There are many peices of literature that have shaped my life. I have listed some authors and titles below so that others may enjoy them as well.

The works of S.E. Hinton are about lives of teenagers in Tulsa, Oklahoma area in the 1960s. Her characters are deep and they struggle with many of the issues that all of us struggle with despite age or generation. The most famous of her books is The Outsiders. The Outsiders was made into a movie in 1982 and it started the careers of many famous actors including Matt Dilon, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, and Ralph Macchio. The best information that I could find on S.E. Hinton was Mona Kirby's The Author's Corner. There she has provided an overview of S.E. Hinton's books, a short biography, and another links page.

Bryce Courtenay's works include The Power of One and its sequal Tandia, Tommo and Hawk, April Fools Day, A Recipe for Dreaming, Meeting at the Smoky Joe Cafe, and Solomon's Song. Each of these stories have magnificent setting, wonderful characters, and good storytelling qualities. Bryce Courtenay's Site gives information on Bryce and all of his novels.

The works of William Shakespeare What can I say about the master that has not already been said or done?

The works of Edgar Allen Poe The dark master of gothic literature. He ispired my morbid curiosity to question the cycle of life and death and where human extremes such as love, fear, and hate fit into those cycles.

Larry McMurtry As odd as it seems to have a western writer in this forum, Larry McMurtry's novels are full of rich characters, deep plots, and full environments.

Dee Brown's Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee is a novel about the systematic destruction of the native population. A lot of history is told in this novel that somehow never makes it into history books. Randall Bouza's book review best describes the the pull and strength of this book.

Sam Kieth's The Maxx is a comic book series about a street bum named Maxx who shares a bond with a social worker named Julie and another of her clients named Julie. The Maxx is drawn into Julie's self conscience in a place that resembles the Austrailia. There and in the real world he must battle Mr. Gone and his denziens the Isz. This is a comic series that can be read on many levels; a entertaining comic series, a serious character study, or the series can be looked in a clinical sense. The Maxx's Box is an excellent source for understanding this story.

The works of R.A. Salvatore, are a group of novels based in the Forgotten Realms. Silvatore's characters are deep and well developed and they are set against exiting adventures in a medevial realm. The R.A. Silvatore site contains a biography, a novel list and R.A. Salvatore's e-mail address.