NEW YORK, Oct 12 (AFP) - The race for the White House may be dividing the US electorate in general, but America's literati appear largely united in their desire to see President George W. Bush ousted.
A straw poll taken by the Internet magazine "Slate" of 31 prominent novelists, including the likes of John Updike and Joyce Carol Oates, showed 24 favouring Democrat challenger John Kerry against just four for Bush.
Three of the respondents provided answers incoherent or surreal enough -- one favouring a vote for Richard Nixon -- to place them in the "undecided" column.
"I'm voting for Kerry, because I have a brain and so does he," said "Joy Luck Club" author Amy Tan.
Pulitzer prize winners Jane Smiley and Updike also came out for Kerry, with Smiley characterising the incumbent president as "an amoral prevaricator and ruthless opportunist."
Updike was more measured in his response, acknowledging Bush's "virtues and good intentions" while concluding that the country could not afford another four years of his administration.
Oates said she, "like virtually everyone I know," would be voting for Kerry.
In the other camp, bestselling science fiction writer Orson Scott Card said he was "a Democrat voting for Bush," citing the need for a strong and committed leader in the war on terror.
Thriller writer Robert Ferrigno also asked to be marked on the Bush side of the ledger -- "A lonely side for this survey, I'm certain," he commented.