books

David Bowie’s Top 100 Must Read Books

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Earlier this year, before the “David Bowie Is” retrospective opened in Toronto, David Bowie revealed his top 100 must read books. The list provides a captivating look into the mind behind Ziggy Stardust and Major Tom. I like that Bowie’s list is expansive and diverse – including comics, autobiography, history, counter-culture, travel writing, poetry and lots of fiction. I also like that the books are relatively new, with only two selections being written before he was born. Bowie is known as “a voracious reader” who is reputed to read as much as “a book a day”. Here they are in reverse chronological order.

  • The Age of American Unreason, Susan Jacoby, 2008
  • The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz, 2007
  • The Coast of Utopia: Voyage, Shipwreck, Salvage, Tom Stoppard, 2007
  • Teenage: The Creation of Youth 1875-1945, Jon Savage, 2007
  • Fingersmith, Sarah Waters, 2002
  • The Trial of Henry Kissinger, Christopher Hitchens, 2001
  • Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder, Lawrence Weschler, 1997
  • A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1890-1924, Orlando Figes, 1997
  • The Insult, Rupert Thomson, 1996
  • Wonder Boys, Michael Chabon, 1995
  • The Bird Artist, Howard Norman, 1994
  • Kafka Was The Rage: A Greenwich Village Memoir, Anatole Broyard, 1993
  • Beyond the Brillo Box: The Visual Arts in Post-Historical Perspective, Arthur C. Danto, 1992
  • Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson, Camille Paglia, 1990
  • David Bomberg, Richard Cork, 1988
  • Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom, Peter Guralnick, 1986
  • The Songlines, Bruce Chatwin, 1986
  • Hawksmoor, Peter Ackroyd, 1985
  • Nowhere To Run: The Story of Soul Music, Gerri Hirshey, 1984
  • Nights at the Circus, Angela Carter, 1984
  • Money, Martin Amis, 1984
  • White Noise, Don DeLillo, 1984
  • Flaubert’s Parrot, Julian Barnes, 1984
  • The Life and Times of Little Richard, Charles White, 1984
  • A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn, 1980
  • A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole, 1980
  • Interviews with Francis Bacon, David Sylvester, 1980
  • Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler, 1980
  • Earthly Powers, Anthony Burgess, 1980
  • Raw (a ‘graphix magazine’), 1980-91
  • Viz (magazine), 1979 –
  • The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels, 1979
  • Metropolitan Life, Fran Lebowitz, 1978
  • In Between the Sheets, Ian McEwan, 1978
  • Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews, ed. Malcolm Cowley, 1977
  • The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, Julian Jaynes, 1976
  • Tales of Beatnik Glory, Ed Saunders, 1975
  • Mystery Train, Greil Marcus, 1975
  • Selected Poems, Frank O’Hara, 1974
  • Before the Deluge: A Portrait of Berlin in the 1920s, Otto Friedrich, 1972
  • In Bluebeard’s Castle : Some Notes Towards the Re-definition of Culture, George Steiner, 1971
  • Octobriana and the Russian Underground, Peter Sadecky, 1971
  • The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll, Charlie Gillete, 1970
  • The Quest For Christa T, Christa Wolf, 1968
  • Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock, Nik Cohn, 1968
  • The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov, 1967
  • Journey into the Whirlwind, Eugenia Ginzburg, 1967
  • Last Exit to Brooklyn, Hubert Selby Jr. , 1966
  • In Cold Blood, Truman Capote, 1965
  • City of Night, John Rechy, 1965
  • Herzog, Saul Bellow, 1964
  • Puckoon, Spike Milligan, 1963
  • The American Way of Death, Jessica Mitford, 1963
  • The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea, Yukio Mishima, 1963
  • The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin, 1963
  • A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess, 1962
  • Inside the Whale and Other Essays, George Orwell, 1962
  • The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark, 1961
  • Private Eye (magazine) 1961 –
  • On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious, Douglas Harding, 1961
  • Silence: Lectures and Writing, John Cage, 1961
  • Strange People, Frank Edwards, 1961
  • The Divided Self, R. D. Laing, 1960
  • All The Emperor’s Horses, David Kidd,1960
  • Billy Liar, Keith Waterhouse, 1959
  • The Leopard, Giuseppe Di Lampedusa, 1958
  • On The Road, Jack Kerouac, 1957
  • The Hidden Persuaders, Vance Packard, 1957
  • Room at the Top, John Braine, 1957
  • A Grave for a Dolphin, Alberto Denti di Pirajno, 1956
  • The Outsider, Colin Wilson, 1956
  • Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov, 1955
  • Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell, 1949
  • The Street, Ann Petry, 1946
  • Black Boy, Richard Wright, 1945
  • The Portable Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Parker, 1944
  • The Outsider, Albert Camus, 1942
  • The Day of the Locust, Nathanael West, 1939
  • The Beano, (comic) 1938 –
  • The Road to Wigan Pier, George Orwell, 1937
  • Mr. Norris Changes Trains, Christopher Isherwood, 1935
  • English Journey, J.B. Priestley, 1934
  • Infants of the Spring, Wallace Thurman, 1932
  • The Bridge, Hart Crane, 1930
  • Vile Bodies, Evelyn Waugh, 1930
  • As I lay Dying, William Faulkner, 1930
  • The 42nd Parallel, John Dos Passos, 1930
  • Berlin Alexanderplatz, Alfred Döblin, 1929
  • Passing, Nella Larsen, 1929
  • Lady Chatterley’s Lover, D.H. Lawrence, 1928
  • The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925
  • The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot, 1922
  • BLAST, ed. Wyndham Lewis, 1914-15
  • McTeague, Frank Norris, 1899
  • Transcendental Magic, Its Doctrine and Ritual, Eliphas Lévi, 1896
  • Les Chants de Maldoror, Lautréamont, 1869
  • Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert, 1856
  • Zanoni, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1842
  • Inferno, from the Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri, about 1308-1321
  • The Iliad, Homer, about 800 BC

