thomas Perry
# Lawrence Block

rfburnhertz on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

rfburnhertz — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 12:03:44 -0500

Fiction: Victor Hugo. Every little detail in his stories means something, ties in some where. The details seem not to simply relate to the present situation he is telling of but to the past and the future with in the story.

What I like most about his stories is that at some point you will run into yourself.

Right behind him would be O Henry.

Theological: Ravi Zacharias. He brings a more than interesting understand of the bible especially given his having been raised in India.

Political: Mark Steyn. Smart and a smart a**. Great combination.

freeatlast on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

freeatlast — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 11:39:10 -0500

and like it or not, i recently fell head over heals in love with politically incorrect Henry Miller...

freeatlast on 'Who is your favorite writer?'

freeatlast — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 11:37:32 -0500

Angela Carter is my most RECENT favorite author... magical realism... poetic... extremely extremely intelligent... and not enough people know about her, and though she's dead, she needs all the press she can get.