Rod Dreher:
I'm really enjoying Templeton Prize winner Charles Taylor's massive tome, "A Secular Age." Unlike most philosophers, Taylor is a crystal-clear writer, and has the gift of being able to discuss profound and complex thoughts without giving himself over to impenetrable jargon.
My old rule of thumb when I read Taylor extensively is that if you could make it through the first hundred pages (where he introduces lots of distinctions which may or may not be relevant for the rest of the book), reading him gets considerably easier. He is not, in A Secular Age or The Sources of the Self an especially clear writer (I am less familiar with his shorter writings), though he is an especially insightful one.
The contemporary gold standard for 'clear' is Michael Walzer, though he has an unfortunate habit of never answering the questions he sets himself.
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