Greatest living American author

[Redleg]

Select the greatest living American author from the list.

[Phillycat]

1. Richard Russo.

[KurtNYC]

2. I just visted Dresden

ask me anything...

Had to be horrible to have lived through that bombing as a POW.

[Dzimbowicz]

39. If you like to read

check out "Dresden: The Devil's Tenderbox", by Alexamder McKee. It is a good non-fictional accompanyment to Slaughterhouse Five.

I've been to Dresden as well (1993, 1996 and 2003) and have researched the terror attack by the USAAC and RAF extensively.

[Fovea]

3. Don DeLilo

Libra, White Noise, etc.

[indigobusiness]

8. DeLillo is a fine writer.

Underworld is a piece of work, as well.

[eataTREE]

23. I never could get into DeLillo.

He's great when he's not being ham-handedly ironic... which is unfortunately most of the time.

I prefer David Foster Wallace for sheer po-moey goodness.

And while I'm making pronouncements, the greatest living English-language writer is Margaret Atwood.

To the original poster: Why Vonnegut? Not to disparage his great work in the 60's and 70's, but he hasn't written anything really noteworthy since Galapagos in 1985.

[indigobusiness]

30. Point taken...but he is remarkable when on the mark.

White Noise was a fine novel.

While he can be a struggle, at times, I respect his riskiness and inventiveness.

[indigobusiness]

4. Cormac McCarthy...hands down.

But I do love Vonnegut.

[mitchum]

13. Good call on McCarthy...

especially the earlier novels

[indigobusiness]

33. Child of God was absolutely stunning in its compelling creepiness.

Suttree was epic in humor and humanity.

The Trilogy was great, as well, but I enjoyed reading his work in near-sequence and marvelling at his evolution as a true master.

[indigobusiness]

34. BTW if you like McCarthy, try Pinkney Benedict's

The Dogs of God

and David Rhodes' Rock Island Line

[mitchum]

47. You're absolutely right about "The Dogs of God"...

His "Town Smokes" collection is also first rate. I still have my money on him.
Thanks for the headsup about Rhodes. I'm not familiar with his work, but that will soon change.

[indigobusiness]

56. Rhodes burst upon the scene with "The Last Fair Deal Going Down"

followed it with "The Easter House" and then his epic "Rock Island Line".

I wish I knew what happened to him. His work is stellar.

You won't regret it.

Ever read Breece D'J Pancake?

[Phillycat]

5. Isn't JD Salinger still alive? JD Salinger.

[mitchum]

6. William Styron...

since Hubert Selby died earlier this year

[DoctorMyEyes]

7. LOL!

I'm a fan, too!

[Redleg]

10. I see several people voted for a loser who is not Kurt Vonnegut.

LOL

[DrZeeLit]

9. John Updike, Arthur Miller

and they both support Kerry!

[Redleg]

11. I thought Miller was dead... I guess I was mistaken.

I hope he is around to see Bush leave the Whitehouse in January 2005.

[Burma Jones]

20. When Edward Albee was introduced, last year, as...

The Greatest Living American Playwright at some National Press Club function, he responded. "Well, Arthur Miller might disagree....."

[UrbScotty]

35. Miller just turned 89 this weekend.

Happy Birthday Arthur!

[alilenas]

12. Philip Roth, too

James Elmore, Toni Morrison and Ruth Rendell.

[GumboYaYa]

14. There are too many to choose from...

Toni Morrison is my pick today. I also love Maya Angelou. Barbara Kingsolver's books are some of my favorite to read.

[BoX o BooX]

John Irving.

I think the poll may be a wee biased.

[Phillycat]

16. John Irving, yes. Much prefer him to Vonnegut

[Beaverhausen]

24. John Irving- Yes! also Barbara Kingsolver

and Anne Tyler and ...

[cedahlia]

45. Irving and Tyler

You are a DUer after my own heart! Those are two of my absolute favorite authors, and IMO two of the greatest living authors as well.

