Since we knew from the start that this guide couldn't be comprehensive, we decided to let our contributors' enthusiasm and curiosity be our guides. We requested their feedback on our initial list of about 500 authors. If a critic we trusted made a convincing case on behalf of a seemingly obscure novelist, we added that author to our final list. We reasoned that if we let received opinions regarding literary importance direct too many of our choices, we'd wind up with a guide as dutiful and lifeless as the stuff we were trying to counteract. As a result, the book you're holding in your hands could be called willful and irresponsible.
Some sacred cows take a hit or two.
Allegedly minor voices are exalted. Designated titans are treated with insufficient reverence. Probably the list is insufficiently balanced in some way. With some authors, a bit of biographical background is called for, while others might cry out to be defended from charges ranging from arrogance to impenetrability to frivolity, and still others need to be rescued from oblivion. Finally, we requested that each entry suggest other writers you might want to seek out if you like the work of the author in question.