Originally Posted by: earthman buckPlebeian........

Plebeian? Two of the most celebrated (by many folks anyway), acknowledged and notorious American authors to come along in the past fifty or so years? Plebeian? Interesting-so many working writers today will cite one or both of them as having major impact on their work.

Like I said before, Kerouac has never been one of my favorites but you cannot discount the effect that he had on writers and the development of the novel over the past half of a century. And Thompson forever changed journalism. Like ALL art, they're not for everyone, but plebeian?

And yes, I know, the plebeian quote was directed at those who voted but it is indirectly aimed at the authors noted above.

Sorry, can't agree. Besides, Dickens, Shakespere, Norman Mailer, James Joyce, Thomas Wolfe and Pliny the Elder didn't have their books on the list. I may have voted in that direction if they had. :)