:thumbsup:

[Beaverhausen]

65. John Irving is just so *slightly* twisted

I'm reading "The Fourth Hand" for my book club. Not his best but great anyway.

Anne Tyler is also a bit twisted...love her characters. Next up is "Back When We Were Grown-Ups."

I haven't read her in a while so I'm looking forward to it.

If you haven't read any *Barbara Kingslover* I highly recommend her!

[cedahlia]

95. twisted

Yes, both Tyler and Irving seem to have a knack for creating twisted/quirky characters who still manage to be likable.

Haven't read the Fourth Hand yet...probably should give it a try though! My all time faves of his are Cider House and Widow for One Year.

About Barbara Kingsolver...my mom introduced me to both Tyler and Irving's work when I was a teenager, and I know she is also very into Kingsolver, but I just never got around to reading her stuff. I'll definitely keep her in mind for my next trip to the bookstore. :-)

[Burma Jones]

15. Gore Vidal, Norman Mailer

Edward Albee perhaps.

But I've read more Vonnegut than the combined total of these other highly esteemed authors

[jdots]

17. yuz did'nt have no place for Ann Coulter

or David Horowitz are they alive ?

[Burma Jones]

21. Well, they do write fiction................n/t

[indigobusiness]

71. Didn't David Hasselhoff write a novel?

You left him out.

[Wickerman]

18. I love Kurt, but I include Thomas McGuane, Russell Banks

and Tim O'Brien.

[qb]

19. Stephen King

I must admit I'm not a literary expert and I don't get into the heavier stuff.

[redqueen]

26. Screw the heavier stuff.

King manages to catch something special about everyday people in his work. That's where it's at, baby.

[mwdem]

32. I could always lose myself in a King novel.

My son grew up reading them!

[eataTREE]

40. Yes. He does great character portraits.

Unfortunately, then the alien zombie (or whatever) comes out of the closet and starts eating people's skin. And the book rapidly goes downhill. I always thought that the "horror" bits were the weakest parts of King's writing. I wonder how he'd have fared as an author of literary fiction.

[redqueen]

41. But some people like the horror stuff

Me, for instance. :)

He's done some other stuf as well, you know.

[mwdem]

42. He always did very well in shaping the character's personalities..

you actually could form a relationship with them, like them or hate them. The Stand was his all-time best.

[Downtown Hound]

96. Try "The Green Mile" or

"Hearts in Atlantis" for the answer to this question.

[seventhson]

22. I had a smoke with Vonnegut once and talked to him twice

we discussed the Nazi style of the right wing in America and how the Bushes backed Hitler.

I love slaughterhouse five and think it is one of the greatest semi-fiction works of the twentieth century.

It saddens me that he is getting old and sad - but he gave us an amazing bunch of brilliant works.

His recent editorial on the liars and fascist (BFEE) was amazing too.

Goc Bless you Kurt.

[dean_dem]

25. Tom Wolfe, anyone?

And I'll second Updike.

[barb162]

29. Wolfe is terrific

[Rowdyboy]

27. Serious authors? John Barth

author of the Sotweed Factor, Giles Goatboy, Chimera etc.

http://www.dave-edelman.com/barth/beginners.cfm

BTW, I like and respect the works of Kurt Vonnegut. I merely offer my opinion of who is the greatest living American author.

[barb162]

28. Saul Bellow

[tarkus]

31. Henry James is still alive in my heart! NM

[UrbScotty]

36. Harper Lee

Famous, of course, for To Kill a Mockingbird.

[BoX o BooX]

38. Amen.

Hard to believe she still lives. I am sorry she quit writing.

[mwdem]

37. Toni Morrison,

hands down.

[donheld]

64. I will second that

Toni Morrison is wonderful

[mwdem]

84. Always a wonderful read..

can't wait for her next book...

