The self-aware PFAs that we are, we took a step back from our category and tried to think of the 100 public figures you've just GOT to know if you want to be a pretentious fuck. These can be artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, actors, thinkers, politicians, whatever.
I even went so far, tonight, as to rank them in a top 100, VH1-style countdown. Since Emily and I thought of way more than 100 last night, I had to cut a bunch, and of course I didn't remember them all. So consider this a prelimarily list. Here's where you come in: Check the list out, enjoy it, and e-mail me back with your suggestions of who we left out. Feel free to gripe about the order too, though I think it's pretty impossible to contest #1.
100. Arianna Huffington 99. Robert Pollard 98. Henri Langlois 97. Laurie David 96. John Kerry 95. Stephen Colbert 94. John Darnielle 93. Barack Obama 92. Edward R. Murrow 91. Cole Porter 90. Colin Meloy 89. Sofia Coppola 88. Bill Maher 87. Gary Trudeau 86. Michael Azzerad 85. Neil Gaiman 84. Arthur Miller 83. Irvine Welsh 82. Voltaire 81. Steven Sondheim 80. Janeane Garafalo
79. Frank Miller 78. Valerie Solanas 77. John Linnell and John Flansburgh 76. Emo Phillips 75. Robert Altman 74. Calvin Johnson 73. David Cross 72. Henry Rollins 71. Oscar Wilde 70. David Lynch 69. Stan Brakhage 68. John Lennon 67. Nick Hornby 66. Camille Paglia 65. Garrison Keillor 64. Abbie Hoffman 63. Richard Linklater 62. Marcel Duchamp 61. Yoko Ono 60. Pier Paolo Pasolini
59. Allen Ginsburg 58. Eve Ensler 57. Gore Vidal 56. Steve Buscemi 55. Jackson Pollack 54. Robert Smith 53. John Lydon 52. Roland Barthes 51. George Orwell 50. Bob Dylan 49. Charles Bukowski 48. Julian Schnabel 47. David Bowie 46. Jello Biafra 45. Steven Wright 44. Tom Wolfe 43. Stanley Kubrick 42. Albert Camus 41. Patti Smith 40. Susan Sontag
39. Chuck Paluhnick 38. Michelangelo Antonioni 37. Stephin Merritt 36. Ira Glass and Sarah Vowell 35. Ingmar Bergman 34. Brian Eno 33. William S. Burroughs 32. Matthew Barney 31. Laurie Anderson 30. Truman Capote 29. Lester Bangs 28. Howard Zinn 27. Sylvia Plath 26. Salvador Dali 25. Woody Allen 24. Soren Kierkegaard 23. Chuck Klosterman 22. Hal Hartey 21. Leonard Cohen
...And the top 20 all-stars!...
20. David Sedaris 19. Salmon Rushdie 18. Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon 17. Jean-Michel Basquiat 16. David Byrne 15. Jean-Paul Sartre 14. Jim Jarmusch 13. Lou Reed 12. Jack Kerouac 11. Morrissey 10. John Zorn 9. John Cage 8. Hunter S. Thompson 7. Kurt Vonnegut 6. Bertolt Brecht 5. Tom Waits 4. Frederick Nietschze 3. Jean-Luc Godard 2. Noam Chomsky 1. Andy Warhol
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