    • Top 10 Most Banned Books: 2012

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    Another year has gone by and it is Banned Books Week once more. I have been listing the top 10 most challenged books annually on my blog since 2009. I’d be remiss not to do it again. 2012 saw an increase in challenged books. Last year there were 464 challenges reported by the Office for Intellectual Freedom (compared to 326 in 2011 and 348 in 2010). You can see the top 10 list below.

    2012

    1. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey.
      Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group
    2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie.
      Reasons: Offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
    3. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher.
      Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group
    4. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James.
      Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit
    5. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson.
      Reasons: Homosexuality, unsuited for age group
    6. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.
      Reasons: Homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
    7. Looking for Alaska, by John Green.
      Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group
    8. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
      Reasons: Unsuited for age group, violence
    9. The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls
      Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit
    10. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
      Reasons: Sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence

    Click these links if you are looking for the top 10 lists for previous years with easy links to Amazon: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001.

    Additionally, in 2010, I put together a list of the 100 Most Banned & Challenged Books Of The Decade by aggregating several lists from the American Library Association.

    2012: My Year In Books

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    I did a little more reading this year than last but still not a lot. Books finished in 2012 include:

    No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels
    The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1)
    Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2)
    Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
    1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

    Here are my lists for 2011 and 2010. I keep track of my reading on Library Thing and Goodreads so be sure to go over there and mark me as a friend if your interested.

    Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Must read List

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    During a Reddit AMA with Neil deGrasse Tyson a Redditor asked, “Which books should be read by every single intelligent person on the planet?” Below is a list of books he provided in his response along with his reason for choosing it.

    1. The Bible – “to learn that it’s easier to be told by others what to think and believe than it is to think for yourself.”
    2. The System of the World by Isaac Newton – “to learn that the universe is a knowable place.”
    3. On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin – “to learn of our kinship with all other life on Earth.”
    4. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift – “to learn, among other satirical lessons, that most of the time humans are Yahoos.”
    5. The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine – “to learn how the power of rational thought is the primary source of freedom in the world.”
    6. The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith – “to learn that capitalism is an economy of greed, a force of nature unto itself.”
    7. The Art of War by Sun Tsu – “to learn that the act of killing fellow humans can be raised to an art.”
    8. The Prince by Machiavelli – “to learn that people not in power will do all they can to acquire it, and people in power will do all they can to keep it.”

    Neil deGrasse Tyson goes on to say, “If you read all of the above works you will glean profound insight into most of what has driven the history of the western world.”

    Top 10 Most Banned Books: 2011

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    It’s Banned Books Week again. This year is the 30th anniversary. Since 2009 I have listed the top 10 most challenged books of the year on my blog. This year is no different – the books are listed below with links to Amazon for your purchasing pleasure. With over 326 formal challenges, as reported by the Office for Intellectual Freedom, book banning efforts were alive and well in 2011.

    I have also posted top 10 lists for the years 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001

    Additionally, in 2010, I put together a list of the 100 Most Banned & Challenged Books Of The Decade by aggregating several lists from the American Library Association.

    2011

    1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
      Reasons: offensive language; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
    2. The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa
      Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
    3. The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
      Reasons: anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence
    4. My Mom’s Having A Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler
      Reasons: nudity; sex education; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
    5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
      Reasons: offensive language; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit; unsuited to age group
    6. Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
      Reasons: nudity; offensive language; religious viewpoint
    7. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
      Reasons: insensitivity; nudity; racism; religious viewpoint; sexually explicit
    8. What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones
      Reasons: nudity; offensive language; sexually explicit
    9. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar
      Reasons: drugs; offensive language; sexually explicit
    10. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
      Reasons: offensive language; racism

    A Timeline Of Future Science Fiction Events

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    Below is a list of predictions made by speculative science fiction authors both past and present. Also listed is the novel or short story in which the prediction was made, as well as the year it was published.

