Somerset Maugham. I like The Razors Edge. Shell Silverstein. There was a time when I got into the Beat poets and cut up writers like Burroughs and Ginsberg, but I read a lot of non fiction and history now. I also went through a period where I read a lot of early 20th century social critique like H.L Menken and Sinclair Lewis, My favorites, Arrowsmith and Elmer Gantry. Also like early 20th century southern writers I have a few good collections in my library. Everymans Library is a great collection for people interested in 20th century literature. You can find many of them at garage sale for a couple of bucks a piece. Good bindings, they hold their age well.

I like a couple of italian one, like Stefano Benni and the first books by Baricco.
My most favourite is probably Pennac. Because theyr style keep me curios to read!

Alistair Reynolds, Ben Bova, Stephen King, Arthur C. Clarke, Orson Scott Card, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Douglas Adams, and Philip K. Dick.

I am a huge fan of Douglas Adams, his use of sarcasm and amazing descriptions of the most ridiculous situations always tickle me pink.

Hermann Hesse and John Le Carre.

For me the opening of 'Under Milk Wood' by Dylan Thomas is about as perfect as the written word in English can be.

The First Voice's introduction, starting:-

'To begin at the beginning:
It is spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black, the cobblestreets silent and the hunched, courters'-and-rabbits' wood limping invisible down to the sloeblack, slow, black, crowblack, fishingboat-bobbing sea ...'

on to:-

'... Only you can hear and see, behind the eyes of the sleepers, the movements and countries and mazes and colours and dismays and rainbows and tunes and wishes and flight and fall and despairs and big seas of their dreams.
From where you are, you can hear their dreams.'

For me those words are magic beyond belief. Haunting. Overwhelming. Words of extraordinary rhythm, power and image ... and if I hear them spoken well, by someone who understands them and knows how to make the best of them, they will instantly reduce me to tears of wonder.

Poets:

• Lord Byron's poetry is wonderful. "Darkness" is badass. And "She Walks in Beauty" is my favorite love poem.
• Emily Dickinson is also great. "Because I could not stop for Death" is one of my favorite poems. It doesn't hurt that you can sing pretty much all of her poems to the tune of "The Yellow Rose of Texas."
• William Shakespeare's sonnets are magnificent. Sonnet 18, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" is perfect in its anti-comparison comparison.

Playwrights:

• William Shakespeare, of course. Pure genius. I especially enjoy Hamlet.
• Oscar Wilde is one of the wittiest writers I've read. The Importance of Being Earnest is funny and clever.
• Edward Albee earns a place on this list strictly for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. The sheer dysfunction illustrated therein is riveting.

Novelists:

• Mark Twain's plainspoken way, biting sarcasm, and compelling stories make him one of my absolute favorite authors. The Mysterious Stranger may be my favorite story, though only a manuscript, though I also love A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
• Gene Wolfe, though I haven't read much of his writing, became a favorite right away. I read his novella "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" and loved the story, and then read the eponymous novel (containing three novellas) and couldn't get over how versatile his writing is and how intricate his plots are.
• Dean Koontz gets a lot of flak, but I honestly don't know why. I don't love everything I've read from him, but he has a rather compelling style and his stories are always interesting. Phantoms was my first introduction, and I absolutely loved it.
• Isaac Asimov has forever been a favorite, though I haven't read of his works in a long time. He was so prolific a writer that it's difficult to imagine anyone accomplishing so much without running out of story ideas. His stories about robots probably stand out most to me, because he's so well known for them, but I think I may have enjoyed The Gods Themselves the most of any novel of his I read.

My favorite author is David Seabury because he wrote The Art Of Selfishness. I also like Allan watts.

I like “contemplation in a tool shed” by Campbell. My favorite author is Ann Rice, her vampires are just too interesting, and iv got an attraction to the dark and twisted, as well as inspirational.

I typically don’t read poetry. I prefer prose. However, I like darker poets like Poe.

There is not enough time...

Carl Sagan -- clear but intense, educational
Diana Gabaldon -- some of the most delightful escape fiction I've ever read.
Anne McCaffrey -- ditto -- with different planets and societies thrown in
Mary Oliver -- because she seems to so be able to cut to the chase
There are surely more but that's what comes to the top of my head at the moment.

Dean Koontz realms of thinking are progressive. James Patterson can tell a good mystery. I got more but need to go retrieve my kids from school.

Geeze... you got me. I guess my favorite ones are on u-tube. There's been so many things I have learned how to do. Fix a weed eater, a chainsaw, adjust the valves on a lawn mower. Bring back life to 6 rv batteries that cost 150 a piece. It's those how to guys i love. You can save a lot of money if you just tell yourself your going to try...i love it.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
David Lehman!!!!!
Rilke translated by Edward Snow.
Deepti Kapoor.
Richard Russou.
Sarah Teasedale.

Favorite poem of all time:
I Am by John Clare.
But he's not a top 20 poet for me.