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How many books does it take for someone to be one of your favorite authors?
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I think takes three or four for someone to make my "all-time" list.My list (fiction) is currently headed by Isaac Asimov, who had a whole trove of excellent works. Robert Ludlum, Jack Chalker, Robert B. Parker, Roberta MacAvoy and Kenneth Flint are favorites, each with at least four books I've enjoyed. Most authors have been more hit-or-miss.
Most on my list are part of the mass market paperback crowd. My experience has been that the heavier hitters (Gaiman, Atwood, etc.) are fantastic when they "hit" but less than lovely when they "miss."
I doesn't take a lot of books to make someone a favourite. A few short stories are enough, as long as they're really good. Unfortunately some authors never wrote more than a few short stories and one novel :(
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Either.
Thomas Mann became a favorite after one novel, and one novella. He's just so good. Will his other works measure up? I have no idea. I'd probably say the same about Willa Cather. I'm reading my third Cather and so far it's not measuring up to the first two, but we'll see.
There's something about Norman Mailer I really enjoy although he's so uneven. Incredibly talented, incredibly uneven. Within a book, he's uneven.
I enjoyed one John Le Carre hugely (Tinker, Tailor), hated his latest. I still think he'll be a favorite though even if he is uneven.
Then there are the genre writers who created characters I came to love (Elizabeth George, P.D. James). People love the books that feature these characters, and don't tend to love the books that don't. When these people write "standalone" books, they're never as popular.
It all depends on the book/s. Alice Hoffman was established among my favorites for Practical Magic alone, but I averaged out most of Stephen King's works overall. Austen could have just written one book and I would have loved her, but I adore all of her books and just wish she could have lived to produce more. Anne Rice is another that I would consider my favorite for Interview with the Vampire, although I like the majority of her work before she went crazy religious. Most of my favorite authors have produced more than one book I really like, but quantity isn't important to me when determining a favorite.
My favorites tend to be people with a minimum of 3 books, I will almost certainly forever love you, if you can end a great series without totally ruining every character (and it's preferable if you don't kill my favorite character too, but I realize that's to much to ask for from most author's)
Phil wrote: "I think takes three or four for someone to make my "all-time" list.My list (fiction) is currently headed by Isaac Asimov, who had a whole trove of excellent works. Robert Ludlum, Jack Chalker, R..."
It can really take just one book. If I really like the first book I read I seek out the author for their next work but that has burned me too.
I loved Larry McMurtry for his early work but I got a little tired of his westerns as time went on.
I liked Barbara Kingsolver for a while there too-the last one I read was Poisonwood Bible.
I like most of Lee Child as well as Harlan Coben and Robert Parker.
Often, it takes just the one book that makes me want to read more of a particular author. If the second or third continues to hold my attention and interest, I would likely classify the author as a favorite. For me, the seed is sewn in one book.
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Is favorite author a matter of quantity or quality?
Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote one of my favorite books, but I've really not been moved by most of his writing.
Neil Gaiman and Connie Willis are writers for whom I seek out every published work.
John Irving and Alice Hoffman are writers with multiple books that I absolutely loved, though I haven't run out to buy every new book.
Etc...