Most UNDERRATED Living American Author?

[Crankie Avalon]

Sorry, can't do a poll. However, off the top of my head, my choice would be Charles Portis.

This guy is funny! The Dog of the South and Masters of Atlantis were awesome. Comic masterpieces, really. His most famous novel is True Grit, but that's because it was made into a movie. Otherwise, this guy is someone whom even a lot of fairly well-read people have still never heard of and that's a shame.

I'd love to read about other authors like that--authors I might not otherwise hear about unless someone here shares the scoop on them.

More info on Charles Portis: http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Portis.html

[DrZeeLit]

1. Irving, Conroy and Kingsolver

and maybe King... critics don't consider the body of his work, Shawshank Redemption alone is a masterpiece.

Conroy writes fantastic sentences -- Prince of Tides.
Irving -- hope floats -- The Hotel New Hampshire
Kingsolver -- doesn't get enough credit -- Prodigal Summer

[spatlese]

2. Irving is great!

Don't forget Life According to Garp, Cider House Rules (book was much better than the movie), Water Method man and of course, Prayer for Owen Meany.

:)

[kanrok]

21. Conroy

Lyrical comes to mind.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

3. Tom Robbins

[JitterbugPerfume]

4. I agree

Tom Robbins

I also love Barbara Kingsolver and Octavia Butler

[pretzel4gore]

5. roderick thorpe....

his book 'the river' is about the best serial killer story ever (made less topical by capture of the green river killer, but still great) - he also wrote 'die hard' and 'the detective'

[pretzel4gore]

24. ooops, thorpe is dead!

sorry you who believe everything you read...i mistatemented it wrongly...mr thorp passed away in calif in 1999.

[Kire]

6. Stephen King, Anne Rice, Tom Clancy

oh, sorry, I thought you said over-rated

[peacefreak]

7. Two who deserve to be read

Howard Frank Mosher
Donald Harington
Mosher writes about the Northeast Kingdom in Vermont. Among my favorites are "Marie Blythe" & "Northern Borders"

Harington has woven tales around a mythical town of Stay More, Arkansas for over 30 years. He can be by turn bawdy, funny & heartfelt. I've read just about everything he's written. His newest is "With". It's about a little girl who was kidnapped & brought to a remote mountaintop. Her kidnapper meets a deserved end & the little girl is left to her own devices. She makes a peaceable kingdom for herself. This one is great because Harington species shifts--the animal cast is worth reading for its own merit. There is also a spirit called an inhabit--part of a person's soul left behind when he moved away.
Sorry, I rattle on....I really did love this one. It will stay on my shelf forever.

[Crankie Avalon]

9. Wow...

...never heard of either of them. Maybe I'll search them out, now.

Howard Frank Mosher: http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/catalog/authordetail.cfm?authorID=3389

Donald Harington: http://www.donaldharington.com/home.html

[DrZeeLit]

19. a Vermonter?

... snow on Killington yesterday... waaaay up top!
(I know, that's a far cry from Northeast Kingdom... but at least I live in VT)

[EstimatedProphet]

8. Ursula K. LeGuin

At least I think she's still alive...

[Crankie Avalon]

10. Has anyone evere read anything by Katherine Dunn...

...besides Geek Love?

I have to admit, I found that book pretty amazing, though some might say it's too "shocking." Still, if any of her other stuff comes close to it, I'd definitely put her on the underrated/under-read list.

[latebloomer]

17. No, but I loved "Geek Love"!

My husband and I read it on our honeymoon.

[peacefreak]

11. 'Nother one

Christopher Moore--flat out fun

[Crankie Avalon]

15. You're right...

...he does sound fun: http://www.chrismoore.com/

[maveric]

12. Will Pitt n/t

[jdots]

13. MARK LEYNER

this is some funny stuff very intellegent but i even get it

[latebloomer]

18. "I Smell Esther Williams"

He's a cool guy. Hung out with him years ago once or twice when we were living in Hoboken, NJ.

I always remember that weird riff he did about saving a vial of Abraham Lincoln's morning breath.

[IconoclastIlene]

14. Like poets, you never reach your true potential until its posthoumously

[Elidor]

16. Evan S. Connell

Son of the Morning Star and Deus Lo Volt!

A great, original writer. I think he works for the post office.

[indigobusiness]

20. Madison Smartt Bell

Dr. Sleep
Straight Cut
Save Me Joe Louis

his more recent epic works I haven't gotten around to.

[indigobusiness]

22. Peter Mathiessen

how does he get such short shrift?

The Snow Leopard

At Play in the Fields of the Lord

Far Tortuga

Killing Mr. Watson/Lost Man's River/Bone by Bone--- Watson trilogy

[PassingFair]

23. Alice Walker

and a big vote for Jeffery Eugenides (sp?) who wrote the Virgin Suicides and Middlesex. Best book I've read this year.