[IronLionZion]

43. Will Pitt

How come nobody has said this yet? :P

[WilliamPitt]

44. Because it's a really dumb thing to say

:P

[mwdem]

46. Shit, Will, we forgot you!!

What's next?

[WilliamPitt]

50. Fire. Brimstone. Wrath of God.

The usual stuff. :)

[mwdem]

51. Always waiting with bated breath!

[redqueen]

52. Holy cow you spelled it right.

Yay you! :)

[mwdem]

53. I have truely been around..

[redqueen]

54. *gasp*

You get bated, but miss truly?

We spelling nazis are so hard to please. :P

[mwdem]

55. You got me!

damn you to hell!!! Just kidding.

[WilliamPitt]

61. Looser

:P

[mwdem]

66. I am so busteded!

[indigobusiness]

63. Actually, it's 'bated breath...

The sardine eaters among us watch carefully.

on edit- short for abated, dontcha know.

Spelling Nazis are the best kind. Fine people, all in all.

[redqueen]

67. Really?

I didn't know that... why?

[indigobusiness]

73. Yep, short for abated

I edited my response to splain. Too slowly.

[redqueen]

74. Cool

Thanks!

[indigobusiness]

80. At your service.

My Queen.

edit-

or should that be 'Your Highness'?

[indigobusiness]

87. This was meant

respectfully...but looks suspiciously flippant.

Off with my head!!!

[donheld]

69. I always like his writings

please don't tell him i don't want him all full of himself. :evilgrin: :smoke:

[IronLionZion]

85. He's full of something alright...

just kidding :P

[Crankie Avalon]

48. Nearly 50 replies...

...and not one person mentioned Thomas Pynchon? I'm a little surprised.

Or are people afraid to say him becuase they think he might have died without telling anyone? ;-)

http://www.deadoraliveinfo.com/dead.nsf/pnames-nf/Pynchon+Thomas

[WilliamPitt]

49. Gravity's Rainbow is the most unreadable book in the history of the world

[Crankie Avalon]

57. Well, if you're going to open it up to...

..."in the history of the world," then what about Finnegan's Wake?

Gravity's Rainbow is challenging, I'll grant you that.

But then, what do I know? Take a look at my username--my favorite book is The Pet Goat, fer cripes sakes!:P

[indigobusiness]

59. You beat me

dang

[Crankie Avalon]

76. Well, he ignored me...

...and went straight to you, anyway. :D

Incidentally, I don't find Ulysses hard to read at all, but I guess being in a course whose only focus was that book for the entire semester--with a professor who held our hands and explained every scrap of background information one would need to know to understand the book--might have something to do with it. ;)

If no such professor is available, there are entire books of annotations around. Ulysses is worth the trouble.

[WilliamPitt]

79. Old habit

Ignoring Bush is like breathing to me. :P

[Crankie Avalon]

82. nt

Breathe on, friend, breathe on...:smoke: :thumbsup:

[indigobusiness]

58. Really? What about Finnegan's Wake, or Ulysses?

I thought Joyce held that honor?

[WilliamPitt]

62. Open to interpretation

but Pynchon will give anyone a run for their money when it comes to rambling incoherence.

[indigobusiness]

78. I believe you, I'm just surprised. Pynchon has been at the top of my list

for years. I had heard so much good stuff about Gravity's Rainbow...I had no idea.

I don't know whether to be depressed or relieved.

[WilliamPitt]

81. Give it a spin and get back to me

Personally - and no offense to Pynchon fans here - but my experience has been that those who praise 'Gravity's Rainbow' tend to be the kind of folk who have to broadcast their hip chic. It's like a literary version of being a fashion victim. Just my humble o.

[indigobusiness]

83. No, I truly appreciate your warning, my backlog is tremendous

and avoiding being victimized in any way is a good thing.

Thanks, nothing upsets my chili like tragically hip chic.

[Crankie Avalon]

86. Hmmm...

...I don't know. I think you might be selling it a little short, here.

