Favorite Author

[Mahoney]

Irvine Welsh

And like El Diablo, I like about half of Coupland's stuff. All time favorite is Bukowski, but I suppose he doesn't really qualify as contemporary.

Non-fiction I'm a big fan of Mark Bowden: Black Hawk Down, Killing Pablo, Doctor Dealer etc

[stripsqueez]

nick hornby and john irving are fantastic writers

peter carey is my favourite

stripsqueez - chickenhawk

[scotnt73]

[ QUOTE ]
Terry Brooks, hands down.

He has a new book, Tanequil, coming out the 15th of this month.

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one of my favorites. my absolute favorite is R.A salvatore though. if you like brooks youve prob already read salvatore stuff before.

[nicky g]

Favourite contemporary novelist: Kazuo Ishiguro.

[MortalNuts]

Among still-living writers, my favorite is probably David Foster Wallace. His most well-known work, Infinite Jest, is long and self-indulgent, but it's also at once lyrical and crisp, insightful without often seeming preachy or hackneyed, funny enough to make me laugh out loud at times but also deeply sad. You will probably either love DFW's writing style or hate it -- but if you hate it, don't let me know, because I might have to hurt you. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

If you want to sample the waters a bit before diving into IJ, try "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again." It's a collection of non-fiction essays about a variety of topics, most of which are really really good. I can't really talk about most of his stuff without just sounding like a drooling fanboy, so I'm not going to try. Just read it.

Other authors I like, in no particular order: short stories by George Saunders. "civilwarland in bad decline," "the falls," etc. sometimes I like Nicholson Baker, but mostly for non-fiction. Don DeLillo, though frankly some of his stuff bores me to tears. Ask me if you want to hear more. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

later,

mn

[Mahoney]

Which Kazuo Ishiguro novel would you suggest starting with Nick?

[nicky g]

My favourite is The Unconsoled but probably the best to start with is Remains of the Day - short and pretty typical(and excellent), will give you a very good idea of whether you like his style or not.

[John Cole]

I always knew I never wanted to step foot on a cruise ship, but Wallace's essay confirmed it. Great stuff.

[Senor Choppy]

My favorites are Douglas Coupland and David Foster Wallace. (I missed out on the entire posting SAT scores thread so I figured I'd try to sneak in a way to say I've read Infinite Jest).

TY.

[mikech]

I like Hornby a lot, but while I enjoyed High Fidelity immensely, personally I thought the film version was even better. Songbook, a collection of his essays on music, is terrific.

I haven't read anything very recent by this writer but Paul Auster's stuff is among my favorites.