The Ladder

Every ballot counted · rankings move with every vote

1. 23Dr. SeussWriters15–41635
2. 60Stephen KingWriters12–31609
3. 183Harper LeeWriters13–81567
4. 190Kurt VonnegutWriters11–51566
5. 223Ralph EllisonWriters11–51557
6. 239Langston HughesWriters8–61554
7. 261J.D. SalingerWriters12–61548
8. 316Ray BradburyWriters8–51538
9. 321Michael CrichtonWriters8–51537
10. 363Toni MorrisonWriters7–41529
11. 367Octavia ButlerWriters7–41529
12. 390Maya AngelouWriters6–41525
13. 400James BaldwinWriters7–51523
14. 417Alice WalkerWriters7–61520
15. 418Isaac AsimovWriters7–51520
16. 493John SteinbeckWriters6–51507
17. 568Truman CapoteWriters5–71492
18. 606Sylvia PlathWriters7–71486
19. 665Arthur MillerWriters6–91475
20. 706Tom ClancyWriters7–81465
21. 710Philip K. DickWriters8–111465
22. 714Hunter S. ThompsonWriters4–71464
23. 722Charles BukowskiWriters6–81462
24. 729Joan DidionWriters7–101460
25. 734Cormac McCarthyWriters4–81458
26. 741Shel SilversteinWriters7–131457
27. 807Nora EphronWriters4–111445
28. 816Joseph HellerWriters7–111441
29. 817Jack KerouacWriters5–81441
30. 838Noam ChomskyWriters3–81437
31. 883Tennessee WilliamsWriters2–81427
32. 891Norman MailerWriters3–101424
33. 930Richard WrightWriters5–141413
34. 934William F. Buckley Jr.Writers2–81413
35. 940Thomas PynchonWriters8–191411
36. 948Gore VidalWriters4–131409
37. 951Allen GinsbergWriters6–151409
38. 955Tom WolfeWriters4–101407
39. 1047Ursula K. Le GuinWriters2–151339