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| Books #1-20 | Books #21-40 | Books #41-60 | Books #61-80 | Books #81-100 |
21) Ball of Fire: The Tumultous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball, Stefan Kanfer
Kanfer wastes no words in this essential guide to the iconic comedienne's life. No, she wasn't the greatest human being.
22) The Lecturer's Tale, James Hynes
Set in academia, this story of the supernatural and the interpersonal is a rollicking fun read.
23) Bobos in Paradise, David Brooks
A right-leaning Op/Ed writer for The New York Times, Brooks is an astute social observer. "Bobos," short for "bourgeois Bohemians," is Brooks's term for affluent Americans who prefer a kind of hippie veneer. In other words, a segment of the Boomer generation.
24) Winchell, Neal Gabler
A supreme biography. Gabler details the rise and fall of media maven Walter Winchell, who was a giant in America's cultural landscape in the 1930s and '40s.
25) Word Freak, Stephan Fatsis
Fatsis went inside the sub-culture of Scrabble, profiling its eccentric personalities. Along the way he played competitively himself, and he brings us inside his very personal struggle to push his game higher.
26) The American Scene, A Reader, H.L Mencken
Mencken, one of America's top social observers in the early 20th century, was a brilliant, free-thinking curmudgeon who wrote it as he saw it. Much of his writing has a funny, biting irony. One of my heroes.
27) The Complete Stories, Flannery O'Connor
One of the best American writers. O'Connor’s short stories are jewels, typically set in the South (where she grew up), often portraying characters grappling with some moral flaw.
28) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey
Set in a mental ward, this tale of rebellion at any cost – the protagonist battles the demonic, all-powerful Big Nurse – is a wonderful read.
29) The Autobiography of Malcom X
Damn, this is a great book. Malcom's unflinching story of growing up black between the 1930s and the 1960s, evolving from street hustler to Muslim leader, is a must-read. An American classic that will survive the test of time.
30) Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
This novel of teenage angst transcends adolescence and seems to actually capture real human experience on paper. A classic, of course, but one that lives and breathes. Also fabulous by the reclusive Salinger is “Franny and Zooey” and “Nine Stories.”
31) End Zone, Don Delillo
Fantastic, funny book. Set in a small college in Texas, this slender book by one of America's great novelists is as much about style – that inimitable Delillo archness – as about metaphor, though it's also rich in metaphor. And don't miss Delillo's classic, "White Noise" – a major achievement that’s as humorous as it is deep.
32) On Writing Well, William Zinsser
This book has been reprinted a gazillion times, and is found in every bookstore in America. More than a great instructional book, it has a tone of voice that keeps you company and urges you on. I've read it three times, and still pick it up from time to time. Also good is Sol Stein's "Stein On Writing." Stein isn't the writer that Zinsser is, but his scholarly dissection of the craft of writing is very helpful. While you're at it, pick up Ben Yagoda's "The Sound on the Page," which talks about voice and style in writing.
33) Collected Stories, Tennessee Williams
Oh God, Tennessee, I worship you. These stories are overflowing with humanity, insights into the perversity of human experience, and a full-blooded dark humor. What a dude – a dude among dudes. And if you're renting movies, don’t miss Williams's The Night of the Iguana with Richard Burton and Ava Gardner.
34) Conspiracy of Fools, Kurt Eichenwald
Eichenwald takes the arcane story of how Enron pushed itself into collapse and makes it novelistic and compulsively readable. Also good are Eichenwald's “Serpent on the Rock,” about corruption at Prudential Securities, and “The Informant,” about a price-fixing scandal at Archer Daniels Midland.
35) A Separate Peace, John Knowles
Full of portent, telling a cracking good story – suspense, betrayal, inner conflict – Knowles' masterwork is more than just a good high school novel.
36) A Perfect Storm, Sebastian Junger
Yes, the non-fiction book can be a great narrative. Junger, a gifted storyteller, brings us along on a doomed ship off the New England coast. Also good (though not quite as good as 'Storm") is Junger's “A Death in Belmont.”
37) The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen
Fantastically well written, "The Corrections" is literary high art that's fun to read. I also enjoyed Franzen’s memoir, “The Discomfort Zone,” though it’s not at the level of “The Corrections.”
38) Godless, Pete Hautmann,
Written for a young adult audience, "Godless" pulls no punches in its questioning of organized religion. Very creative.
39) Sexy, Joyce Carol Oates
Sure, she's one of America's literary lions, but she also writes books for the juvenile audience. This wonderful, sparely written novel aimed at the teen set is honest and unafraid. Of the several I’ve read by her, I enjoyed this the most because it’s pared down; when her prose is stripped to its core, the sharp, disciplined poeticism of her style shines through.
40) The Devil Wears Prada, Lauren Weisberger
Shallow, light, but tasty: chick lit as page-turner.
| Books #1-20 | Books #21-40 | Books #41-60 | Books #61-80 | Books #81-100 |