New
books strongly recommended by Aaron Hamburger
Last
of Her Kind
by Sigrid Nunez, a beautiful faux-memoir about friendship,
finding yourself, and the sixties.
Absurdistan
by Gary Shteyngart, a laugh out loud satire with
bite about the
way we live now.
Veronica
by Mary Gaitskill, a powerful malestrom of a novel
about love
and loss and fashion.
Other recent recommendations:
Clearcut
by Nina Shengold: This sumptuously intelligent, emotional debut novel
by playwright and screenwriter Nina Shengold plunges us into the gritty,
grimy world of hardscrabble loggers in the Pacific Northwest. The setting,
rendered in stunning detail, may seem an unlikely one for a romantic triangle,
but the book's vivid characters win our attention and hearts. As the novel
reaches its inevitable yet surprising tragic end, we're sorry to say goodbye
to these characters, illumined by Shengold with engaging warmth.
Harbor
by Lorraine Adams: A mesmerizing and often very funny
fictional story of Algerian immigrants sneaking into the United States
that raises important questions about the so-called War on Terror. Not
only is this book a gripping read, but also it begs us to consider how
the vast majority of this planet's population find their lives ruined
by political situations over which they have no control.
You
Are Not the One by Vestal McIntyre: A lovely
first collection of stories that will make you laugh on one page and choke
up on the next. A fine debut.
Zigzagger
by Manuel Munoz: In this story collection about Chicano families in California's
Central Valley, Munoz introduces us to an often ignored segment of America
in the best way possible, by making us care deeply for his characters.
Cloud
Atlas by David Mitchell: an astonishing new novel that hurtles
forward through time and back again to chronicle human greed and its damage
to our planet as well as our selves. Besides the audacity of its structure
and Mitchell's mastery of such vaired genres as science fiction, farce,
and comedy-of-manners, what's so impressive here is the author's joy of
storytelling. Already a classic.
Platform
by Michel Houellebecq: I was interested in Houellebecq's first two books
because his voice and point of view seemed unlike any other I had read
in contemporary fiction. This book, his third, is by far his most accomplished,
a full-blooded, mature novel that combines crackling social commentary
with surprising poignancy. Written before September 11th, this book is
essential reading about the way we live now.
An
Almost Perfect Moment by Binnie Kirshenbaum: a heartwrenching,
gripping, and funny read by a great writer at the top of her form.
Little
Children by Tom Perrotta: the new novel by the author of the
book that inspired the Reese Witherspoon movie Election. A brilliant anthropological
dissection of suburban life that just happens to be a lot of fun.
The
Sleeping Father by Matthew Sharpe: a startling new novel that
consistently delights and surprises with its dazzling prose and sharp-eyed
character insights.
The following is a list of books and authors whose
works I find myself returning to for guidance, inspiration, and pleasure.
These books are like old friends who continually remind me why I love
words. Nabokov and Woolf are here for their cranky intelligence as critics
as well as their astounding gifts as prose artists. W. G. Sebald and Tom
Stoppard move me with their pitch-perfect use of elegiac tone. Few writers
can match the wit and depth of characterization in the work of Austen,
Dickens, and Forster. Chekhov's sublime wisdom has made him the essential
muse for anyone attempting to write a play or a short story. D. H. Lawrence
and Bruno Schulz have impressed me with their exuberantly inventive use
of imagery to convey character. I rely on Orwell and Didion for their
sharp-eyed insight into language, people, and politics. And for two masterpieces
of modern minimalism, you can't do much better than Lorrie Moore's Birds
of America and Evan S. Connell's Mrs. Bridge.
Jane
Austen's Novels
Chekhov's
Stories
Chekhov's
Plays
Mrs.
Bridge by Evan S. Connell
Bleak
House by Charles Dickens
Nicholas
Nickleby by Charles Dickens
Slouching
Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
A
Passage to India by E. M. Forster
Howards
End by E. M. Forster
A
Room With A View by E. M. Forster
The
Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Portrait
of a Lady by Henry James
Birds
of America by Lorrie Moore
Lectures
on Literature by Nabokov
Lectures
on Russian Literature by Nabokov
Collected
Essays by Orwell
The
Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz
The
Emigrants by W. G. Sebald
The
Invention of Love by Tom Stoppard
The
Waves by Virginia Woolf
The
Common Reader by Virginia Woolf
Sons
and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence
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