If that were all there was to it, it wouldn't enjoy the reputation it does.

Hey, I don't get most abstract modern art, but that doesn't mean I'm going to dismiss it as having nothing to it. I just don't see it for whatever reason. Maybe it has something to do with me rather than the work. Maybe others "get" something I don't at the present time. Maybe I'll understand it one day, too.

No offense to people who dismiss art and literature they can't understand, but that sounds a little "red state-ish" to me. :shrug:

[indigobusiness]

89. Good point, but there is a huge difference between "challenging"

and bogus.

And what you say is fascinating in its depth and scope and could be discussed at great length...but the key to understanding art is dealing with it honestly, with humility and fearlesslness. The simple test is whether it rocks your world, or helps you to understand it.

Life is hard. Without art, it would be impossible.

on edit-- I've got to add this...probably too late, but your statement touches on how art functions on many levels and can be understood in different ways, even belatedly...or by some sort of epiphany. The meaning and value of art has a sort of organic, ongoing quality and relegating it to somekind of bottom-line static punchline is the folly of most who won't be bothered by the challenge, or reward, of art.

[Crankie Avalon]

92. Tell me about it!

I'm a member of a handful of the famous museums here in New York, and I've had formal illustration and studio art training.

I truly love art, but I guess my tastes are for the more accessible. I only brought it up to show that, as you wrote, humility is important. I know it's entirely possible--even likely--that I'm missing something in only really being able to appreciate the directly representational at this stage in my life. I can only hope I'll never go around saying people who like something I don't are just being "tragically hip," though.

As for literature, I have some idea of what Ulysses, in particular, means, and I know what my internal reaction to people who dismiss it as "bogus" would be. I feel bad for them that they're missing out. If even I can understand it (for whatever reason), then there is definitely something there that most anyone else could also see if they were willing to put in the work.

As for Gravity's Rainbow, well, I wouldn't fight for it the way I would for Ulysses. ;)

[indigobusiness]

94. I'm jazzed by your ability to zone in on the crux of this

I was editing my above post while you were writing this. I wish I'd waited. Your take has stirred the dormant art fiend in me, but I would suggest that there is a distinction between honest differences and judgemental ones...and that the phony "tragically hip" exist and do pollute the scene.

But, I agree with you that this is something to be extremely careful with, or risk some sort of reverse bigotry.

I like a challenge but abhor the arcane for arcane's sake in art.

You could teach me a lot, I think, especially in helping me sort out my own thoughts on this.

And, I will read Ullyses...or push it to the top of my list.

[DrZeeLit]

93. I so agree...ugh! n/t

[asthmaticeog]

60. No fans of David Foster Wallace or T.C. Boyle?

Surprising.

[Crankie Avalon]

68. I loved Boyle...

...especially in college. Still do, actually. Years ago, Patti Smith came out of a 15 year retirement to perform her poetry at Central Park Summerstage in New York and Boyle opened up the show by reading a story from "If the River was Whiskey." Also went to hear him read excerpts from "The Road to Wellville" when it first came out.

I like him a lot, but I don't think I'd try to convince anyone else that he's "The Greatest Living American Writer."

[asthmaticeog]

70. When some of the old guys die off, he'll be a contender.

[Beaverhausen]

72. I have met him- through mutual friends

OK I actually stayed at his guest house.

Tom is very cool. I always like to know when those I admire are also cool people.

[CanuckAmok]

75. Even Vonnegut would say:

"Kilgore Trout".

[TroubleMan]

77. R.A Salvatore or Robert Jordan

They may write fantasy novels, but they can damn sure write as good as any today.

[UpsideDownFlag]

88. Chomsky, anyone? nt

[Amaya]

90. Alice Walker

An overlooked writer. You can feel her writing and that's difficult to do. At least I think so.

[NashVegas]

91. Tom Robbins

King *was* great, but he ran out of ideas long long time ago.