    Notably, the list puts the Hunger Games in the year 2108 and robot cats finally make an appearance in 2966. My favorite entry by far is the year 2107 when “Everyone blogs about themselves, all day, without shame: ‘only perverts do things in private.'”
    …

    A Timeline Of Future Science Fiction EventsRead More »

    The Color, The Sound, And The Fury

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    The Sound And The FuryImage courtesy of The Folio Society
    “The Sound And The Fury” is acknowledged as one of the masterpieces of 20th-century. It is also one of William Faulkner’s most difficult books. It is told from multiple points of view and the narrative jumps across multiple time frames with little indication of doing so. It is confusing enough that, according to the LA Times, Faulkner wanted to color code the book:

    But when Faulkner was working on the book in the 1920s — “The Sound and the Fury” was published in 1929 — he imagined a way to make the section clearer to readers. “I wish publishing was advanced enough to use colored ink,” Faulkner wrote to his editor, “as I argued with you and Hal in the Speakeasy that day… I’ll just have to save the idea until publishing grows up,” he added, inadvertently launching a challenge to future publishers.

    Today the Folio Society has published the book the way that Faulkner always wanted. Unfortunately, it is only a limited run of 1,480 copies that will cost you $345.00 a pop.

    Books That Every Artist Should Own

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    After consulting with fellow artists, professors, historians and college syllabi, ARTINFO has put together this list of books all artists should own. With an eye toward a balance of theory, history, reference, and practical guides this list includes over 22 books covering a multitude of subjects surrounding art.

    Hunger Games: The Most Accurate Maps Of Panem

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    Bloggers aimmyarrowshigh and badguys have created this exceptionally accurate map of Panem, the world created by Suzanne Collins in her series “The Hunger Games“. Panem is described being a North America that has been ravaged by war and geological catastrophes.

    “The result was Panem, a shining capitol ringed by thirteen districts, which brought peace and prosperity to its citizens. Then came the Dark Days, the uprising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated.”

    Map Of Panemimage courtesy of badguys and aimmyarrowshigh
    Click the map. It’s massive. And well thought out. Its creators took into consideration all sorts of information from the books, including:

    • The Capitol is in Denver.
    • D12 is Appalachia.
    • D11 shares a border with D12, is one of the largest districts, is South of D12, and is primarily used for growing grain and produce.
    • D10 is primarily used for raising livestock. They do NOT process the livestock in D10. However, to feed an entire nation, D10 is likely another very large District.
    • D9 processes food for the Capitol and the tesserae; therefore, it likely shares borders with the food production Districts (D4, D10, D11).
    • D8 produces and treats textiles and is a factory District. It is POSSIBLE to reach D12 from D8 on foot over a course of weeks/months. Therefore, it does not cross a large body of water.
    • D7 specializes in lumber. It’s probably large. It has no role in food processing or manufacture.
    • D6 works closely with the Capitol in the research and manufacture of drugs (morphling, medicines). It likely has close ties to D5 in the production of mutts.
    • D5 is entirely dependent on the Capitol, so it’s probably somewhat nearby, and specializes in genetic research and manipulation. Because of the necessity of creative thought and intellect, it’s most likely a smaller District so that it’s easier to monitor and control.
    • D4 is the ocean. It does have a role in food production. It’s very large. It is a Career District, so it likely is near the Capitol and has some self-sufficiency, but not enough that it doesn’t engender loyalty. (Aside from that, D4 = perfect.)
    • D3 has extremely close ties to the Capitol and works with electronics and technology. It is likely small, the Capitol can closely monitor its scientific minds. It has no role in food manufacture or processing.
    • D2 specializes in weaponry, is the most loyal District (because the Capitol needs to keep its weapon specialists happy, non?), and has no role in food production. D2 also works in some minor Mining elements and trains Peacekeepers. The Panem railroad is easily accessible in D2.
    • D1 produces luxury goods for the Capitol — INCLUDING having a diamond mine. Kelsey Lake Diamond Mine is a defunct diamond mine in Colorado, USA. It is located in the State Line Kimberlite District, near the Wyoming border.
    • D13 specialized in nuclear power, shares a border with D12, is both visible and reachable from D12 by foot, and is North of West Virginia. Three Mile Island was in New York Pennsylvania, and probably remained a nuclear reactor or was co-opted again as a reactor. D13 is small but mighty and is surrounded by Wilderness. It is self-sufficient.

    This information was combined with some speculation about the results of future cataclysmic natural disaster in order to reach the maps final result. Of course, to me, the most interesting aspect of the map is the Capitol is located in what is now Denver, Colorado. I like the idea of Denver being the future capital of the post-apocalyptic dystopia.

    Additionally, I would be remiss to not include Nerd Friday’s version of the Panem map shown below. This arguably more accurate map places the Capitol near Grand Junction, Colorado. More information about Nerd Friday’s creation process can be found in the bibliography and referenced works as well as the frequently asked questions section.
    Map of Panem

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