JOYCE CAROL OATES

AGE: 69
OCCUPATION: Novelist and short-story author
NUMBER OF TIME COVERS: 0
PREVIOUS APPEARANCES ON THE TIME 100: 0

PRO: Blending genre elements with absorbing psychological realism, Oates is at the top of her game: 2007's output included a novel, The Gravedigger's Daughter, and a short-story collection, The Museum of Dr. Moses: Tales of Mystery and Suspense.

CON: At a Texas literary event, Doubleday editrix Nan Talese used an Oates speech on honesty in memoirs as a cue to launch a full frontal assault on Oprah for her disownment of Talese's client, A Million Little Pieces author James Frey.