BOOKS THREAD

Yup, "Dispatches" was good too. I went through a war phase and read a ton of books thanks to suggestions from people here, including two others by O'Brien (If I Die in a Combat Zone, and Going after Cacciato).

I enjoyed Sheehan's "A Bright Shining Lie" as well.

 

Damn dude. Lighten up.

You get this emotional over something on an anonymous message board, I'd hate to see you when you get confronted by an angry fan, parent, etc.

:

 

Uh, did you read Smasher's posts? I mean, criticize all you want, but it certainly wasn't a one-sided bitchfest.
Absolutely hysterical that this little sub-thread happened on a book topic.

 

Goon, that's when I pull out this.



If you read this part of the thread, you'll see where I said I was just fucking around. Might have been easily misunderstood, but I'm not here to telegraph that into your brain with silly, stupid emoticons.



Cheers.

 

Gotta second (third? fourth?) the love for Dispatches. Outstanding stuff.

Why no love for East of Eden? One of my 15 favorite books of all time. And I've pimped Josef Sckvorecky here before, but he's outstanding.

Along the same line, I've never picked up a Salman Rushdie book and not been sorry to put it down. Ditto Haruki Murakami, who's best described as the Japanese Rushdie.

 

I got to work for 10 hours and I come back to three new pages of posts. About books (mostly). Gotta love it.

A couple of points:

I think I was the one that mentioned Tim Dorsey being a nice complement to any Carl Hiassen library. I actually think he's funnier than Hiassen. Start with Florida Roadkill and follow the series.

If I could only own 10 books, three of them would be Cormac McCarthy's trilogy. I read all three at least once a year. Blood Meridian is outstanding, as well. I wish McCarthy had another book in him, but I think he quit when he wrapped up the trilogy with Cities on the Plain.

The Things They Carried and Dispatches are two of the best war books I've ever read. If you loved Full Metal Jacket, read Dispatches.

 

Anyhoo, back to the books.

-- "Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War," Tony Horwitz. A modern-day Southern travelogue, it exposes how the Civil War has been used both to inspire and to destroy. Irreverent and biting, yet doesn't ever really look down on its subjects or how some of them have misplaced their passions and aggressions. Written by a Pulitzer Prize journalist and a former New York Times bestseller, not under the radar by any means. Great for Civil War geeks, although I've heard good things from people who couldn't have cared less prior.

-- "Pox Americana," Elizabeth Anne Fenn. A look at how a major smallpox epidemic from 1775-82 came as close to derailing the fight for independence as anything the British did. Fascinating and horrifying.

-- "The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe," Robert S. Gottfried. Great anthopological study of disaster and change. Traces one of the greatest and most widespread calamities in human history, and how the plague realigned every major institution in medieval Europe. A powerful reminder of how we're all still at the mercy of ecological equilibrium... and even the changes in rodent ecology.

 

Three other Tony Horwitz books worth checking out:

Blue Latitudes: Horwitz retraces James Cook's voyages.

One for the Road: Horwitz hitchhikes across Australia.

Baghdad Without a Map: Horwitz recounts his experiences covering the Middle East as a freelancer.

All three are very good.

 

Ledbetter, Baghdad Without a Map is excellent.

He's just a great storyteller. The narratives don't lag or get boring, you're not left trying to catch up. When he's hanging out talking with some of these dudes, I feel like I'm right there.

 

Well put.

I've found that I can't get enough of those kinds of books lately. I've been reading as much travel stuff as I can get my hands on. I guess it's because I never have time to really go anywhere myself.

 

My Pet Goat is a good read. Highly recommend it.

 

Yes! I'll second that. Most hedonistic read ever.

I'll always recommend "Bridge To Teribithia," which moved me even more as an adult than it did when it knocked my socks off as a fifth-grader (and yes, I have matured ever-so-slightly over the past 22 years).

For light, enjoyable fare, try the Troy Soos baseball mysteries.