Who are the authors you go back to time and again? Who intrigues, inspires, or entertains you enough to keep you coming back?
H. P. Lovecraft - for all the black marks against his name (basically, he was horrifically racist even by the standards of his time), his cosmic horror still carries a lot of power
Clark Ashton Smith - a somewhat forgotten contemporary of Lovecraft who wrote some amazing weird fantasy and created some memorable worlds
Clive Barker - from his early bizarre, often gruesome, horror to his weird, often cosmic, fantasies, Barker packs an incredible imagination and the talent to put it on paper
John Le Carre - while spy fiction made him famous, Le Carre's real forte was dealing with human characters caught up in political and social intrigue, often over their heads
Bram Stoker - yes, the guy is famous mainly for one novel. But what a novel. I come back to Dracula every few years for another run though.
Let's see. I will think about it... Here goes.
1) Mark Twain. I have read, honestly, everything he ever wrote that got published. That includes material that was not published until the 1980s because he had placed a hold on its publication of 500 years. He was afraid some of it was too radical to be seen and he feared it might embarrass any of his family remaining. Eventually, through various legal mechanizations, his entire works got published. I have not reread all of it over and over. There are tons of his work that merits returning to over the years. One of the few authors who could make me laugh out loud.
2) Isaac Asimov. One of the Big Three (including Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein) of the science fiction Golden Era. It is fun to go back to his works after a few years and get a good feeling knowing you will see something new, and something happily good to see again.
3) Robert Heinlein. Along with Isaac, one of the Big Three. Some of his stories do not wear as well as one would hope. His politics would sometimes creep into his stories reflecting the Libertarian personality that wanted to serve in the Navy for a career but physically could not make it.
4) Rex Stout. Wonderfully entertaining mysteries. The characters are greatly pleasing to me. I would have loved to live in New York at the same time and know them. Especially the main characters: Archie Goodwin, Nero Wolfe, Fritz Brenner, Theodore Horstmann, Saul Panzer, Orrie Cather, Fred Durkin. One gets such an entertaining sense of place for the city.
5) C. S. Forester. The creator of Horatio Hornblower, a remarkable seaman during the Napoleanic Wars, rose through the ranks from a seasick midshipman to become Admiral of the Fleet.
Backup crew:
6) Raymond Chandler
7) Kenneth Roberts
In alphabetic order:
Isaac Asimov
Agatha Christie
Charles Dickens
George Orwell
Count Lev N. Tolstoy
I did not include poets; if I had, two poets would be in the mix:
Emily Dickinson
T.S. Eliot
Interesting note: Only Issac Asimov was listed on more than one group of choices.
You can't get there from here, because when you get there you're still here and here is now there. Ooh, good thread!
Kurt Vonnegut
Larry McMurtry
Shirley Jackson
John Irving
Stephen King
Honorable mention:
David Foster Wallace
Neil Stephenson
Toni Morrison
John LaCarre
Cormac McCarthy
Fire and Ice - A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words competition, first place
Monster - Survivor competition, first place
