American People Famous Authors from United States

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List of the most popular authors from United States, listed alphabetically with photos when available. For centuries authors have been among the world's most important people, helping chronicle history and keep us entertained with one of the earliest forms of storytelling. Whether they're known for fiction, non-fiction, poetry or even technical writing, the famous American authors on this list have kept that tradition alive by writing renowned works that have been praised around the world. You can find useful information below about these notable American writers, such as when they were born and where their place of birth was.

List authors include Amos Eaton, Andrew I. Porter and more.

This list answers the questions, "Which famous authors are from United States?" and "Who are the best American authors?"

For further information on these historic American authors, click on their names. If you're a bookworm then use this list of celebrated American authors to discover some new books that you will enjoy reading.

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1

Angelina Jolie Notes from My Travels, Justice for Darfur, Justice Delayed Is Not Justice Denied
Angelina Jolie Pitt is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and has been cited as ...more

2

Eminem The Way I Am, Angry Blonde
Marshall Bruce Mathers III, better known by his stage name Eminem, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter, and actor. In addition to his solo career, he is a member of the group D12, ...more

3

Allen Ginsberg Howl, Pull My Daisy, Collected poems 1947-1980
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of both the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the counterculture that soon would follow. He vigorously opposed economic ...more

4

Anne Rice The Queen of the Damned, Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Armand
Anne Rice is an American author of gothic fiction, Christian literature. She is perhaps best known for her popular and influential series of novels, The Vampire Chronicles, revolving around the ...more

5

Andy Warhol Popism: The Warhol Sixties, A, A Novel
Andy Warhol was an American artist who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture and ...more

6

Andrew Holleran Ground Zero, In September, the Light Changes: The Stories of Andrew Holleran
Eric Garber is a writer.

7

Alfred Hitchcock Sinister Spies, Read With Caution, The Crooked Cat
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was an English film director and producer. Often nicknamed "The Master of Suspense", he pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological ...more

8

Angela Elwell Hunt The secret of Cravenhill Castle, The elevator, The Riddle of Baby Rosalind
Angela Elwell Hunt is a prolific Christian author, and her books include The Tale of Three Trees, The Debt, The Note, and The Nativity Story, among others.

9

Anaïs Nin Delta of Venus, Henry and June, Fire: From a Journal of Love
Anaïs Nin was an author born to Cuban parents in France, where she was also raised. She spent some time in Spain and Cuba but lived most of her life in the United States where she became an ...more

10

Alice Walker The Color Purple, Possessing the Secret of Joy, The Temple of My Familiar
Alice Malsenior Walker is an American author and activist. She wrote the critically acclaimed novel The Color Purple for which she won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. ...more

11

Adrienne Rich An Atlas of the Difficult World, On Lies, Secrets and Silence
Adrienne Cecile Rich was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was ...more

12

Andre Norton Garan the Eternal, The Elvenbane, Sargasso of Space
Andre Alice Norton was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy with some works of historical fiction and contemporary fiction. She wrote primarily under the pen name Andre Norton, but ...more

13

Dick Wolf The Intercept
Richard Anthony "Dick" Wolf is an American television producer, specializing in dramas such as Miami Vice and the Law & Order franchise. He has won several awards including an Emmy ...more

14

Ambrose Bierce Tales of Soldiers and Civilians, The Devil's Dictionary, A Sole Survivor: Bits of Autobiography
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was an American editorialist, journalist, short story writer, fabulist, and satirist. He wrote the short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and compiled ...more

15

Andrew Preston Peabody Portsmouth Sunday school hymn book, The choice of a profession, Views of duty adapted to the times
Andrew Preston Peabody was an American clergyman and author. Born in Beverly, Massachusetts, Peabody was descended from Lieut. Francis Peabody of St. Albans, who emigrated to Massachusetts in ...more

16

Anita Desai Fasting, Feasting, The Village by the Sea
Anita Mazumdar Desai is an Indian novelist and the Emerita John E. Burchard Professor of Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a writer she has been shortlisted for the ...more

17

Andy Rooney Common Nonsense, And more by Andy Rooney, My War
Andrew Aitken "Andy" Rooney was an American radio and television writer. He was best known for his weekly broadcast "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney," a part of the CBS News ...more

18

Al Capp Michael Wm. Kaluta Sketchbook, From Dogpatch to Slobbovia, The return of the Shmoo
Alfred Gerald Caplin, better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip Li'l Abner, which he created in 1934 and continued writing and ...more

19

Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business, Nation Transformed by Information, Express trusts under the common law
Alfred DuPont Chandler, Jr. was a professor of business history at Harvard Business School and Johns Hopkins University, who wrote extensively about the scale and the management structures of ...more

20

Andrew Greeley Confessions of a Parish Priest: An Autobiography, Ethnicity, Irish Cream
Andrew M. Greeley was an American Roman Catholic priest, sociologist, journalist and popular novelist. Greeley was a Professor of Sociology at the University of Arizona and the University of ...more

21

Allan Havis Haut Goût, American Political Plays, Haunting of Jim Crow
Allan Havis is a playwright with pronounced political themes and probes on colliding cultures. His works range from minimal-language texts to ambiguous, ironic narratives that delineate the ...more

