Vonnegut. You can't really say anything about Vonnegut without somehow insulting him. This is my feeling, at any rate. For example, if you say "Kurt Vonnegut is a great author," he might say "I don't write so well, there are many who write better than me." If you say "Vonnegut has a unique vision of the world," he might say "I have the same vision of the world as everyone else, i simply tell them all about it." Or some such. What he would say would probably be more clever and to the point. Both of these things might be subjectivly true, though.
Farmer. i used to like farmer as an author much more before i read Gods of Riverworld. sill, if you're looking for an epic.
Heinlein. What a guy. Starship Troopers is incalculably better than the movie. After reading the book, i wasn't supprised not to have seen his name anywhere in association with the movie. Read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress first, though, then Troopers, then Job; a Comedy of Justice. Good god! how could i forget (in no particular order) Tunnel in the Sky, Citizen of the Galaxy, Have Spacesuit, Will Travel, etc., etc.! And i think he wrote Farnham's Freehold, which is well worth a read, either way.
Adams. It's just fun. If you're looking for a way of life, or a philosophy or some such, go to Vonnegut. People worship the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as a beacon of this-or-that, but that sort of people don't really get the point. In my opinion anyway. Still, the guide is a masterwork.
News Flash! it was recently revealed to me that Douglas Adams is a nihilistic author. the enjoyability comes from a kind of philosophical release, or what have you. maybe the worship thing isn't so bad. i'm all for a Hitchiker's religion, if it were done well. Liff could be some kind of new testment.
Movies: the Four Tiers
Tier One
a. Brazil, directed by Terry Gilliam. It's about a man being eaten by a machine. One of my favorite features is that there are about a half dozen spots where the movie could end, and end well, but it keeps going, making this a good one to watch very late at night, while your subconscious tries to take off without you. You'll know the real ending when it shows up.
b. Dr. Strangelove, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, directed by the (slightly less-than) immortal Kubrick. it's easier for you to just watch the thing than for me to describe it. I should watch more of his movies.
One of the things that draws me to these two movies is their endings. For a while (and perhaps yet again... you never know) 12 Monkeys shared my top tier, and again i appreciate the ending most of all. (i think it had to be removed so that gilliam wouldn't outnumber kubrick. maybe i'll really really like full metal jacket, and then my subconscious will let me like 12 monkeys as much again, but anyway) It might be pertinent to point out that neither of these movies has what would popularly be described as a happy ending, yet always at their ends i feel as happy as ever i do. jigga me. i'm toying with some kind of neo-nihilistic, reveling in the beautiful nonsenceicality of life explanation, but we'll see.
Tier Two, in no particular order. (?)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Shaft through Shaft in Africa (accept no imitations), the Blues Brothers, Young Frankenstine (more than Blazing Saddles. Frankenstine is just better, in my opinion), many more. Things that kick ass.
Tier Four
Diamonds. I can't bring myself to say any more.