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David Willems's Picks
A few more picks from the mind behind Palaver. Some of the recent stuff he's read that he's found very
very tastee! |
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Selected Stories
Robert Walser |
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Odd little vignettes and ruminations. Walser inspired many writers from
Kafka to W.G. Sebald. He has a bitter sense of humor and a style all his
own. |
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Concrete
Thomas Bernhard |
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| A 150 page paragraph, but don't worry it's incredibly readable. Basically
the struggle of a man trying to start a work on the composer Mendelssohn but
shooting off on wild rants including his successful sister, and his hatred
for almost everything else. It's very funny and oddly perceptive. |
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The Loved One
Evelyn Waugh |
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| After writing a series of serious novels, Waugh returned to his social
comedies with this scathing critique of the commercialization of death and
Hollywood. Though written in the 1950's, it resonates hilariously today. |
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A House And Its Head
Ivy Compton-Burnett |
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| A dense and ultimately shocking and humorous story told nearly all in
dialogue. It concerns a dominant father figure and his family. All the
action takes place "offstage" as it were but the repercussions are felt in
the ensuing dialogue. The acts committed becoming more and more disturbing.
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Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth
Chris Ware |
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| The most incredible "graphic novel" I've ever read. It's extremely
depressing and funny. About a man named Jimmy and his meeting his father
who left him when he was a child. The pacing and writing, particularly the
attention to the awkward moments of two ultimately self-alienated people is
both heartbreaking and beautiful. |
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Samuel Johnson Is Indignant
Lydia Davis |
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| She writes mostly short, perceptive pieces that deconstruct everything from
family to conversation to daily duties to neighbors. She's extremely witty
and expresses unconscious thoughts perfectly. |
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The Journal Of Albion Moonlight
Kenneth Patchen |
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| A manic rant against the ridiculousness of war. Its hallucinating text and
mad feel makes you dizzy reading it. Underneath it all it does ultimately
have a positive message, a call for individual revolution. |
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Right Ho, Jeeves!
P.G. Wodehouse |
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| I'm not one for comedy in general.. It is EXTREMELY hard to pull off,
especially in writing, but this book had me laughing out loud. It is a
comedy of manners. Wodehouse is one of the greatest crafters of the English
language who gets sadly neglected because he is too often dismissed as
simply a comic writer. |
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Matthew Johnson's Picks
These are the books I read while in Spain. (Well, actually Spain, France,
Morocco, Gibraltar, Amsterdam, and New York; but you get the picture.) The
majority of these books were stolen from me on my last day in Spain. So I
guess there is one well read crack head in Pamplona now. |
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The Sun Also Rises
Ernest Hemingway
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| I've read this book 20 times or more by now. However, it took on yet a
deeper dimension when reading it in Spain after seeing so many of the places
that had been described in the book. For some reason, the part, near the end
where Jake is in San Sebastian is especially more real since seeing San
Sebastian in person. |
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White Noise
Don DeLillo |
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| I put off reading this book for years because of a lackluster review from Tim. Fifty pages into the
book I thought "Fuck you, Tim!". I really enjoyed this book. I was charmed
by the characters as much as by the writing, which is unusual for me when
reading DeLillo. |
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The Heart of the Matter
Graham Greene |
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| Graham Greene is a masterful writer, but he has no pity. He takes pitiful
characters and lays them bare. |
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The Remains of the Day
Kazuo Ishiguro |
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| I had seen the movie and really liked it. I had also tried to read The
Unconsoled, which kept me from picking this book up for a while. This is
a bleak, bleak story. It's a good thing that I was having such a good time
in Spain, 'cause I had chosen some dark books to accompany me. This book
packs a gut punch. |
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The World According to Garp
John Irving |
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| This is the first Irving book that I've read other than Owen Meany,
which is one of my faves. This is a great book, but I think it lacks the
heart that Owen Meany has. I'm debating whether I'll give Irving
another shot. Anyone got suggestions, if I do? |
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Martin Dressler
Steven Millhauser |
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| While staying in Barcelona with a friend of Tamara's, I mentioned I was in
need of more reading material. Our host graciously gave me a copy of this
book. I had never heard of it, or the author. It is a great read. Quick,
fantastic realism, and all that. Coincidentally, the next week Blaine
mentioned this book in reference to meeting Nate. |
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High Fidelity
Nick Hornby |
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| Everybody loves this, right? It feels like he writes these to be movies.
