Is There a "Number One" Writer Today?

I found this article semi-interesting, especially in a day and age where we seem stretched for solidly authentic writers, those who could ascend to the pantheon of literary greats. Who is Number One? I know a lot of us have debated this around the keg water cooler. I tell you this with the utmost conviction - tis Martin Amis!

And I'm glad to see his name mentioned. Because he is seriously brilliant. If you're unsure, just do as I did: Read Money by Amis and then immediately after, read Water for Elephants. You won't even be able to read Water for Elephants. You will read the first paragraph and then set the book on fire and then you'll search the pubs of London for Martin Amis and kiss his satirical feet. Okay, I didn't go to London, but I would kiss his feet if ever they were placed before me.

Now I haven't read every contemporary writer out there - come to think of it, I haven't read many - but I've noticed that literature has evolved into this monster of easy, immediate satisfaction. Contemporary novels are easy to read, easy to access, and easy to forget. They are easily made into movies that easily make a huge profit and are easily forgotten. Nothing of value stays. Contemporary fiction is like a Twitter feed: something meaningless yet slightly entertaining is delivered to the masses and then it disappears with the next twenty bits of meaningless entertainment.

But Martin Amis hails from the class of writers exclusively focused on delivering art. And by art, I mean creations that add value to life. He is of Saul Bellow, of Philip Roth, and of Vladimir Nabokov. He believes in the art of the written word and has dedicated his career to mastering it. Amis's writing doesn't revolve around his plot, but his plot revolves around his writing. And that's what literature should be. I don't want to read the Jodi Pecoults, the Nicholas Sparks, and the Stephenie Meyers. The stories are entertaining, yes. The writing? I need a little more entertainment in that department. They read like high school essays, like user manuals with adjectives piled on top of adjectives. The grammar is correct, the message clear and understandable, but nothing takes a risk. Not one thing is ballsy.

Even the writers a few steps above Stephenie Meyer - Jonathan Franzen, Sara Gruen maybe - they're good writers .... in theory. Sentences are structured well; they're clear and concise. But they don't have balls. I realize that Sara Gruen is a gal, but writing needs to take a risk. You can't follow a formula, you can't be safe and great. Martin Amis never plays it safe. And he gets flack for it. Even his own father (Kingsley Amis, a renowned British author) accused Martin of "breaking the rules, buggering about with the reader, drawing attention to himself." The younger Amis is an exhibitionist, his obscenely large vocabulary on 24-hour display. It can be a bit offensive for those who don't have a great sense of humor. But finish one of his novels, and you'll realize that there wasn't one cliche in the whole book. And if there was - have no fear! - it was written with brazen irony. I love Martin Amis, because he's a scientist. He experiments, he challenges himself and his readers, yet he knows the rules. Amis knows the confines of his discipline and he knows how to navigate them, to disrupt them without destroying them. He shakes things up a bit. Martin Amis is Number One, because he's been a student of great writing his whole life and continues to be even into his literal and metaphorical professorship. He consumes it. He emanates it. He believes in great writing, challenges it, and delivers it.

This is my ode to Martin Amis, my only idol. If you have not read anything of his, I recommend that (some of you) do. He's not for everyone. Here's a checklist:

1. You like a challenging read.
2. You enjoy an ironic, slightly perverse sense of humor.
3. You long to bask in the glory of immaculate writing.

If all of the above apply to you, then go buy a Martin Amis novel from Amazon for God's sake! Okay, not for God's sake, but your own, for mine, for the future of creative writing! Go forth and spring life unto the earth!