Unranked. Thanks for the rec @elizabeef! This list would probably be different in five ways if I wrote it five times.
Bill Bryson
I’ve never read his fiction but his biographies, his dictionary, and his histories are all smart and admirably concise.
Carson McCullers
A Member of the Wedding is the best in-the-head-of-a-child book I’ve read and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is one of the best books I’ve ever read period.
Cormac McCarthy
Contentious but I adore his writing style and Blood Meridian may be the greatest American novel (TM) since Moby Dick. And he makes me learn: Link
E.B. White
Meticulous perfect writing and fathoms of heart. My hero. See: Link
Harold Bloom
My very favorite brilliant cranky uncle.
Kurt Vonnegut
My sole source of literate education from 15 to 20.
Larry Wall
Sets the bar for technical book writing. Someone I could only aspire to emulate.
Philip Roth
This is based entirely on American Pastoral but it is so immensely good that I am certain everything else (none of which I have read) is excellent too.
Phillip K Dick
Part insanity part brilliance and all intriguing.
William Shakespear
Duh. The most brilliant illustrator of humanity that ever lived.