They have a very cinematic feeling to them. I read this entirely in one
afternoon on the lawn of the Prado. |
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Swann's Way
Marcel Proust |
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| I only read on third of this. Surprisingly more readable than I was
expecting. Very lyrical prose. This was stolen in Madrid, or I would have
finished by now. I have a full copy of Remembrance of Things Past, so
I guess I'll finish Swann's way one of these days. |
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Galapagos
Kurt Vonnegut |
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| John Lawton recommended this. I had told him I had burnt out on Vonnegut
back in '91. He asked if I had read this one. Well, I may start another
Vonnegut kick now. This is a great book. A ecological and evolutionary fairy
tale. Like all good fairy tales, it feels good and has a happy ending.
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Winesburg, Ohio
Sherwood Anderson |
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| These stories are quite interesting. All of them seem to portray an
individual struggling with isolation in one way or another. They evoke a
specific time and place, as well as a strong sense of condescending
nostalgia. However, what they don't do is stand up as a novel. |
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A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man
James Joyce |
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| What can I say about this book that your high school English teacher didn't
already say to you? Well, I can say that this book made me want to get a
hooker when I was in Amsterdam. Did your high school teacher tell you that?
I didn't think so. |
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American Pastoral
Philip Roth |
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| You know, I really like Philip Roth. His writing really draws me in. I can't
recommend Portnoy's Complaint and The Human Stain enough. This
book followed a very similar framework to Human Stain: Old Author is
licking wounds when approached to write a novel about someone else. For
reasons beyond the author's control, he agrees. The novel is a nostalgic
look back at life growing up in Jewish Newark, NJ in the pre and post war
periods. This book was good, but I recommend Human Stain, and you
don't really need to read both. I may try and read I Married a
Communist next. |
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Lonely Planet Morocco
Matt Fletcher, et al |
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| The Lonely Planet guides are solid guides. A bit crunchy sometimes, but I'd
rather them lean that way than the other. Too bad I didn't get to use this
too much. Maybe next time. |
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Rough Guide to Spain
by Mark Ellingham, John Fisher |
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| I have bought 3 copies of this book now. It was a damn fine guide to Spain. |
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Lisa May Terwilliger's Picks
(some of) the essentials |
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Pale Fire
Vladimir Nabokov |
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| I am so in love with this book. I’ve read it like 10 times. It’s so fascinating to me. Told from the point of view of a man obsessed with his next-door neighbor, author John Shade. Shade dies leaving a 999-line epic poem. The narrator takes it upon himself to deconstruct every word, every line and attribute it back to himself. Funny and brilliant and sly. |
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Charms for the Easy Life
Kaye Gibbons |
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| What a truly beautiful book. It’s mostly a girlie read. Probably because of the three strong female leads. It takes place in Raleigh in mid-1900s. One particular part always sticks with me: a new suitor gives a character all his “artifacts” as a Christmas gift and those include an old report card, a detention note, pictures of him and souvenirs from overseas. Soothing and smart. |
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The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Michael Chabon |
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| I hated it when this book ended. That’s why I got it in hardback so I could re-read it 100 times. Two cousins form a comic book character and build it into an empire. The one cousin struggles to raise money to retrieve his family from Prague and save them from Hitler. The other cousin struggles with life and love. A great NYC story with magicians, friendships, hope, a golem and more. |
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Confederacy of Dunces
John Kennedy Toole |
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| Since I adore “Catcher in the Rye” so much I was told on several occasions to read this gem. I finally did and while I wouldn’t really compare it to “Catcher”, it is a sort of coming-of-age story. Set in New Orleans, Ignatius J. Reilly is one crazy, strange yet likable chap. He lives with his mother, he works a hot dog cart and also catalogs his “fluids”. Laugh out loud madness. |
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Meet My Staff (children’s book)
Patricia Marx and Roz Chast (illustrator) |
