Hard question! I have a few that I'll mention.

Phillip K Dick. Has one of the best minds of any writer ever. I don't think his writing skills are amazing but his humour and his intelligence are astounding. He writes some of my favourite short stories, as well as having really good political messages and philosophical views. Breakfast At Twilight (anti war short story) is the only fictional piece of work (on any medium) that has ever made me cry - just the last paragraphs ring so true with me. I'm reading Ubik right now and really enjoy it. I think Valis would probably rate in my top 5 books of all time. Also really really looking foward to the Scanner Darkly movie.


Bret Easton Ellis. American Psycho is probably my favourite book of all time. Glamourama is also fantastic. Didn't like Rules of Attraction so much but Ellis is definitly a very talented writer. I think his humour is amazing. I'm sure only a very select and twisted group of people get his jokes but luckily I'm one of those people. His style is very unique and he puts forward a very dark view of the world but I think it's easy to relate to his books despite the unrealistic component to them

Chuck Palahnuik. I really like the way he carries through themes in his books. Actually I think his books could easily be seen as a greater version of one of his books - he's carrying a greater theme through his books as he carries through each individuel novel. I'd like to see him branch out a bit. I thought Diary was awesome - very powerful and a well put idea about the nature of art and the way people think about it - but I also found it very predicatable - having read all his other books a number of times - while the details of the story weren't obvious - nothing was very surprising in the book. Still I think he's definitly the most talented and interesting American writer of our generation and I think his work reflects a lot about society these days.

I am currently reading Easton Ellis' 'Less than Zero'. Whilst it's pretty much just a 'Catcher in the Rye' for the 80s, it's still a very interesting read.

Moses.

J.D. Salinger (Catcher in the Rye) and Erich Maria Remarque (All Quiet on the Western Front).

Yeah, I rate Bret Easton Ellis. Glamorama is the pwnership.

Totally. Anybody who likes international spy/conspiracy books - like Robert Ludlum or Tom Clancy or any of that shit should read Glamorama - so fucking good - the best and funniest book of that nature ever written by far.

Matthew Reilly's books are good to kill some time with.

Hope Seven Ancient Wonders is good.

It's not.

I'm reading Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas at the moment. It's fairly insane, and I dont quite 'get' it yet, but I'm really enjoying it. You sort of get a real sense of the narrator's character despite knowing absolutely nothing about him.

Okay, so he's only had one book and a novella, but Mark Z. Danielewski is a formidable new talent, I'm sure anyone who's read House Of Leaves or Whalestoe Letters would agree.

You see, without spoiling anything House Of Leaves of leaves is a genre-bending, sexy, funny, and above all heart-wrenching book. Danielewski has a heart more in tune to sorrow than even the best songwriters. It may be an experimental novel and all, but it's really very moving.

To quote the book, one of my favourite bits, which was actually about the book itself:
"Read it, but be careful, it might change your life."

It was.