Vladimir Nabokov is the greatest writer to come out of Russia, rivaled only by Tolstoy.

Try “Lolita,” “Invitation to a Beheading,” or “Pale Fire.”

This is awesome, it is like a “What to buy your book-reader boyfriend for birthdays/holidays” tip sheet.

You missed a very important book series.

Dune.

Read it. It awoke a spirituality in me that had long been dormant. It was absolutely life-changing for me.

About ten years ago a beautiful teenage girl was browsing the Penguin Classics in a bookstore in a London suburb so i asked her if this was for study or pleasure…which led to asking what her favourite book/author was? She replied ‘American Psycho’. I brought her a copy of the Fermanta by Nicolson Baker and earmarked the two ‘story within a story’ short stories or ‘rot’ and asked her to think of me when she read them. Such a sweet beautiful girl.

Lost Artist’s last blog post: GGG ’09: Airbrush is forever..

“One day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” was a quick, somewhat dull read, but that doesn’t mean that Solzhenitsyn is a bad writer. If any of you want a truly enthralling, informative, and sometimes even darkly funny read (despite its enormous size), then get the entire four volume set of “the GULAG Archipelago” An incredible, terribly sad, grotesque look into all the details of the enormous soviet prison system that existed under Joseph Stalins rule in Russia. Too many people have no idea that this network of communist concentration camps killed at least 3 times more people then Hitler’s death camps.

Henry Miller is easily one of the most underrated writers to ever walk the planet. Everyone should read Tropic of Cancer to see what kind of art can be wrested from the fetid swamp of literary mediocrity in which we swim.

I second the Brave New World and Catch 22 recs; I imagine you’ll dig both. Not a big fan of Bukowski’s novels, but went through three copies of Burning in Water Drowning in Flame before I had one custom-bound for my travels. Poetry is the least appreciated of all art forms, but I see Roosh written all over Burning.

Kassy’s Roth rec is spot on too btw. Guy is a giant, truly.

But for the pinnacle, my hat in the ring is The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. Chabon is a lightning strike of unadulterated genius, a lyricist in a world of functionaries, and Mysteries, written before he had a reputation to uphold, far exceeds his later works. Also pick up A Model World, a collection of his early short stories. Thank me later.

I agree somewhat on On the Road – its not my favorite book, but I would definitely say that its something you should read. Its just very time/scene-specific, and you really have to read it with that in mind. If you like poetry, jazz and drugs, youll probably like that book.

American Psycho is fucking amazing. The movie is pretty great too, but the book is like fresh squeezed to the movie’s Snapple. I’d also recommend the other Ellis books Less Than Zero and Rules of Attraction. Dark and fucked up, but great commentary on certain parts of society and oddly addicting.

The Jungle is widely known, but pretty underrated as far as getting recommended. It should be required reading for Americans, and especially those who jerk off to capitalism and large corporations. A lot of people are intimidated by it as being ‘wordy’ or something, or that its bland, but its actually a good page turner, and you really care about this family. Poor Jurgis is right. I’d also recommend Sinclair’s book “Oil”, which inspired There Will Be Blood, a fucking awesome movie. Oil is sort of more of a historical document than some amazing story, but again, people should know about this stuff.

The Sun Also Rises is untouchable. As are For Whom The Bell Tolls, and A Farewell to Arms.

I would recommend The Road by Cormac McCarthy – I too look forward to the movie. Shit is DARK though, fucking stark and depressing, but sort of fits your worldview, Roosh.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is fantastic. Prob in my top 5. Good for those who ever thought they might like debauchery a little too much.

Catch 22 is the one book Ive had to stop reading, and more than once. I just couldnt do it. Something about its sense of 50s/60s humor just annoys me.

And finally (sorry so long), I strongly recommend the book, Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey. Hard to explain this book, but something about finishing it will make you feel glad you did. The one thing you have to know about this book is that you MUST push through the first 100 pages. Its odd, but literally after 100 pages the book frees up and is much easier to read. Awesome book. Hank Stamper is a true Alpha.

I second DF’s recommendation of Brother’s Karamazov. It is long but reads very quickly. If nothing else just read the first third and see if you aren’t hooked.

Also Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb and I think you’d probably enjoy Sway (Braffman) from a game/ social dynamics perspective. Its so short you can read it at the bookstore easily.

Lastly, The Mating Mind by Geoffrey Miller is very good, although I suspect you may have already read it.

Benedict Smith’s last blog post: “Too Much is Never Enough” – Shyne.

http://www.idlewords.com/2005/11/dating_without_kundera.htm

BTW, I second the rec for Cloud Atlas.

Also: if you like well-done nonfiction, The Control of Nature, by John McPhee

Zictor
18 hours, 58 minutes ago
About Into The Wild, there is this letter from a Park Ranger that gives a very good perspective on the case. Oh, and I think the guy was a fool.

http://nmge.gmu.edu/textandcommunity/2006/Peter_Christian_Response.pdf

Wild Zictor.

Good point. Usually, a movie is produced with quite a bit of lag time after the book. In the case of “Fight Club” the movie was produced within a couple of years of the book. Also, the book wasn’t wildly popular or anything. So, many people did see the movie before reading the book. I did as well.

I’ll have to think back to past situations where I’ve seen the movies before the books and vice versa to see in which case the books seem better. I’d suspect that you’re right on this.

Chuck’s last blog post: New Gamesian Economics.

roosh are u in venice, lemme know i swear i thought i saw you yesterday outside bondi bbq….

if not, some dude who looks like u is rolling thick in calicali

finefantastic’s last blog post: Angsty; or didn’t I do this already?.

T. AKA Ricky Raw’s last blog post: A Question to the Readers.

Ha.

This is probably my favorite book of all time (or top 5).

It was my bedtime novel for years.

- MPM

The G Manifesto’s last blog post: James Beard Foundation Awards Nominees for 2009.

well i’ll be sure the check those out then…thanks!

Chuck’s last blog post: New Gamesian Economics.