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| Roz Chast is my most favorite illustrator. And this book is HILARIOUS. Walter has a staff (33 people) for everything little thing in his life – a Homework Helper, who can answer any question; Delores De-Cruster, who cuts the crusts off bread and Miss Peck, who is in charge of kissing Aunt Winnie - something Walter despises. There are days when I wish I had a staff. |
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Travelers’ Tales
various editors and authors |
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| Compilations of writings from people all over, all about their travels. There’s one specifically by women, one about food, one about adventurous trips and one about humorous trips. Most are divided into books about one specific country. These are awesome books that give insight on the character and charm of countries. Their website will give you a rundown of all the editions available: |
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How to Be a Domestic Goddess (Baking and the Art of Comfort Food)
Nigella Lawson |
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| If there’s one thing I love, it’s reading cookbooks. Even if I don’t cook one item from them, there’s something soothing in reading about food. This one has some real classy dishes, desserts and tips in addition to little introductions to each chapter and recipe. The pics are gorgeous. Yum. |
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Mike Waddell's Picks
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Batman: Cataclysm/No Man's Land
(various)
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| Gotham is hit by an earthquake. Excellent story and illustrations. |
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Batman: The Dark Night Returns
(Frank Miller)
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| Batman comes out of a 10 year retirement. A fistfight with Superman. Nice. |
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Batman: Year One (1995 Annual #19)
(Doug Moench)
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| "You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses
to frighten you." I'm a fan of Scarecrow |
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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
(Alan Moore)
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| Excellent characters and story. Captain Nemo, the Invisible Man, and Mr. Hyde. Nice. |
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Hard Boiled
(Frank Miller)
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| Easily the most graphically detailed comic I've ever read. Interesting story, too. If you're into robots and gore, buy this book. |
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Batman: Prey
(Doug Moench)
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| A psychotic psychiatrist figures out who Batman is. Never trust a psychiatrist who's psychiatrist is a mannequin. He's all sorts of crazy. |
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Batman: Haunted Knight
(Jeph Loeb)
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| Another run in with the Scarecrow. I also like the Christmas Carol story. |
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Batman: A Death in the Family
(Jim Starlin)
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| The death of Jason Todd, the second Robin. |
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Nate Sheaffer's Picks
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Ender's Game
Orson Scott Card |
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| Orson Scott Card...sci-fi genius. Read the Ender's Game, Speaker for the
Dead, Ender's Shadow, etc. 4 or five books that are amazing in their ability
to suck you into a very powerful world seen primarily through the eyes of
very special children. |
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Imajica
Clive Barker |
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| I think this should be required reading in 7th grade across the US along with steady doses of psylocibin mushrooms on the
half hour. Some people hate it. I got lost in it for a week and then re-read it immediately. His "Damnation Game" has also given me some lasting
horror imagery that I will carry to my grave. "I sat down to dine at a
table that groaned under the weight of my own excrement..." OK, that was
gratuitous... sorry. |
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The Metamorphosis
Franz Kafka |
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| All works of Franz Kafka. Even in English they're great and "must reads".
Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis) is all about our chat over scary
bugs.... brrrrrr..... piss chills are running up and down my entire
body...... teeth chattering, hair and hackles raised..... ick. (what,
exactly, is a hackle?) |
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Slaughterhouse Five
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. |
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| Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. is tasty too. |
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Berserker Base
Fred Saberhagen |
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| Fred Saberhagen wrote a series of books about "Berserkers". Hard core sci-fi
with a refreshing emphasis put on the unbeatable power of the human species.