22

Abraham Verghese The Tennis Partner, My Own Country: A Doctor's Story of a Town and Its People in the Age of Aids, Cutting for Stone
Abraham Verghese is a physician-author, Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Stanford University Medical School and Senior Associate Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. ...more

23

Alan Alda Never Have Your Dog Stuffed And Other Things I've Learned, Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself (Random House Large Print
Alan Alda is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his starring roles as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV ...more

24

Alyssa Milano Safe At Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic
Alyssa Jayne Milano (born December 19, 1972) is an American actress, activist, producer and former singer. She is best known for her roles in Who's the Boss?, Melrose Place, Charmed, My Name is ...more

25

Aaron Sorkin The West Wing Script Book, The Farnsworth Invention, The "West Wing" Scriptbook
Aaron Benjamin Sorkin is an American screenwriter, producer, and playwright. His works include the Broadway plays A Few Good Men and The Farnsworth Invention; the television series Sports Night, ...more

1 Angelina Jolie Notes from My Travels, Justice for Darfur, Justice Delayed Is Not Justice Denied Angelina Jolie Pitt is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and has been cited as ...more

2 Eminem The Way I Am, Angry Blonde Marshall Bruce Mathers III, better known by his stage name Eminem, is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter, and actor. In addition to his solo career, he is a member of the group D12, ...more

3 Allen Ginsberg Howl, Pull My Daisy, Collected poems 1947-1980 Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of both the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the counterculture that soon would follow. He vigorously opposed economic ...more

4 Anne Rice The Queen of the Damned, Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Armand Anne Rice is an American author of gothic fiction, Christian literature. She is perhaps best known for her popular and influential series of novels, The Vampire Chronicles, revolving around the ...more

5 Andy Warhol Popism: The Warhol Sixties, A, A Novel Andy Warhol was an American artist who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture and ...more

6 Andrew Holleran Ground Zero, In September, the Light Changes: The Stories of Andrew Holleran Eric Garber is a writer.

7 Alfred Hitchcock Sinister Spies, Read With Caution, The Crooked Cat Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was an English film director and producer. Often nicknamed "The Master of Suspense", he pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological ...more

8 Angela Elwell Hunt The secret of Cravenhill Castle, The elevator, The Riddle of Baby Rosalind Angela Elwell Hunt is a prolific Christian author, and her books include The Tale of Three Trees, The Debt, The Note, and The Nativity Story, among others.

9 Anaïs Nin Delta of Venus, Henry and June, Fire: From a Journal of Love Anaïs Nin was an author born to Cuban parents in France, where she was also raised. She spent some time in Spain and Cuba but lived most of her life in the United States where she became an ...more

10 Alice Walker The Color Purple, Possessing the Secret of Joy, The Temple of My Familiar Alice Malsenior Walker is an American author and activist. She wrote the critically acclaimed novel The Color Purple for which she won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. ...more

11 Adrienne Rich An Atlas of the Difficult World, On Lies, Secrets and Silence Adrienne Cecile Rich was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was ...more

12 Andre Norton Garan the Eternal, The Elvenbane, Sargasso of Space Andre Alice Norton was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy with some works of historical fiction and contemporary fiction. She wrote primarily under the pen name Andre Norton, but ...more

13 Dick Wolf The Intercept Richard Anthony "Dick" Wolf is an American television producer, specializing in dramas such as Miami Vice and the Law & Order franchise. He has won several awards including an Emmy ...more

16 Anita Desai Fasting, Feasting, The Village by the Sea Anita Mazumdar Desai is an Indian novelist and the Emerita John E. Burchard Professor of Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a writer she has been shortlisted for the ...more

17 Andy Rooney Common Nonsense, And more by Andy Rooney, My War Andrew Aitken "Andy" Rooney was an American radio and television writer. He was best known for his weekly broadcast "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney," a part of the CBS News ...more

18 Al Capp Michael Wm. Kaluta Sketchbook, From Dogpatch to Slobbovia, The return of the Shmoo Alfred Gerald Caplin, better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip Li'l Abner, which he created in 1934 and continued writing and ...more

20 Andrew Greeley Confessions of a Parish Priest: An Autobiography, Ethnicity, Irish Cream Andrew M. Greeley was an American Roman Catholic priest, sociologist, journalist and popular novelist. Greeley was a Professor of Sociology at the University of Arizona and the University of ...more

21 Allan Havis Haut Goût, American Political Plays, Haunting of Jim Crow Allan Havis is a playwright with pronounced political themes and probes on colliding cultures. His works range from minimal-language texts to ambiguous, ironic narratives that delineate the ...more

24 Alyssa Milano Safe At Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic Alyssa Jayne Milano (born December 19, 1972) is an American actress, activist, producer and former singer. She is best known for her roles in Who's the Boss?, Melrose Place, Charmed, My Name is ...more

25 Aaron Sorkin The West Wing Script Book, The Farnsworth Invention, The "West Wing" Scriptbook Aaron Benjamin Sorkin is an American screenwriter, producer, and playwright. His works include the Broadway plays A Few Good Men and The Farnsworth Invention; the television series Sports Night, ...more