Dan Chaon is amazing, and is easily one of the greatest writers of this era. To anyone who hasn't read him, go pick up one of his books!

Lorrie Moore isn't exactly young, but she's one of a kind.

I don't think of Egan's other novels as uneven. Her other work (including the collection Emerald City) is unequivocally rad as far as I'm concerned.

David Means is one of the great short story writers of his generation.

I think Franzen will be remembered more for being considered important at the time of his writing than for actually being important--but that's just my take on that.

A lot of people think of Sam Lipsyte as a big writer right now. I put him in the same camp as a guy like J. Robert Lennon--a decent writer who might do something truly good at some point, but who definitely seems to have his share of dedicated readers.

Zadie Smith is an author of particular significance right now, and a true intellectual, I would say. Read some of her work in The New York Review of Books. Sheesh, that woman is bright. (But she might not qualify for this list, since she was born in London.)

Elizabeth McCracken is another terrific female writer.

I agree with the person who mentioned George Saunders, but his work has become so one-note, I'm starting to think he'll be remembered for the style more than the actual work, which is too bad, because the promise of his early work was so tremendous.

Donald Antrim is another guy doing weird, smart stuff.

Dennis Cooper will certainly go down in history for keeping the tradition of truly transgressive fiction alive in the modern age.

Some people are VERY into Aimee Bender.

I know I'm forgetting important people....

EDIT: Chris Adrian, Nathan Englander, and Lydia Millet.

EDIT2: The collection Girl Trouble by Holly Goddard Jones is one of the best collections I've read in years, though I think it passed without getting much recognition. That woman is likely to write some truly excellent books.