Great technospeak and excellent details. I feasted on these the summer of
my soph. yr. in high school... what great memories, dismal loss of virginity
aside. |
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Ringworld
Larry Niven |
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| Larry Niven's Ringworld stories are so original. The puppeteer characters
contributed to my insane fear of clowns and mimes. "When I was a child I
was afraid of clowns, now, as an adult, I know to fear them." |
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Dark Tower
Stephen King |
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| Ok, so I'm a Stephen King fan. More so now that he's done the Dark Tower
series, which he says, he could write constantly on for the rest of his life
and never finish it. His early short stories make me shudder and tingle and
pull the covers up over my head, being sure to tuck all appendages in
closely for safety. He one sick mo'fo. |
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The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings
Edgar Allen Poe |
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| The complete works of Edgar Allen Poe. Read them every night from age 6 to
16... they were my bed time stories. Explains a little doesn't it? Read
Lenore while listening to "Poor Lenore" by the Handsome Family. Rennie
Sparks and I were separated at birth... I told her that a year ago and now
she believes it. |
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Rule of the Bone
Russell Banks |
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| Track down Rule of the Bone by Russell Banks... it's really alot of
fun... positive coming of age stuff for a bleak world. |
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Adina G.'s Picks
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In the Skin of a Lion
Michael Ondaatje |
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| Toronto in the 30's. A missing millionaire, a theif, a baker, an anarchist nun who is swept off a bridge into the arms of a worker, an ingenue and her iguana and of course, our protagonist caught in the middle of it all. (I had a hard time not choosing Ondaatje's Coming Through Slaughter that has the syncopated prose of a frantic Jazz session.) |
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Orlando
Virginia Woolfe |
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| "Orlando had become a woman— there was no denying it. But in every other respect, Orlando remained precisely as he had been." A young man in Queen Elizabeth I's court lives through four centuries of perpetual youth. Midway through the novel, Orlando becomes a woman. It has been a while since I read this, but I remember my jaw was on the floor for much of it. |
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The Name of the Rose
Umberto Eco |
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| Monks! Murder! Secret Books! Suspense! Surround yourself with the trappings of a Classics professor before you begin. I read this at a country house over Christmas with a glass cognac by the fire and Gregorian chants playing on the stereo. |
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Jazz
Toni Morrison |
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| From the very first page, this book is pure, nonstop jazz prose crooning a story of violence and tenderness that will break your heart. Several times. |
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Birds of America
Lorrie Moore |
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| Oh. My. God. Her short stories will have you screaming with laughter one page and swooning with profound sadness the next.
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Park City
Anne Beattie |
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| Sometimes bleak, always gorgeous and witty. Carver without the booze and
smokes. Her characters' addictions are largely human-based.
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Letters at 3am
Michael Ventura |
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| Beware, he can get obsecenely flakey at times, and DO avoid his last
essay on the rebirthing in New Mexico. But his brain will go anywhere
and everywhere. His essays on Vegas are killer.
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As I lay Dying
William Faulkner |
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| Enter the slow trance of Faulkner land where a dysfunctional southern
family makes the journey to bring their mother's body to her resting
ground. The characters are exquisite.
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The Hours
Michael Cunningham |
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| An homage to Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia
Woolfe. A book so good, my toes curled with pleasure and I am still
trying to straighten them out. |
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By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept
Elizabeth Smart |
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| A prose-poetry novella, written in the white-hot heat of passion that consumed her life. It will make you want to read her biography, By Heart, by Rosemary Sullivan. |
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Moons of Jupiter
Alice Munroe |
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| Alice is perfect. A master of short fiction. She has a dry, dry wit.
She almost never manipulates you but will bring you to your knees with
truths you never knew could be articulated. All of her collections of
stories are wonderful, but this is my favourite |
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Rich Buchanan's Picks
4 titles of "essential reads" that I have read and I don't read much and I can't write a book review to save my life… |
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The Autobiography of Malcolm X
by Malcolm X, Alex Haley |
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| Why have I read this about 7 times? I mean, I could be reading other books. I like this book. Malcolm X's journey through life is fascinating.
