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  #1  
Old 08-31-2005, 05:15 AM
thatpfunk thatpfunk is offline
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Default Re: The best American author of the 20th century is....

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Nope, I was answering the OP question. 'The Body', 'Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption' and 'It' are beautifully written, for example.

I'd agree his later works aren't up to the same standard as these at all, though.


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As a King fan I regretfully must say that he won't be considered a 'great' until 75 years into the future. Dickens wrote commercially successful "fluff" but now we consider him a master.

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Quite a few Lit snobs & profs consider Dickens garbage. I won't argue against that claim.
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  #2  
Old 08-30-2005, 06:17 PM
thatpfunk thatpfunk is offline
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Default Re: The best American author of the 20th century is....

ernie hemingway
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  #3  
Old 08-30-2005, 08:45 PM
HtotheNootch HtotheNootch is offline
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Default Re: The best American author of the 20th century is....

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ernie hemingway

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  #4  
Old 08-30-2005, 06:19 PM
Hamish McBagpipe Hamish McBagpipe is offline
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Default Re: The best American author of the 20th century is....

Steinbeck.

The first one to say Bret Easton Ellis gets a smack.
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  #5  
Old 08-30-2005, 06:40 PM
tbach24 tbach24 is offline
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Default Re: The best American author of the 20th century is....

If we were discussing non-fiction, how would Michael Lewis fare? I enjoy his non-fiction books way more than any fictional ones.
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  #6  
Old 08-30-2005, 06:56 PM
lapoker17 lapoker17 is offline
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Default Re: The best American author of the 20th century is....

One of the first names that came to my head - And I've read all the classics by those old white guys.

BTW, if you like his stuff you should read "When Genius Failed", "Den of Thieves" and "Conspiracy of Fools" in that order - All phenomenal business non fiction.
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  #7  
Old 08-30-2005, 06:41 PM
The Yugoslavian The Yugoslavian is offline
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Default Re: The best American author of the 20th century is....

Walker Percy

Yugoslav
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  #8  
Old 08-30-2005, 06:42 PM
Blarg Blarg is offline
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Default Re: The best American author of the 20th century is....

Raymond Carver.
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  #9  
Old 08-31-2005, 01:41 AM
Rushmore Rushmore is offline
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Default Re: The best American author of the 20th century is....

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Raymond Carver

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This is a genuinely viable response.

An argument could easily be made that Carver was distinctly American. His poetry and prose are both excellent, and unlike Bukowski (who I love) his craft was finely honed.

Goddamn it, his stuff was great. There was a passage in a short story called "Menudo" that I read over and over again, it was so perfectly written. His poems are unbelievably good.

I never thought he got the credit he deserved.

Thank you for bringing him up.
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  #10  
Old 08-30-2005, 06:46 PM
Bill Murphy Bill Murphy is offline
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Default Re: The best American author of the 20th century is....

I would say that Philip Roth & Joyce Carol Oates have to be near the top, at least in terms of technical skill w/the English language. Can't fault anyone for picking Papa or Bradbury, of course.
This guy ain't bad either, tho I've only read the baseball book. [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

Steve King will always be my personal fave, but as has been noted his fiction has been at least 90% crap for the last 15 years. He's actually gotten much better as an essayist in that time, when he's not whining about politics. The best thing he's written since Different Seaons is prolly the thing about his kid playing Little League.

Hey, is Ayn Rand American? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
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