Jerome.

Jerome K Jerome is one of my favourites. He's one of those writers you wish you'd known personally. There are others you greatly admire, but heave a huge sigh of relief that there's no chance of ever having to make light social chit-chat with them.

Me to Tolstoy: "I hear you're very good..."

Me to James Joyce: "Some people seem to like you...er..."

Me to Stieg Larsson: "I mean seriously, I don't NEED to know what make the gun is and where and when it was first manufactured, get on with the story already!...That said, sorry you died and all..."

But this Jerome guy seems an amiable soul who seems to echo my very thoughts on most matters; even though we're divided by nearly two centuries, nationality and gender. Here's an essay (I'm sure he would've been a blog writer if he'd lived in our times) to show you what I mean.

http://www.online-literature.com/jerome/idle-thoughts/10/