Author Topic: Top Ten Authors  (Read 9728 times)

verbALs

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Top Ten Authors
« on: January 24, 2012, 12:34:22 PM »
In a list making mood and desperately trying to get back in a reading mood. So here is a list of favourite authors;

1. Dashiell Hammett (read 6 out of 6 novels written. No short stories included)
2. Elmore Leonard (30/44) {none of his westerns}
3. Alfred Bester (3/8)
4. Larry Niven (18/22)
5. James Crumley (8/8)
6. James Ellroy (13/13)
7. John D. MacDonald (25/64)
8. Jim Thompson (5/8) {most Thompson "novels" are more like novellas, difficult to arrive at a figure}
9. Iain M Banks  (11/11)
10. Richard Condon (5/27) {thus proving the value of the exercise. I hadn't realised there were so many more Condon novels}

9 out of 10 are Americans, be proud!

I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy

oneaprilday

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Re: Top Ten Authors
« Reply #1 on: January 24, 2012, 12:38:04 PM »
8 or 9 out of 10 would be Brits, for me, I'm sure.  Be proud! :)

MartinTeller

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Re: Top Ten Authors
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2012, 12:48:15 PM »
Unranked...

1. Isaac Asimov
2. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
3. Italo Calvino
4. Franz Kafka
5. James Thurber


Beyond this point I'd be stretching it.  A few months ago I would have added Connie Willis, but her last few books have been really tedious.  I like Dickens but haven't read nearly enough, ditto for Dostoyevsky and Orwell.  I've read the Hitchhiker books many times, but I'm not as fond of Adams as I used to be.  Salinger and AC Doyle might be contenders, but I haven't read their stuff for over 15 years. 

AAAutin

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Re: Top Ten Authors
« Reply #3 on: January 24, 2012, 02:14:31 PM »
10. Craig Clevenger
09. Charles Bukowski
08. Albert Camus
07. Max Barry
06. Joseph Heller
05. Chuck Palahniuk
04. Douglas Coupland
03. Hunter S. Thompson
02. James Ellroy
01. Bret Easton Ellis

A few Swedes, coupla Inuits, and a Samoan.

jim brown

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Re: Top Ten Authors
« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2012, 02:22:31 PM »
I won't rank and I'm not near my books, but I will list the first ten authors that come to mind of whose work I've read a decent percentage (and liked). 

Walker Percy
Norman Mailer
Gregory Mcdonald
Gillian Flynn
John Connolly
Lawrence Block
Dashiell Hammett
Hunter S. Thompson
Bret Easton Ellis
Don DeLillo

Will no doubt edit once I get home and realize those who I've left off.
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Supreme Being: I think it has something to do with free will.

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Verna: I suppose you think you raised hell.

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jim brown

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Re: Top Ten Authors
« Reply #5 on: January 24, 2012, 02:29:46 PM »
06. Joseph Heller - Something Happened is one of my favorite novels of all time.  That Catch-22 thing doesn't suck either.
05. Chuck Palahniuk - From what I've read, he bats about 500 for me.  Lullaby is my favorite. 
03. Hunter S. Thompson - yup
01. Bret Easton Ellis - I knew there was a reason I liked you.

[...]and a Samoan - always good for a foot massage.
Kevin: Yes, why does there have to be evil?

Supreme Being: I think it has something to do with free will.

-------------------------------------------------------

Verna: I suppose you think you raised hell.

Tom: Sister, when I've raised hell you'll know it.

AAAutin

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Re: Top Ten Authors
« Reply #6 on: January 24, 2012, 02:33:33 PM »
05. Chuck Palahniuk - From what I've read, he bats about 500 for me.  Lullaby is my favorite. 

The longer he stays in the league, the lower that percentage drops. Had I made this list five years ago, he would have been my hands-down #1.

(And the correct answer is FIGHT CLUB. No matter the question, always FIGHT CLUB.)

verbALs

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Re: Top Ten Authors
« Reply #7 on: January 24, 2012, 02:35:11 PM »

09. Charles Bukowski
08. Albert Camus

06. Joseph Heller
05. Chuck Palahniuk
04. Douglas Coupland
03. Hunter S. Thompson
02. James Ellroy
01. Bret Easton Ellis
I think you could get free psychotherapy in this country with a list like this. You are lucky I am not a family member because I could get you committed on this basis.

Re-Ellroy; Wondered if you had read the early nutso Lloyd Hopkins books, the bizzaro golf caddy story and the really strange Silent Terror.
I've got a recommendation based on your list. A deranged novel called My Idea Of Fun by Will Self.
« Last Edit: January 24, 2012, 02:44:22 PM by verbALs »
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy

AAAutin

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Re: Top Ten Authors
« Reply #8 on: January 24, 2012, 02:42:43 PM »
I think you could get free psychotherapy in this country with a list like this. You are lucky I am not a family member because I could get you committed on this basis.

...he says to the guy pressing a gun barrel against his temple.

verbALs

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Re: Top Ten Authors
« Reply #9 on: January 24, 2012, 02:45:22 PM »
I've learnt far too much about you today.
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy