I love your taste in music, art, books; it's really different from most people I know. Would you recommend some books to me? I'm trying to get back into the habit of reading again and all my friends have read pretty much the same stuff as I have so it's sort of difficult to find new stuff. I like fiction, non-fiction, whatever, as long as it's different and interesting.
ah well thanks. thank you, that’s really very nice of you to say.
these are just a few books i recommend to people in the store pretty often that they usually seem to like
the halfway house - guerillmo rosales. brief but poignant and powerful- i love this book, a must for anyone whose ever experienced substance abuse or institutionalization. if u read it and like it you like it also read rosales’ “leapfrog” which further expands on his upbringing in havana
loving/ living / party going – henry green. i’m a huge henry green fan. his prose is brilliant and this book is remarkable
the collected stories of lydia davis - lydia davis. good introduction 2 her work, she’s a treasure of a modern female voice. not sure how she doesn’t have like, jennifer egan or miranda july levels of appreciation
the rings of saturn – WG sebald (the best of sebalds, he tends to be a crowd pleaser. i’ve got a soft spot for him.)
the question of bruno: stories - alexsander hemon (also a crowdpleaser)
“century of clouds" and “my walk with bob” – bruce boone. these books are what got me back into reading awhile ago, classic & brilliant stuff
not my taste but 20 something vice reading/ tumblr using/ prozac taking kind of readers usually like anything by arthur neresian. “the fuck up" is his classic but "chinese takeout" is probably his best. i think i saw someone describe him as a “po-mo damon runyon” once which is pretty on target if that means anything to you
the hour of the star - clarice lispector, at times a really odd approach to prose but folks usually receive this one well. the best introduction to lispector
cruddy – lynda barry. a very good likeable graphic novel for people into like, alison bechdel or phoebe gloeckner. (see also: “potential” by ariel schrag or “skim” by mariko tamak, among sooo many others i can’t even think of rn)
edmund white’s infamous trilogy, “the beautiful room is empty” being my favorite
waiting: stories - dumitru tsepeneag
locus solus – raymond roussel
woodcuts of women: stories - dagoberto gilb
magnificent joe - james wheatley
three apples fell from heaven - micheline aharonian marcom
women of the left bank, paris - 1900- 1940 - recently finished this and it’s fantastic. i kind of obsess over books about women in art movements neglected by history.
safe area gorazde: the war in eastern bosnia: 1992 - 1995 - joe sacco. one of the greatest graphic novels that deals w/ the subject of war
the penguin dictionary of literary terms and literary theory - JA cuddon. honestly just really helpful to have around if you read a lot or want a starting place on how to approach lit with a place of contextualization, penguins guides to critical theory are usually pretty palatable
violence girl: east LA rage to hollywood stage, a chicana punk story – alice bag. good book about punk that isn’t all about straight white guys so heyy. believe it was published by feral house and amok books- their catalog is worth sifting through
all of camus’ notebooks (volume 1, volume 2, volume 3) are a total must if you’re a fan of his work. i have a thing for reading people’s notebooks and diaries.
film as a subversive art - amos vogel. if you’re into film you’ve probably already read this but it’s a classic for a reason and i always love getting people into it.
an episode in the life of a landscape painter - cesar aira. aira was one of my first favorite authors so i’m pretty quick to rec most of his work
dreadful: the short life and gay times of john horne burns - david marholick
the tender tyrant, nadia boulanger: a life devoted to music - alan kendall. i’m currently a little obsessed with everything written about boulanger so i thoroughly enjoyed this
osumane sembene: the making of a militant artist - samba gadilgo
anything by charles simic. hotel insomnia / the world does not end being personal favorites
anything by mina loy (lost lunear breakdown poems being essential cause she doesn’t have much else but i adore adore adore her)
anything by andre breton. probably “the collected poems” - i’m a nut for french surrealist lit but it’s not for everyone- i think his poetry is more approachable than something like “nadja” offhandedly
anything by harryette mullen. “sleeping with the dictionary” being her best
anything by aime cesaire – “notebook of a return to the native land” being my favorite and his seminal work
on the imperial highway – jayne cortez
collected poems (1912-1944) - hilda doolittle. a must if you like voices akin to mina loy’s
i’ve been a woman: new and selected poems – sonia sanchez
the book of frank – CA conrad
eunoia – christian bok (i’m a big fan of almost all bok’s work)
a coney island of the mind – lawrence ferlinghetti
outlandish blues – honoree fanonne jeffers
the unfortunates – BS Johnson
nets – jen bervin (jen also helped compile the wonderful release of rare emily dickinson notes in ‘the gorgeous nothings’ which is 100% worth checking out if you’re a fan)
completed field notes: long poems of robbery kroetsch
the arab apocalypse - etel adnan
the complete short prose of samuel beckett, 1929-1989 - samuel beckett
so yeah that’s probably wildly incomplete (i should really start using goodreads or something) but i hope that gave you at least something. and if you have any recs please let me know- specifically lit by writers of color, women, queer people, trans people… i’m always interested in anything outside yr standard old white guy fare. like i can appreciate a foster wallace novel as much as the next guy but having your world limited to only that perspective gets soooo tired zzzZZZ
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