Some Books and their Writers...

For anyone looking to find a good book, or a good writer to exhaust, here are some of my recommendations.


Cormac McCarthy- I've been tearing through his works as of late, and I have to say- Mr. McCarthy is the best living American Writer, with no equivocations. He truly is a master of the English Language- read everything that he has written. Here are a few of his that are my favorites.

- No Country For Old Men- This is my 5th favorite book of all time. No one but McCarthy can make people being shot in the face beautiful. I more than enjoyed this book, as it had a lot of the types of storytelling I love- Western, thriller, action, poetic and dark.

- The Road- I recently finished this, and was enamored with it. Very vague, while altogether deep. It was as good as it was piped up to be. An ultimately easy read, even though it had one of the most impressive displays of vocabulary I have ever encountered in a novel. Beautiful. Poetic.

- All the Pretty Horses- The first of The Border Trilogy, this book is an American Classic. I really enjoyed it, and would highly recommend it for those of you looking for a beautifully dark epic tale.

- Blood Meridian; Or the Evening Redness in the West- I am nearing the end of this book, and am just fucking in love with it. Blood Meridian has made McCarthy my favorite Writer of all time, I believe.


D.H. Lawrence- In my eyes, the best writer to ever live. Lawrence can say something in 5 words that would otherwise take another writer a whole page. I cannot read him anytime, though, as he's often tough to get through. It's not so much his plots are that great, it's his way of telling it. A brutally honest writer that often gets misdiagnosed as depressing.

- Sons and Lovers- My 2nd favorite novel of all time, this semi-autobiographical tale of a Mother and Son's obsessively close bond and how it affects both of their lives, as well as the other women in his life. This book had such an influence on me... it was well worth the investment of getting through it.

- The Rocking Horse Winner- My favorite of Lawrence's Short Stories, this supernatural tale has all the making of an elite Short.


Norman Maclean- If you're looking to learn how to write effectively, read Norman Maclean. If only he had written more in his life.

- A River Runs Through It- My favorite story ever read, and I don't see that ever changing. I had actually seen the movie over 25 times prior to reading the autobiographical novella (104 pages), and even yet the story blew me away. The last page is, with out a doubt, the most beautiful thing ever written in the English Language. I cannot say enough how amazing this story is.


Haruki Murakami- Japan's premier writer today, and one of my favorite writers of all time. Murakami's writing style is a fusion of Sci-Fi, Dark Comedy, and Existentialism. I find him entertaining in every sense of the word.

- The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle- This alluring, dream-like tale of mystery, rebirth, and moving on is my #4 book of all time. It was lengthy, required a lot of rereading, but at the end I was thrilled to have stuck with it. This will go down in history as one of the great Japanese exports, and likely of the World.

- after the quake- As a great little collection of Short Stories, this would be a good introduction into Murakami. I enjoyed each and every one.


Neil Gaiman- Gaiman's start in comic books lends him a freshness that many of today's Novelists are missing. I pretty much have loved everything he has put out so far, and consider him a favorite.

- American Gods- Probably the most entertaining book I have ever read. His extremely inventive tale of past gods and new is blended with a know how to furnish great action. His blended styles of writing draw one conclusion- master storytelling. By far Gaiman's best work.

- Anansi Boys- A entertainingly great spin off of American Gods, Anansi boys stems from one of its lesser characters, Mr. Nancy (Anansi, the African Spider-God of trickery and humor). After his death, his two sons (not knowing of each other) cross paths and find out more about their father, and what it is to be a god. Incredibly funny and exhilarating, you'll definitely find yourself laughing amidst being on the edge of your seat.

- The Sandman Series- Bestowed as the Godfather of Graphic Novels, this tale is nothing short of inventive and kick ass.


Stephen King- While I'm not a fan of King's horror, I find his magical realism to be fantastic. King's Dark Tower Series is what brought me back to reading.