I have read this book at least 7 times. |
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Breakfast of Champions
Kurt Vonnegut |
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| Duh. Vonnegut. This was the first book of his I read - given to me by my older and smarter cousin before a road trip. My lucky ability not to get car sick while reading came in handy and I finished it quicker than I wanted to. It's light hearted and cynical - any surprise I liked it? |
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The Elements of Color
by Johannes Itten |
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| I'm sorry, but if you are doing any visual art, a good grasp of color theory is important. Itten is the man. This book is etched in my brain (can books do that?) |
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AIA Guide to New York City
Norval White |
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| You like buildings? You live in NYC? You should have this. Block by block analysis of the buildings we love (and all the ones we hate). |
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Mike Everett-Lane's Picks
Not a "top list" by any means, but some books you might not already have on
your shelf. |
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Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
James Agee, Walker Evans |
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| Agee's writing, Walker Evans' photos, capture the world of a sharecropper's family. Lyrical. |
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Impro
Keith Johnstone |
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| Keith Johnstone's book is a bible to improvisers, and essential reading for anyone who creates or teaches. Which means you. |
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To The Wedding
John Berger
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| If you don't cry, your heart is made of gravel. |
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A Winter's Tale
Mark Helprin |
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| Helprin brings magical realism to New York City. |
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In Watermelon Sugar
Richard Brautigan |
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| Brautigan moves into pure fantasy. Hallucinatory & short. |
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The Zebra Storyteller
Spencer Holst |
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| Spencer Holst writes these strange little parables. You can read one in my very first blog posting at Ishbadiddle.
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Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges |
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| I attribute my strange childhood to reading too many Borges stories. |
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The Famished Road
Ben Okri |
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| Ben Okri's novel about a "spirit child" in a Nigerian village. It stays with you. |
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House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski |
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| If Borges, Nabokov & David Foster Wallace had written the screenplay to the Blair Witch Project, it wouldn't be this. But it might be
close. |
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Sandman
Neil Gaiman |
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| Can I include a 11 volume graphic novel cycle in the list? Gaiman has created a new mythology with a tragic figure at its heart. |
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All The King's Men
Robert Penn Warren |
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| Robert Penn Warren brings a poet's eye to this novel, which is about a fictionalized Huey Long, but really about self-discovery. |
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Blink's Picks
These are my favorite books. I don't go for stuff that tries to shove some idiot message down your throat and I don't think something has to have meaning to be good. |
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The Catcher in the Rye
J.D. Salinger |
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| I know it's cliche but this book is awesome. It's like Holden is right beside you, whispering his story in your ear. More than a little creepy and intimate as hell. The writing is so sharp in some points it can actually make you weep. |
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Kushiel's Dart
Jaqueline Carey |
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| Who woulda ever thought you could make a bondage/slave/fantasy novel work
out so well? Riveting and sensual and really really good. |
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American Psycho
Brett Easton Ellis |
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| I hated this book so much that I loved it. It freaked me out more than anything I've ever read before or after. At first glance you'd think it's gory just to be gory but if you look deeper you can find some real meaning in the character. |
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The Count of Monte Cristo
Alexander Dumas |
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| This is every adolescent guy's revenge fantasy... get rich, get powerful, then kick your rivals ass. Gorgeous book. |
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A Clockwork Orange
Anthony Burgess |
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| I fell in love with this book once the author explained the title. It's full of enough words and thoughts and violence to satisfy even the most cynical of readers. |
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The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Douglas Adams |
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| The ultimate sci-fi/fantasy novel... smart and funny and idiotic, it's the most creative thing I've read in a long time. |
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David Willems's Picks
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The Rosy Crucifixion (Sexus/Plexus/Nexus)
by Henry Miller |
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| Okay it's three books, but they are part of a whole. They present the young
Miller at the top of his talent, basically expanding the themes set out in
Tropic of Capricorn, Miller is in New York struggling with relationships and
