But you’re supposed to wait! Send them to me for the grand revealing!

That’s okay — I’ll just copy and paste.

Except for No. 1, all others in no particular order.

1) David Mamet. Glengarry Glen Ross is my absolute favorite of his, both book and film. House of Games and Oleanna as well. If you have the chance, he also has two incredible interviews on his writing process with Elvis Mitchell on the Treatment podcast here.

2) Cohen Bros. Not just because you suggested it either, but while Mamet writes with great rhythm, their ear for writing regional dialect is uncanny: Raising Arizona. O Brother, Where Art Thou? Fargo.

3) Mark Fenske. Copywriter at Wieden + Kennedy. His blog is here and every word he writes seems to be just right one.

4) Quentin Tarentino – Micky Spillane meets Mamet.

5) Anthony Swofford – Solid columnist. Great book, Jarhead.

6) Shawn Colvin – Complicated relationship themes and a great voice to deliver them with.

7) Whoever wrote the Apple Quickstart guides. Genius actually.

8) Garry Shandling. (Next to UK Office, The Larry Sanders Show may be the funniest show ever written. Performances are always key no matter what show you’re talking about, but someone still has to write it.)

9) Barry Levinson – Very solid film screenwriter but my favorite is his TV work: Homicide: Life on the Street. one of the best detective shows there was.

10) Peter Gabriel/Sting/Bono – Lyrics with universal human themes. None of them ever really sing about their ex-girlfriend walking down the street the way a Tom Petty might.

1. Ken Kesey — the greatest American writer, bar none. There’s nothing like it. Too bad he only wrote a few books, but he did more with those few than most do with dozens. Kesey is an enormously influential cultural figure. As a corollary to Kesey, I’d recommend Tom Wolfe’s “Electric Kool Aid Acid Test,” which is sort of a biography of Kesey and his gang of Merry Pranksters.

2. John Steinbeck — needs no explanation. His stories bring tears to my eyes.

3. Tom Robbins — perhaps a bit obscure, and definitely out there, but deep, profound, hilarious, and superbly entertaining.

4. Fyodor Dostoyevsky — if you want to learn how to *write*, read Dostoyevsky. Rich and deep and complex, but amusing and fun as well.

5. Jack Kerouac — there are some writers you just identify with, regardless of the writing itself. That’s sort of how I feel about Kerouac. Nothing special about Kerouac’s writing itself, but what’s behind it is what’s important.

6. Robert Heinlein — I’ve read only one of his books (Stranger in a Strange Land) but it was enough to get him on this list. Heinlein is a sci fi writer, but he uses sci fi to communicate some truly revolutionary ideas. It’s the ideas that make Heinlein worth reading.

7. Richard Bach — of “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” fame. Simple books which communicate a great way to look at life. They’re all worth reading. Particularly “Illusions.”

8. Robert Pirsig — wrote the cult favorite “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” a book which is sort of like a pencil sharpener for your mind. I think it makes you a little smarter to read that book. He wrote another one too, “Lila,” which is just as good. Pirsig isn’t for everybody (like most of the authors on this list) but if you have an interest in Eastern philosophies, this is a good book.

I’m sure I’m forgetting many, but this is what comes to mind. I’m intentionally leaving off non-fiction and the great philosophers, like Plato, Rousseau, Locke, and Nietzsche.

Ahhh … so many books, so little time to read them. Your library looks marvelous.