- The Dark Tower Series- I was simply blown away by the series, and collectively have it ranked as my #3 book of all time. King describes the Epic as "Lord of the Rings meets The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." Many of it's battle and shootout scenes have been ingrained into my memory, and it's character development and the bonds they shared will always be unparalleled to me. I even have the opening, and closing, line to the series inked on me. I would rate the books in this order:
- The Drawing of the Three (Dark Tower 2)
- The Gunslinger (Dark Tower 1)
- Wizard and Glass (Dark Tower 4)
- Song of Susannah (Dark Tower 6)
- Wolves of Cala (Dark Tower 5)
- Dark Tower (Dark Tower 7)
- The Wastelands (Dark Tower 3)

- Different Seasons- A phenomenal collection of Novellas, this book has supplied film with three great titles.
- The Body (Stand By Me)- An amazing tale, one of my favorites of all time. The quintessential Coming-of-Age.
- Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption- The novella was much better than the movie, which is hard to believe. A lot of foreshadowing was left out of the film.
- Apt Pupil- A disturbing, yet intriguing, tale that left me shocked. A great movie, too.

- The Green Mile- Originally written and published in installments, this collective novel was awesome.

- Hearts in Atlantis- A great read, with a great movie to follow up with.


Tobias Wolff- A very overlooked writer of our time, his talent is paramount and his way of describing emotion is top notch. One of my favorites.

- This Boy's Life- This awesome autobiographical masterpiece ranks #6 on my all time list. This was what J.D. Salinger was going for with Catcher in the Rye. The last line left me thinking about it for months.


Kobo Abe- One of Japan's legendary storytellers, Abe is one of my favorite reads. Although, I am not in love with Dale Saunders' translations of his works, they are are still masterpiece material.

- The Woman In the Dunes- An incredibly written story filled with the bizarre and the triumphant. The best way to describe this novel is "bipolar." You are always torn with what to think about the main character and his situation. A literary classic.


Graham Greene- Called the best English Writer of our time, I'd say he is pretty damn good. I've been a fan of his Short Stories for some time and am now just getting into his novels.

- The Destructors- Considered a Short Story masterpiece, this tale has recently become more famous with its mention in the movie Donnie Darko.

- The Power and the Glory- I was ultimately more in shock over this novel, to tell you the truth. I thought I'd get bored with the Catholic slant on it, but it was actually quite involving and a pleasure to read. Solid A material. It's interesting seeing an Englishman's perspective of the Western.


Kurt Vonnegut- "America's Greatest Satirist" has an arsenal of politically, religious and social satire. For an avid reader, a must read experience.

- Cat's Cradle- I really enjoyed it, and loved the religious mockery. A fun, deep and introspective read.

- Slaughterhouse-five- One of my all time favorite novels... this anti-war book has it all- war, sci-fi, time travel, comedy, family, love. What I enjoyed most about the book was how it flipped back and forth between war and sci-fi enough to always keep your full attention- you never got bored with the storyline.


Alfred Camus- To be honest, he's my only real exposure to Modern French writing, and based on him- I love it. An Existentialist through and through, Camus has written some great novels and essays centralized on the philosophy.

- The Stranger- A haunting story of a man sentenced to death for a seemingly self-defense based murder, and pretty much him not giving a fuck about it... or at least resolved to not care. Some of its passages are still ingrained in my head. An awesome insight on the human psyche and condition.


Abe Akira- I've had little exposure to Akira for one reason- I cannot find much of his work in America.

- Peaches- I read this Short Story in College, and immediately fell in love with it. It re-entered me into the realm of Japanese Literature. One of my favorite stories of all time, it's centered around Akira's recollection of an event as a child, and how he perceives the event today. He's trying to weigh out whether or not it was a dream, or if parts were blended with other memories. Very existential, very good.

Brian K. Vaughan- I'm a big Comic Book/Graphic Novel geek. Fo sho. And one of the best out there today is Mr. Vaughan. Perhaps the best writer of dialogue of all forms of literature.

- Y the Last Man- Fantastic, catchy and witty series (which just finished) about the last man on earth, and his male monkey, trying to figure out why all creatures with a Y chromosome have died. Crazy storyline, with some crazy action. Hilarious and involving- it's like a fucking soap opera... but cool.

- Ex Machina- It's political, funny, endearing, action-laden and pretty much just kick ass. A man with superhuman-powers that enable him to communicate with machines becomes the Mayor of NYC.

Some other Writers I dig:

- Jose Saramago
- Yasunari Kawabata
- Hikaru Okuizumi
- Richard Mattheson
- Soseki Natsume
- Banana Yoshimoto
- Herman Melville
- E.M. Forster