becoming a writer. It is filled with his surreal musings, wonderful
conversations and tragic wanderings. |
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Hopscotch
by Julio Cortazar |
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| An odd concept for a book, it comes with a list of intsructions at the
beginning on the different ways of reading it. At the end of each chapter
you are guided to different section of the book, leaping aorund form chpter
to chapter. It's a mesmerizing tale of a young Argentinian in Paris and his
"Nadja-like" obsession with a woman he meets there. |
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The Alexandria Quartet
(Justine/Balthazar/Mountolive/Clea)
by Lawrence Durrell |
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| Yes again, four books this time. Durrell's crowning achievement. His
ruminations on the nature of modern love. His writing makes you realize
just how gorgeous the English language can actually be. One of the most
poetic writers I've ever read. |
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Rings of Saturn
by W.G. Sebald |
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| My favorite modern writer sadly died in a car crash last Christmas. His
books are unique, Jospeh Cornell-like meditations on his wanderings around
Europe. Odd essays on the nature of memory, history and time. He's as big
a walker as I am. |
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Life: A User's Manual
by Georges Perec |
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| An epic book that nearly lives up to its title. Through a series of
literary tricks and mathematical equations, Perec (a founding member of the
OuLiPo or "Workshop of Potential Literature") details the lives of the
inhabitants of an apartment building in Paris. It's funny and tragic, with
enough hidden references to keep Joyce fans in extacy. Perec is the only
man who can make lists of objects compelling reading. |
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On Love
by Alain De Botton |
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| De Botton's books go over the same themes of love and relationships, but
each time in a fresh new way. He has simple ways of explaining complex
ideas. This is his first novel and presents all the ideas he later returns
to. Fun and thought-provoking reading. |
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Selected Non-Fictions
by Jorge Luis Borges |
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| This selection of Borges' non-fiction writings almost rivals his fictions
because this time the bizarre/philosophic subjects are true. He picks
compelling subjects and renders them into small, intimate essays. |
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Hortese Series
(Our Beautiful Heroine/Hortense Is Abducted/Hortense In Exile)
by Jacques Roubaud |
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| Ummm.. back to three books again. Roubaud was also a member of the OuLiPo
along with Georges Perec. These are odd mystery novels. Some of the most
enjoyable reading I've ever had. Roubaud is constantly aware of his writing
and manipulation of plot and intereacts with the reader and his characters
actively during the stories. When's the last time you had FUN reading? |
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The Hottest State
Ethan Hawke |
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| Who knew that the finest actor in our country would turn out to be the
finest author as well? You bet your bippy I have my ticket to his Central
Park Summer Stage reading (from his new novel no less!) I'll see YOU there. |
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John Lawton's Picks
This is not a list in any particular order and they’re not necessarily my top ten (or more) favorite books. They are simply what seem to me to be essential reads at this moment in time. |
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Ulysses
by James Joyce |
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| This is simply an amazing book. Take a class on it if it will force you to read it or simply set aside a couple of months. It is worth the visit, I’m planning on visiting again very soon. |
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Hocus Pocus
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. |
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| While not necessarily his best work I feel this is the last really great novel he published (and there have been a few). "Just because some of us can read, write, and do a little math doesn’t mean we deserve to rule the universe." |
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Up In the Old Hotel
by Joseph Mitchell |
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| A collection of Mitchell’s writing for The New Yorker. Pretty amazing moments captured forever by the author’s beautiful and flowing prose. It will make you fall in love with New York city all over again (if the two of you have been having problems). |
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Fifth Business
by Robertson Davies |
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| Saints, sinners, and an ill-timed snowball make this book a compelling read which works on you slowly. Dunstan Ramsey is a character who stays with you long after the book is done. Part of the Deptford Trilogy, this book stands strongly on it’s own as well. |
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The U.S.A Trilogy
by John Dos Passos |
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| OK, technically three books (The 42nd Parallel, 1919, The Big Money), the first and third book are quite amazing, while the middle one is simply a good read. A sprawling epic about the birth of modern America. Well worth the time invested. |
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100 Years of Solitude
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez |
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| This is the one that introduced me to magic realism. I remember the Christmas break I read this book, sitting in the card store I was working at in Newport RI and eating soup. |
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Franny & Zooey
by J.D. Salinger |
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| If you haven’t read Salinger since you were a teenager, go back and read it again. I think he still has a lot to say. This is just a beautifully written and wonderfully detailed book. |
