Choosing just ten all-time-favorite authors is just ridiculous and impossible. I just sort of closed my eyes and wrote a list. There is no way this list encompasses all of my favorite authors. But these are ten of the ones I love the very most.
1. Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The author of The Idiot and Crime and Punishment somehow made my adolescence more bearable. I was a misfit, and while I had friends, there were some things I just couldn't discuss with anyone. Don't ask me why, but I found solace in a Russian writer of the 19th century.
2. Anton Checkhov, His short stories seem to contain everything in human nature. The longer, later stories are the best.
3. Frederick Douglass. Every time I read his Narrative I am awestruck all over again.
4. James Baldwin. Shatteringly brilliant. I can't decide whether I love his essays or his novels more.
5. Rainer Maria Rilke. Poet, writer of books that can't even be categorized.... Letters to a Young Poet...every word is golden.
6. Alice Munro. She is perfect. Her stories are marvels.
7. Elizabeth Strout. Her work just resonates with me.
8. Bonnie Jo Campbell. A gorgeous yet down to earth writer. Once Upon a River is my favorite.
9. Margaret Atwood. She is crazy good. The Handmaid's Tale. Cat's Eye. The Maddaddam trilogy. Margaret Atwood is my spirit animal.
10. Anthony Trollope. There is no one quite like Anthony Trollope for revealing the many and varied nuances of British politics and society in the 19th century.
That is my list...and already I have regrets (Ralph Ellison. Charles Dickens. All of the Bronte sisters.). Who are your all-time-favorite authors?
4 comments:
Ah, Dostoyevsky. And I need to read some Baldwin.
What an impressive list. I think I've only read a couple of those authors.
Ah, a list which has two of my favorites as well: Margaret Atwood and Dostoyesvky. I put Leo Tolstoy, but I could easily have included the Fyodor. ;) I have not read many of the others, particularly Anthony Trollope, but I love your inspiring list.
You always remind me that there are great authors out there that I need to pick up soon. After all, you didn't steer me wrong with Trollope!
Post a Comment