I enjoy Stephen King. Sure, he’s not genius, but he knows how to tell a story, and he usually dosen’t insult my intelligence. Still, i have an insintual snobbery toward Dean Koontz, John Grishman, etc. Except for Micheal Crichton (sorta enjoyed) and Tom Clancy (can’t really remember), I haven’t read any of these authors.
So… defend your favorite mainstream author, either as a guilty pleasure or a genuine talent destroyed by bad marketing. For my part, I’ll defend The Dark Tower books as a fantasy series second only to Tolkien…
(er, defend them when i’m more awake, and when someone challenges them)
I’m confused. I’ve always heard “mainstream” writers to be literary writers, explicitly not bestsellers or genre writers. Mainstream writers are the sort who win Pulitzer or Booker prizes, something that none of the people you mention will ever do.
OK, as long as everybody understands that’s the exact opposite of how the term is usually used.
This page offers a definition of mainstream. She separates it from literary, which I don’t agree with – mainstream includes literary – but it might help guide you.
Well, despite what others may say about him, I’ll stick up for John Grisham. He may not be some sort of tortured genius spouting vague, obscure allusions, but his books very enjoyable. Addictive, even. I really have trouble putting anything that man writes down and going to sleep. Every time I read one of his books, I read it straight through from beginning to end in one sitting, no matter how long that sitting may be.
I don’t know if he’s considered “mainstream” (I would think so after the success of the movie Fight Club), but I nominate Chuck Palahnuik. Not only is his writing fantastic, thought-provoking and hilarious, he is a very, very nice person to boot. Mr. Bunny and I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting with him quite a while at a reading in Eugene, he signed all our books and because we could not afford a copy of his latest novel at that time, he shipped us a rare British printing that he signed for us, and enclosed lots of cute little trinkets and things between the pages. What a sweetie!
I’ll support MaxtheVool and Stephe96 and give a third to Stephen Hunter. I’m not a huge fan of the super action thriller but Point of Impact was awesome. Bob Lee Swagger…what a character.
I wondered who Stephen Hunter was but then realised. I’ve only read Dirty White Boys and Black Light from the library years ago but they were both great. I’ll look for more now.
My current favourites are James Lee Burke and Michael Connelly.
I like Dean Koontz – I’m reading his new one now (it’s upstairs, and with a purring cat in my lap I’m not going to go up to look at the title). He writes a good page-turner.
James Lee Burke has gone too far for me – too dark – but I do like Michael Connelly.
Jonathan Kellerman also writes a good page-turner.
Anne Rice is a brilliant story-teller. Her novels are full of incredibly imagery and fascinating in-depth characters. I have heard many readers complain about particular books of hers saying that they really hated such-and-such a character more in this book than another. This just shows how she creates wonderfully dynamic characters that you become really close to. And her descriptions of people and architecture and art and music are honestly and completely “beautiful.”
And while we’re on the subject…Christopher Rice, her gay 24 year old son, has 2 absolutely brilliant novels, The Snow Garden and A Density of Souls. These novels rival Anne herself as the best to come out of New Orleans in the past 50 years.
If Anne Rice is the best that came from New Orleans in the last 50 years, that city culture heritage is overblown
But I’ll confess that I liked some of his Vampire Chronicles. Some were entertaining but they are not by any chance great.
Wilbur Smith, Tom Clancy and Stephen King are also good story teller, although I think that Clancy should drop his intention to indoctrinate it’s readers.
