This is a tough question. I have a lot of authors I really like. Hunter S. Thompson, Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. However, with all of these writers, they seem to kind of fizzle out with age. None of their newer works stack up to their older works and some of their older work is down right terrible.
There is only one writer I can think of who, having read a good selection of his work, has been consistently exceptional for his career. That author is Bob Woodward. Woodword is to journalism what God is to religion. He writes the way I wish my students would right when they are trying to prove a point. He clarifies his message when needed (an not in a patronizing way), he backs up claims with solid unbiased evidence, and is as close to impartial as I think anyone who writes about politics can possibly be.
If, as in the great Twilight Zone episode "Time Enough At Last", there was some sort of nuclear holocaust and I was the only person left alive and I stumbled across a vacant grand library, I would wish that there be a stack of his books there to keep me company.
I have thought a lot about this, and if I had to choose my absolute favorite author, it would be James Baldwin. I love the way he writes and the stories he tells and I love how his personal history drives the stories but does not overshadow them. That said, I have not completed his entire book list.
Authors that made the runner's-up list include: Malcolm Gladwell, both for his books and his New Yorker articles; J.K. Rowling for the way she turned the world into readers, at least for a few years; Ayn Rand, but I have only read two of her books; and Ann M. Martin because without the Babysitters Club series, I would not be the reader that I am today.
This is a tough question. I have a lot of authors I really like. Hunter S. Thompson, Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. However, with all of these writers, they seem to kind of fizzle out with age. None of their newer works stack up to their older works and some of their older work is down right terrible.
ReplyDeleteThere is only one writer I can think of who, having read a good selection of his work, has been consistently exceptional for his career. That author is Bob Woodward. Woodword is to journalism what God is to religion. He writes the way I wish my students would right when they are trying to prove a point. He clarifies his message when needed (an not in a patronizing way), he backs up claims with solid unbiased evidence, and is as close to impartial as I think anyone who writes about politics can possibly be.
If, as in the great Twilight Zone episode "Time Enough At Last", there was some sort of nuclear holocaust and I was the only person left alive and I stumbled across a vacant grand library, I would wish that there be a stack of his books there to keep me company.
-Adam
I have thought a lot about this, and if I had to choose my absolute favorite author, it would be James Baldwin. I love the way he writes and the stories he tells and I love how his personal history drives the stories but does not overshadow them. That said, I have not completed his entire book list.
ReplyDeleteAuthors that made the runner's-up list include: Malcolm Gladwell, both for his books and his New Yorker articles; J.K. Rowling for the way she turned the world into readers, at least for a few years; Ayn Rand, but I have only read two of her books; and Ann M. Martin because without the Babysitters Club series, I would not be the reader that I am today.