Sick of Sarah Palin's Book? Let's Talk About Writing And The Writers' Writer

These last two weeks seem to be all about books by non-writers and we felt it was time to change the conversation. We asked writers--colleagues and friends of Huffington Post--to tell us their favorite writer's writers, those to whom they go for inspiration and lessons in craft.

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Tobias Wolff

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Comments

[Frankie82]

Thats a nice list, but I like my Top Ten list better (surprise) Comment your picks here

http://pittartists.blogspot.com/2009/11/who-would-make-your-top-10-writers.html

[Charity]

i still have my old copy of the clifton fadiman "lifetime reading plan."

http://www.amazon.com/New-Lifetime-Reading-Plan-Literature/dp/0062720732

[SantaFe]

MARGARET ATWOOD!!!!!

[thrdr]

Umberto Eco, who is near the top of my own list of exemplary writers, has some interesting observations on this activity of making lists:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,659577,00.html

[Amy Hertz - Huffpost Blogger]

Very interesting piece.

[Pearlswan]

Toni Morrison
Louise Erdrich
Jeanette Winterson
Salmon Rushdie
Virginia Wolfe

[Shaun McCullough]

Nabakov, anyone?...­Anyone?!..­..

[espressobeans]

Thanks, HP! My reading list just got longer.

[workingboy]

At the top of my writers list is Joan Didion. Her eye, her mind, her style -- she is a national treasure.

[katermc]

Grace Paley

Toni Cade Bambara

June Jordan

Pablo Neruda

Paule Marshall

Tillie Olsen

Carl Sandburg

Margaret Atwood

Sharon Olds

Toi Derricotte

Franz Wright

Cornelius Eady

Li-Young Lee

Adam Zagajewski

Bruce Weigl

Patricia Smith

Joyce Carol Oates

Frank X Walker

Nelly Sachs

Louise DeSalvo

Lucille Clifton

Mark Strand

Donald Barthelme

Terrance Hayes

[OnTheCusp]

Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Orson Scott Card
Marilyn French
Murasaki Shikibu
Rumi
Me

[OnTheCusp]

Ray Bradbury
Kim Stanley Robinson

[mapmaker515]

Bradbury would be in my top three as well.......

[GonzoFactor]

Clifford D. Simak

Roger Zelazny

[Neoamericanboy]

I will not list my favorite books because I read what I like and sometimes it's Dr. Seuss. I only recognized three authors on that list, so of course I feel smart. I just think that list has an agenda. The writer's writer is very subjective because I think any artist emulates the people or person they most want to be like.

Personally, I have no desire to study a book, I just want to read it and have it entertain me.

[NewDem08]

Agree. Sometimes I just want my brain Cheetos.

[malodorousgit]

It's a little disappointing that so many of America's truly great writers aren't on here but...I guess everybody's got their own list.

[OnTheCusp]

Love your handle!

[malodorousgit]

Thank you! I like it but I do worry that people will take it literally and think I don't bathe.

[Billie]

James Salter

[jentilpet]

A "Writers Writer" like "Just Tip Me Mister!" which was the 1st book written re: the servitude"& the partons who eat..where would all celb's be without being "served?" That expose' told of the wasted food that could feed a nation!" Written in 1978,this author,Cecilia Sacco Fusco's book was read by Scott Meredith,[Aba Iben,"Story of The Jews" [2001-A Space Odyssey",more..The most famous authors today had to pay to have their book published! One,escapes me,but he's a household name,so-to-speak! Un-published does not mean a book is written poorly! For anyone w/ literary knowledge should be aware of this! Harper-Collins published a stupid "forgettable" "Waiter Rant by Steve LaBlanica[­Confession­s of a cynicle waiter" but a person has to have a "reason" for the struggle,a problem,like Mr.Meridith said in 1979,this idiot made a joke of it,rather "JTMM!" is an expose' auto-bio,"­a-Sleeper" a play could only do justice to this,clever,well written novel! She's been critiqued,& not by Oprah who ignored me[daughter] asking her to read it,something mom would never do,ask her?We already know the importance of that book,the disipline,hard work, I am at 570-828-17­25/cjenn@p­td.net..ta­lk to me If you are a true writer..Ha­rperCollin­s ignored the "cover design" because they used it,thinking because she's unpublished,it didn't matter???what??

[greendream]

Interesting lists. At one point in my life I thought I would build up a background of books I 'thought' I should read. After I struggled through the second page of Proust I realized that it was not worth it.

I personally look for that common ground between high brow pretension and Twilight. Books that have a good story and where the writing does not detract from the telling either by horrible verbose 'let me show you how 'I' can describe a sunset and have it go on for twenty pages' or 'Edward was so beautiful and sparkly I couldn't stop looking at him" from the book that apparently edited itself.

And of course we have to account for personal tastes. I personally am not interested in reading about the 'dark side' of life. Nothing wrong with that subject matter and nothing wrong with liking it. Its just not something I'm into. I like happy endings although I like hard won happy endings. I also accept that might well make the person beside me gag.

[Amy Hertz - Huffpost Blogger]

It would be great to do that list of books--that fall between categories. Do you have some suggestions?