Most underrated authors/books

[bain_sidhe]

Which author or book do you love that nobody's ever heard of?

Mine would be Doranna Durgin. A zillion times the writer of some to-remain-unnamed "famous" writers - her characters are always well rounded, her prose is always fresh and sparkling, and yet... she continues to struggle to make a living as a writer. Perhaps because her early books were fantasy, and genre writers have a harder time being taken seriously?

She's since done some romance and mystery, but still... can't believe she's so unknown.

Her website: http://www.doranna.net/

So, how bout you? Which writer can you not believe isn't famous (yet)?

[On the Road]

1. Although Lawrence Durrell is Not an Unknown,

I never thought he got the recognition he deserved as one of the best writers of the 20th century. Justine and the rest of the Alexandria Quartet are the most poetic and astonishing novels I have ever read.

[bain_sidhe]

6. Definitely underrated, though

I haven't read him, but I'm planning on using this thread to "discover" some "new" (to me) authors. I'll check him out! His life, as described by Wikipedia, sounds fascinating.

[tigereye]

12. loved reading the Quartet back when - there was a really nice movie I saw

last year that was based on some of his books.

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. Fredric Brown

Clark Ashton Smith

Jon Collier

[bain_sidhe]

3. I know Fredric Brown, but not the others

I also like Brown, so I have to check out the others now.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. It's John Collier, (sorrry)

[bain_sidhe]

5. I see they're both primarily short story writers

I'm partial to novels myself. But I'll definitely check out their novels, few as they are.

[The_Casual_Observer]

7. They wrote for magazines to make a living.

[timeforpeace]

8. Patrick Rothfuss will be the new big gun in fantasy.

[Rob Gregory Browne]

9. Eugene Izzi

May he rest in peace.

[Onceuponalife]

10. Jess Mowry

Wrote realistic stories about street kids in Oakland.

[Forkboy]

11. He's known for his music, but Michael Gira wrote one awesome, messed up book.

It makes Burroughs look like a poser. I still have passages and images from this in my head that will never leave. However, given the material, I can totally understand why he isn't famous for his writing (he is pretty well known for his music, which is just as painfully soul-searching/soul crushing as the book is).

Wiki says this, "The stories contain many disturbing images and scenes including incest, identity loss, murder, self-hatred, rape, and both mental and physical decay." So you know it's good. ;)

[pitohui]

13. beauty by brian d'amato

everytime i mention it the other person thinks it's an anne rice S/M book under one of her pseudonyms and they have no clue what i'm talking about

now i enjoy a good S/M romp as well as anybody but this is NOT about that, it's a book by i'm guessing an artist or an art scene follower and, well, if you can ever find a copy...very nice hand, sir, very well done indeed

it's about lookism but it's fun yet intense

well, words don't describe

it's one of those books that would make a shallow trashy movie because you're just seeing the visuals but as a book, where you're in the head of the artist/inventor/plastic surgeon, it's just mind blowing

also apparently tom disch was under-rated/unknown, to the point where he committed suicide for economic and health reasons, which just blows my mind, we need to find a way to make sure our geniuses understand that we appreciate them -- i wouldn't have even mentioned disch but someone mentioned durrell and c'mon, durrell is hardly an unknown, he is more a passed from fashion at this particular moment in time (and he will have his day again)

[BlueIris]

14. My beloved Valerie Martin is *criminally* underrated.

Since the late 70s, she's been producing some of the only books I consider Great American Novels. They're excellent. Among others, they include the stellar "Mary Reilly," (made into an atrocious film with John Malkovich and Julia Roberts) and the more recent "Property," which has the distinction of being one of two novels I've read more than once in the last decade. (For those curious, the other one is Jincy Willet's "The Writing Class.")

[hippywife]

16. I just read two of hers.

And I will definitely be seeking out more. :hi:

[BlueIris]

18. "Property" and "A Recent Martyr" are the stand-outs.

Although I have yet to read "The Great Divorce," "Set in Motion," or "Love: Stories."

[pscot]

15. Lous Ferdinand Celine

Celine is savagely, bleakly funny. He deserves a wider audience. His reputation has been hurt by allegations of anti-semitism and nazi collaboration, and he's certainly depressed, alienated and really pissed off. His books are a ferocious rant about his descent into a personal hell; the artist as corned animal. Celine doesn't surrender quietly.

[Flaxbee]

17. Barbara Pym. If you read just one of her books, try Excellent Women

Alexander McCall Smith writes: "We all want to be happy- we all want a bathroom of our own - but this happiness, for an awful lot of us, is elusive. We fill our lives with small things, and they become immensely important to us. Barbara Pym understands that, and in celebrating these little things so vividly, she helps us, I think, to be more sympathetic to others. If it is a mark of a great novel that it should help us to feel for others, that it should touch our human capacity for sympathy in an important way, then Excellent Women, a novel that on one level is about very little, is a great novel about a great deal."

His full review is here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/apr/05/featuresreviews.guardianreview30

[japple]

19. Michelle Huneven

Author of Round Rock, Jamesland (my favorite), and Blame. Wonderful character development, compelling storylines, great writing style.

[LWolf]

20. I'm not sure. I love lots of authors;

I don't know if they'd be considered "famous" or not.

A few authors that might be less known than others:

Charles DeLint
R.A. MacAvoy
Patricia McKillip
Jane Smiley
Marcus Zusak

[sspeilbergfan90]

21. The writer of Roadside Picnic