Authors

The other day, my oldest daughter and I were talking about authors. I mentioned how much I loved Hemingway as a writer. I liked how he wasn’t wordy and used just the right amount of words to convey his meaning to his readers. My daughter mentioned that she also liked Hemingway, and that is why she named her cat after him.

 

We both discussed if there were any present day writers around like Hemingway, Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, Tolstoy and some of those other great writers? Since our discussion I have been trying to think who I thought was a good present day writer. Granted, Stephen King is at the top of his game but not exactly in the writing class of a Hemingway, Steinbeck or Fitzgerald.

 

There are a lot of other prolific writers, who always seem to have their books on the best sellers list…like James Patterson, Jodi Picoult, Michael Connelly, Vince Flynn, David Baldacci and many others. I have read a number of those authors’ books and have enjoyed their books. Each might be in the top their game in their given genre. But they are still not Hemingway, Steinbeck or Fitzgerald.

 

The more I searched my brain for writers – I decided on three authors that I have read most of their books. They are Erik Larson, Kent Haruf, and Richard Russo. Those three have written a number of books.

 

Larson uses an interesting writing tool of intertwining two major stories within his books.  For example, he wrote a book centering on the Chicago World’s Fair, while a paralleling story was about a serial killer during that same time. In another book, he wrote about the hurricane that devastated Galveston in 1900 and the emergence of the meteorologist.

 

Haruf, who is from Colorado, writes his stories about the small town of Holt, Colorado, where he once lived when he was younger. It’s his characters, their lives, and their dialogue and interaction that raise his novels up to lofty heights.

 

As for Russo, he too is a master storyteller. His novels take place in the New York area, where he was born and raised. His stories are set in a small town and he brings his characters and their lives alive through his writings.

 

Maybe you have some favorite authors that you would like to share and the reasons why you read them…