I'm editing this post to add some literary content. I realized after I posted the link that it was kind of the blogger's equivalent to posting a dilbert cartoon, or perhaps a picture of a funny looking cat with the caption of "don't talk to me before my morning coffee!" So, I'll leave it at the bottom, but add some content, as well.
I mistakenly saw Kevin Brockmeier at BookPeople last night - I caught the end of his reading and picked up his new collection of short stories "The View From the Seventh Layer." By the time I got up there, he was earnestly invested in the Q&A, and I was very sorry I had missed the meat of the reading. He handed out a list of his Fifty Favorite Books, though, and I thought I might post his top ten here. Just because. Also, in answer to Abby's last post, I think I might choose a few books from his longer list to put on my summer reading list.
Here, also, is an interview with him in which he talks about several of these books.
1. A Death in the Family, James Agee
2. THe Complete Short Stories, JG Ballard
3. The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
4. The Baron in the Trees, Italo Calvino
5. Orthodoxy, GK Chersterton
6. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
7. All the Days and Nights, William Maxwell
8. Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars, Daniel Pinkwater
9. The His Dark Materials Trilogy, Philip PUllman
10. Housekeeping, Marilyn Robinson
From Meg Rosoff's website: "secrets to becoming a successful writer."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Super cool.
This made me want to make a top ten list, but I can't. I wouldn't know how to weigh anything. Where would my favorites from childhood fit? My favorites that comfort me--even if they aren't great? Or are too great (like Jane Austen). It is like the goodreads rating system. I get a little stressed. And then I get sad about all the important writers I've never read.
I'm discovering andre dubus. (always the late bloomer, I know) I've read the story Fat girl twice now in the past few weeks and each time I think to myself, how could he know this?
Also, and I think it is because I'm moving, I'm re-reading old favorites--a wrinkle in time. It is so comforting.
Anyway, all this to say, I wish I'd been there. Sounds amazing.
I fall in and out of love with Kevin Brockmeier's work.
But I always like to hear him speak--he's a good reader and an articulate question answerer.
I'm ready to read a book that I can't put down, the kind where I resent interruptions. It's been a while.
I saw Michael Chabon read at BookPeople tonight and it was fantastic and inspiring. I will add one of his books to my list for the summer - probably Wonder Boys or Summerland. He is truly one of the greats of our time.
Otherwise, in regards to Abby's post for summer reading, I'm going to tackle Tree of Smoke, finally, and then I'm going to take a fiction hiatus, I think. My summer reading challenge is to read lots of nonfiction in hopes to be inspired by new ideas. Any recommendations?
Wolfe, I suggest Wonder Boys over Summerland. S-land is good, but no where near W-Boys.
Post a Comment