Lawrence, and above all Melville, but not Don DeLillo, John Updike, Julian Barnes and others, who are all too tidy, controlling, and existentially complacent.
Perhaps some of the ultra-lean approaches described by leading early-stage VCs like David Grainger (blog here) of Index Ventures and Bruce Booth (blog here) of Atlas will prove out, and introduce at least a ray of optimism into this vital but existentially challenged space.