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Moby Dick
by Herman Melville |
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| Man lashing out against his fate. A study in how to adapt or perish in the ever changing world. Plus there’s a lot of extraneous chapters full of cetalogical (study of whales) rants, a lot of which have been proven incorrect. I can’t believe I didn’t read this book until I was 33, it is one of the best things I’ve ever read. |
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The New York Trilogy
by Paul Auster |
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| Again with three books (but these are smaller). Paul Auster is probably my favorite living author and I can only hope to morph into him at some point in my life. I read the first book “City of Glass” years before I moved to NYC and then again after I’d been here for a couple of years, and I had two different but great experiences with it. You can’t go wrong with the guy, although I wasn’t crazy about that dog book he wrote. |
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Poor George
by Paula Fox |
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| The title character of this novel tries to find meaning and life and simply be good but all he can find is middle class malaise. I bought this book on the recommendation of Jonathan Lethem (in something he wrote, I don’t know the guy), and truly enjoyed what I found. |
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Motherless Brooklyn
by Jonathan Lethem |
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| Jonathan Lethem writes books that I would like to crawl into and wear for a sweater. This incredible take on the classic detective form is a terrific read with an oddly endearing man character. Viva Lionel Essrog!! |
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Don Zirilli's Picks
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As I Lay Dying
by William Faulkner |
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| The poetry of thinking. |
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Breakfast of Champions
by Kurt Vonnegut |
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| Read this or anything else by Vonnegut. He redefines what it means to write
a book, but it's no joke. |
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Erotism: Death and Sensuality
by Georges Bataille |
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| Everything you think you know about sex and morality is wrong. |
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The Face of Battle
by John Keegan |
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| Famous battles described from the soldier's perspective. |
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Lolita
by Vladimir Nabokov |
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| Wherein the bad guy is the only one who can see what goodness is. The
purplest prose imaginable. |
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Lord Jim
by Joseph Conrad |
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| About how we fail to live up to our dreams, and so compose new nightmares
for ourselves. Written in the longest, most gorgeous sentences you'll ever
read. |
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The Sacred and Profane Love Machine
by Iris Murdoch |
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| Intensely imagined psyches battle it out in parlors and salons. |
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Tim Wagner's Picks
Six books that only an a**hole would miss reading + one book that only an a**hole could actually finish. |
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Infinite Jest
by the pedagogical genius of David Foster Wallace |
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| I know Matt Johnson picked this too, but it’s that good. He read it first and then I got sucked in. By far the best novel I have ever read. My road-weary copy was lost in a fire in Chicago and my mourning was pure. |
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To Your Scattered Bodies Go
by Philip Jose Farmer |
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| One in a five book series. Everyone from Neanderthals to Herman Goerring on an Afterworld Planet with a river circumnavigating it. If you die, you are reincarnated the next day - only somewhere else on the planet. |
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Catch-22
by Joseph Heller |
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| One of the first times I laughed out loud while reading a book. It details the horrors of war, showing us the casualty of the human mind. I don’t know about that, but a guy waking from a dream about a cat sleeping on his face, only to find a cat sleeping on his face makes me want to cry out with joy. |
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The Day After Tomorrow
by Allan Folsom |
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| This is a well-written international-style thriller from beginning to end. The snobbish will call it airplane fodder, but we have to remember that they are literary snobs, and thus must be punished for their boorish ways. It’s fun. Imagine that. |
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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
by J. K. Rowling |
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| I think people avoid these books for three reasons. It is a ‘kid’s’ book; it has huge commercial success; it spawns evil. Whatever the case, they are missing a frighteningly gifted story-teller in her prime. The books actually get better as you go. |
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A Confederacy of Dunces
by John Kennedy Toole |
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| The author wrote this book, stuck it in a drawer and then committed suicide. I think this is an autobiography of sorts, told by a man whose head is a little ajar. Plus it has unedited and detailed fifi passages. |
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Gravity’s Rainbow
by Thomas Pynchon |
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| I have officially never read this book. I have tried and I have failed. I dare anyone to get through this and tell me about it. The one person I know who finished it is the same guy who suggested defrosting the freezer by reversing the leads on the compressor. If I e |
