Don Delillo
I have many literary heroes, as one might guess me being a literature professor and all. While not my greatest influence (I came to DeLillo late in my academic career), Don DeLillo is the guy I work with the most today. He never fails to surprise me with his abilities. His greatest book, in my estimation, is White Noise (1985). I teach it every semester. It is a compact picture of the postmodern condition in America at the height of its effect, told through the eyes of a perceptive, albeit wormy college professor of Hitler who can’t even read German. And that fact is the best definition of postmodernism I can offer anyone.
My favorite novel of his is Ratner’s Star (1976), a long, complex and paranoid story of a kid with the mathematical gifts of Gauss, but the wherewithal of a ten-year old boy. If you want more on what I think of DeLillo’s work, feel free to search out my professional publications where you can find my comments in abundance.
A Good DeLillo Site: http://perival.com/delillo/delillo.html
The Official Don DeLillo Society Site: http://www.k-state.edu/english/nelp/delillo/