I love all three of Gillian Flynn’s suspense novels (here are my reviews of her work and my podcast interview with her). In today’s NYT, Flynn discusses books she’s read, and plans to read.
Who is your favorite novelist of all time? And your favorite novelist writing today?
Those two questions probably have the same answer: Joyce Carol Oates. She is simply the most consistently inventive, brilliant, curious and creative writer going, as far as I’m concerned. I first read her in college: Her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” is basically dread personified (I love dread). I’ve been reading her ever since. She is a genuine, sharp chronicler of our times with a remarkable ability to sway from keen modernity to complete Gothic. I love her writing because I never know what I’m going to get, but I always know it will be unique and big-voiced.