The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James: Read for dialogue. The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson: Incredible 1950’s era thriller about a sociopath cult classic. The Death of Virgil by Hermann Broch: Open to any page and read for language. The Sleepwalkers by Hermann Broch: Disintegration of values after WWII, but applies today. Life is Elsewhere by Milan Kundera: The book completely lives up to the title. The Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig: All dialogue and all astonishing. The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann: For a long time my favorite book. Knulp by Hermann Hesse: Simple, elegant, meaning of a life.įirst Love and Other Shorts and Texts for Nothing by Samuel Beckett: Spare, no plot, makes you think-try it.Īmateurs by Donald Barthelme: Brilliant stories with bizarre logic and strange juxtapositions.ĭeath Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather: Rich language, astonishing imagination. Hunger by Knut Hamsun: Head-spinning transitions between despair and mania. The Brontës: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights.Ī Sport and a Pastime and Solo Faces by James Salter: Polished jewels-extraordinary pacing, beautiful writing.

The Russians: Crime and Punishment, Anna Karenina, Fathers and Sons. Slaughterhouse Five and Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut: Ditto.Īdam Bede by George Eliot: Deep characters with interesting psychologies. Eliot: Most writing attempts too little-not this.Ī Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess: Great movie, great book.įirst Love and Other Sorrows and Stories in an Almost Classical Mode by Harold Brodkey: Depth of moment language with meaning and surface.ĭracula by Bram Stoker: One of the first books of my adult life to knock my socks off. I have included books that astonished me, books that inspired me, and books that taught me how to write.ĭubliners by James Joyce: Still gives me chills. Here is a list of the most dog-eared books on my shelf.

Nausea jean paul sartre barnes noble