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Cornholio107 posted:I am looking for a book that deals with the theme of growing up. I'm talking about this awkward phase of the transition from the teenager self to becoming an adult. I've read The Catcher in the Rye(pretty good), The Perks of being a Wallflower(maybe I'm too old for this one)and On the Road (an amazing read) that all kind of deal with this theme. Anyone got any recommendations that helped them clear up some confusion in this weird stage of life? Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem comes to mind, some of Infinite Jest's more prominent strands also deal with that kind of issue (and what better time to read IJ?). Great Expectations is dead-on what you're looking for, too.
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Jun 7, 2009 01:47
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 20:59 |
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His own autobiography is a pretty good read as well-- perhaps not entirely true, but whatever, his charm as a bull-poo poo artist was part of who he was and one of the biggest appeals of the book.
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Jun 7, 2009 02:20
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QUEST FOR TIRE posted:I'm looking for a way to get into contemporary poetry. I like the accessibility of Billy Collins and Ted Kooser. The Best American Poetry series is good but a lot of the collections revolve around the incomprehensible. Try Gerald Stern, or Larry Levis. Mark Strand is great, too. For something a little less accessible but still new-reader friendly, have a look at some James Tate or Charles Simic. Donald Hall and Jane Kenyon also sound like what you're looking for. As for anthologies, Collins himself edited one, "Poetry 180," which is specifically geared towards people not too familiar with contemporary poetry, which is pretty good. Ed Hirsch's "Poet's Choice" is similar, and includes a short little essay about every poet or theme he includes. Robert Pinsky is sort of a dick, but his poetry has lately been more straightforward (try "Gulf Music") and his essays on poetry are very lucid and insightful. He's edited two recent anthologies which I haven't read but seem like good gateways. Taije Silverman's first book, "Houses Are Fields" is extraordinarily powerful and personal, and very accessible. If you check her stuff out and like it, try Constance Merritt or Olena K. Davis. A. Van Jordan and Kevin Young both write collections that are pretty accessible and also have a narrative side to them, so you can read them more like a typical novel rather than dipping in and out, if you'd like. I'd suggest "MACNOLIA" and "Black Maria" as good starting points. I'm not the hugest Rita Dove fan, but her latest, "Sonata Mulattica" falls under the same sort of heading and is a hell of a story, too.
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Jun 28, 2009 03:00
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FAT-N-GAY-4-PAY posted:A friend of mine recently had stroke (at the age of 24). She had surgery last week and is bed ridden for a month.. I would really like to buy her a book that she will enjoy. The main problem is that she is one of the smartest people I know and I have no idea what book to get her... Here are a few of her favorite books and authors: Eggers has a new book out, or coming out very very soon-- here's some info . Maybe some Chabon or Lethem? People are probably kind of tired of hearing about it, but "Infinite Jest" might appeal to a Zadie Smith fan. Oh, and "Sentimental Education" is really cool, if she hasn't read it already.
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Jun 30, 2009 17:26
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Epée posted:I have recently read Oryx and Crake and Never Let Me Go by Margaret Atwood and Kazuo Ishiguro, respectively, enjoyed both immensely. "A Canticle For Liebowitz" is one of the few straight science fiction books I really enjoy, and I think it could definitely hold its own with the two books you mentioned. Also check out "Bear v. Shark" by Chris Bachelder. There are some sci-fi elements but they aren't the crux of the book in anything like a dorky or overbearing way. "Time's Arrow" by Martin Amis, definitely, and maybe some of Jonathan Lethem or Michael Chabon's more fantastic material- "As She Climbs Across the Table" and "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" might be good places to start, although Lethem's short story collection "Men & Cartoons" has some bearable science fiction pieces in it. Oh, how about "Cold Comfort Farm"? Hysterical comedy of manners, but also set in the future (well, 1946), which a lot of people don't realize. G.K. Chesterton's "The Ball and the Cross" gets pretty out-there, culminating in an air-ship ride with Satan, and Voltaire wrote one of the first and funniest science fiction novellas I've ever read, "Micromegas". Is it fair to call Italo Calvino's "Cosmicomics" science fiction? I don't know, but any pretense to read it is probably for the best. Hope some of these help-- I don't read/know much about genre fiction in general, but I can vouch for all of these individual books as phenomenal. Edit: Oh and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, "Infinite Jest". Lots of interesting near-future stuff to chew on if that's your thing.
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Jul 2, 2009 17:20
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Anybody know of any good books about the early days of Arctic/Antarctic exploration? I ran across a little sketch of Shackleton's expeditions in another book and my curiosity is piqued.
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Aug 12, 2009 20:07
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Behold! A Elk! posted:I am not really into fiction but I love comedic essayists like Augusten Burroughs, John Hodgman, and Micheal Ian Black. Does anyone have any recommendations for me. I already tried David Sedaris and I just couldn't get into it. I also wouldn't mind some funny fiction I just don't know where to start in regards to that. Chuck Klosterman is pretty funny but his tone can be sort of grating. Personally I like him more than Sedaris. David Foster Wallace's nonfiction is usually at least a little bit funny if not hilarious, and is quite meaty in terms of subject matter too. For some more classic stuff, Hazlitt can be funny and Mencken can be a riot if you can stomach some of his more odious opinions.
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Aug 23, 2009 05:54
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 20:59 |
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What is the What is pretty good.
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Aug 27, 2009 04:48
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