25 Books You Should Read
There are a lot of great books that won’t be on this list. I’m hoping you’ve laid down a basecoat of reading by now so we can skip the obvious. Kerouac. Hemingway. Buk. Oscar Wilde. Camus. You know the crew. Anything by them will always do. But most of them aren’t here.
Use this next time you go to a bookstore and the mind goes blank. Or when your Amazon cart needs a few extra items to make it worth the driver’s time. Except for a few additions from my wife that I really should read because she remains undefeated at finding books for my very specific style (most listed below are from her), I have read all of these and they have imparted some keen observations of the world I have found to be valuable.
Besides, we all need something to look at when we’re waiting for the tide to drop or on a plane (the worst technological advancement is Wifi on planes).—Travis Ferré
FICTION.
1. Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter. Carpenter was an (somehow) unheralded member of the SF beats and this book is better than any Beat book I’ve ever read. Juvenile delinquents in seedy pool halls before repeated stints in the slammer.
2. Appointment in Samara by John O’Hara. The greatest description of the hangover in American letters.
3. The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq. The art world serves as the backdrop for one of my favorite books by the notorious french badboy. The author fictionalizes his own death in this book.
4. The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles. This book has haunted me since I finished it 20 years ago. I think I kind of like being haunted. Morocco serves as the background of a truly devastating and beautiful book.
5. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. So good I’ve read it two or three times and honestly might do it again. Southern culture meets Hollywood meets deep-rooted existential dread and beautiful, smart, often snarky and dark and humorous writing.
6. Angels by Denis Johnson. Heartbreakingly good. The only thing you’ll hate more than picking it up is putting it down.
7. A Way of Life, Like Any Other by Darcy O’Brien. Going through a privileged adolescence in Hollywood and the inevitable life disappointments that tees one up for. Somehow still fun.
