19 March 2009

25 Most Influential Authors

I was tagged by Emily for this one and was therefore compelled ...

Here are the instructions:

"Name 25 writers who have influenced you. These are not necessarily your favorite writers or those you most admire, but writers who have influenced you. Then you tag 25 people.”

I don't think I will tag 25 people because Emily tagged just about everyone I know already, but if you weren't tagged and you want to do this, consider yourself tagged.

Children's authors
1. Beverly Cleary -- The Mouse and the Motorcycle was one of the first books I really loved.
2. Laura Ingalls Wilder -- I think I read them all multiple times.
3. Judy Blume -- Loved her! Even read Forever and can't wait until Zoe is ready for some of her books.
4. Francine Pascal -- I admit it, I read a lot of the Sweet Valley High books.

The classics
5. Harper Lee -- To Kill a Mockingbird really moved me.
6. Jane Austen
7. Goethe -- That Faust guy shows up everywhere!
8. Fyodor Dostoevsky -- because I thought I kind of liked Russian authors -- or should like them -- until I read Crime and Punishment and then I realized I hate them.

The playwrights & poets
9. William Shakespeare (also a classic, of course)
10. Edward Albee
11. Sam Shepard -- yes he's an actor, but he is a much better playwright.
12. Walt Whitman
13. Henrik Ibsen

Short stories
14. Raymond Carver -- After reading Cathedral I understood just how incredible a short story could be.
15. Lorrie Moore -- if you haven't read her and like short stories, start with Birds of America.
16. Flannery O'Connor -- hated her the first time around in school, but I have grown to really appreciate her work.

Modern Fiction
17. Tom Robbins -- I think I've read all of his books except the latest. He's so weird and wonderful.
18. John Irving -- I read The Hotel New Hampshire at around age 11. I was kind of freaked out, but I never stopped going back for more.
19. Anne Tyler
20. Jay McInerney
21. John Krakauer
22. Milan Kundera

Other
23. Maureen Dowd
24. Steve Martin
25. Malcolm Gladwell

2 comments:

Emily Barton said...

I have no idea how I managed to completely forget Tom Robbins altogether until now. And I forgot Harper Lee and Milan Kundera until shortly after I'd written the post. Oh well. I guess that's why it's limited to 25. Meanwhile, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree when it comes to Russian authors.

ZoesMom said...

Emily -- I had to try to forget your list before I wrote my own. Except for the Russians, of course. Are you a Tom Robbins fan? I find people either love or hate him -- no middle ground.