I’m a sucker for books like For the Love of Books (1999). The concept is simple. Editor Ronald B. Shwartz asked writers what their favorite book was. Shwartz received 115 responses and they’re all here in this volume.
Now some of the contributors listed more than one favorite book (which I’m okay with). Some authors came up with some real doozies!
I find books like For the Love of Books a browser’s delight! One of my favorite moments reading this book was Elmore Leonard’s advice: “I’ve learned it has to be fun or it isn’t worth doing.” (p. 149). Do you recognize these writers? Are any of your favorite writers represented here? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Acknowledgements — xii
Introduction — xv
Diane Ackerman — 1
Robert Alter– 3
Ken Auletta — 5
Nicholson Baker — 6
Russell Banks — 7
Dave Barry — 8
John Barth — 13
Jacques Barzun — 15
Ann Beattie — 17
Louis Begley — 20
Madison Smartt Bell — 21
Anne Bernays — 23
Sven Birkerts — 26
Amy Bloom — 28
Roy Blount, Jr — 31
Robert Bly — 35
Benjamin C. Bradlee — 43
Rita Mae Brown — 44
Art Buchwald — 44
Christopher Buckley — 45
Ethan Canin — 49
Philip Caputo — 51
John Casey — 55
Robert Coles — 60
Robert Coover — 62
Robert Creeley — 65
Guy Davenport — 66
Rita Dove — 70
Gretel Ehrlich — 75
Joseph Epstein — 80
Anne Fadiman — 82
Clifton Fadiman — 85
Stanley Fish — 87
Penelope Fitzgerald — 90
Bruce Jay Friedman — 91
William Gass — 95
Sir Martin Gilbert — 98
Gail Godwin — 100
Nadine Gordimer — 102
Doris Grumbach — 104
Pete Hamill — 106
Jonathan Harr — 111
John Hawkes — 114
Anthony Hecht — 120
Edward Hoagland — 124
John Irving — 126
Justin Kaplan — 128
Susanna Kaysen –132
Alfred Kazin — 134
Tracy Kidder — 135
W.P. Kinsella — 139
Caroline Knapp — 140
Maxine Kumin — 141
Anthony Lane — 143
David Leavitt — 145
Elmore Leonard — 147
Doris Lessing — 149
David Lodge — 154
Phillip Lopate — 156
Norman Mailer — 158
William Manchester — 159
James McBride — 162
Bruce McCall — 165
Frank McCourt — 167
Elizabeth McCracken — 173
Joseph McElroy — 175
Thomas McGuane — 178
Ved Mehta — 180
W.S. Merwin — 182
Arthur Miller — 183
Sue Miller — 184
Peggy Noonan — 187
Joyce Carol Oates — 190
Sharon Olds — 193
Michael Ondaatje — 195
P.J. O’Rourke — 197
Amos Oz — 198
Cynthia Ozick — 199
Grace Paley — 201
Jay Parini — 201
Robert B. Parker — 206
Noel Perrin — 207
Marge Piercy — 209
Robert M. Pirsig — 211
Richard A. Posner — 214
Padgett Powell — 216
Reynolds Price — 219
James Purdy — 221
Mario Puzo — 222
Anna Quindlen — 222
Richard Rhodes — 225
Mordecai Richler — 227
Lillian Ross — 229
Judith Rossner — 233
Witold Rybczynski — 236
Orville Schell — 237
Joanna Scott — 240
Carol Shields — 243
Alan Sillitoe — 245
Neil Simon — 247
Mona Simpson — 248
W.D. Snodgrass — 252
Oliver Stone — 253
Mark Strand — 255
William Styron — 257
Gay Talese — 259
D.M. Thomas — 260
John Updike — 264
Kurt Vonnegut — 265
Wendy Wasserstein — 269
Paul West — 272
Richard Wilbur — 278
Geoffrey Wolff — 279
Tobias Wolff — 283
Herman Wouk — 285
Bibliographical Index — 287
About the Editor — 298
Only a couple I am not familiar with, that doesn’t mean I have read them all. Very few genre writers listed. No science fiction writers. Probably a good browsing book.
A list that includes Marge Piercy, Kurt Vonnegut, and Doris Lessing has sf writers on it…and any number, such as Coover, Updike, Oates and unfortunately Wouk and Stone among others, who have attempted or come close enough to sf.
I don’t think there’s a contributor here who’s work I’m not aware of, albeit Putin fanboy Stone and curdled whimsey factory Irving are, to say the least, not favorites (while a number of others are)…I dig this kind of essay anthology, as well, for what it can point us to.
Many favorites here, such as Vonnegut, Friedman, Oates, Blount, T. Wolff, Paley and others…notable how many of the humorists are particular favorites of mine.
Todd, Tragedy is easy, comedy is hard.
D.M. Thomas is an interesting case, inasmuch as he’s written some brilliant sf poetry, which can stand with Stephen Vincent Benet’s among a few other’s, and his novel THE WHITE HOTEL is borderline sf at least and one of the least-read bestsellers (or so I’d bet) of at least the ’80s…though I’d recommend William Kotzwinkle’s somewhat similar THE EXILE as a better example of a very similar wor.
Or work, as better typists put it.
Todd, Kurt Vonnegut resisted the SF tag.
He did, George, but as he explained, that was for a mix of commercial (it would limit his publishers’ efforts on behalf of his books, essentially) and social (he found sf writers a Very Mixed Bag) reasons. It’s not as if he ever stopped writing sf. Margaret Atwood follows an almost identical course.
Just because someone says a piece of fiction isn’t sf has no bearing on its relation to speculation, satire or other modes of sf.
Todd, some authors considered the label “Science Fiction Writer” akin to being locked in a ghetto. That was before STAR WARS made SF immensely profitable.
STAR WARS didn’t actually help the cause of writers such as Vonnegut and Atwood, who were writing, like most sf writers, rather more sophisticated work than anything out of LucasFilm. That was part of what I was getting at when citing Vonnegut’s commercial reasons for segregating himself from sf, while continuing to write sf (and non-sf, as well…GALAPAGOS was sf, as was TIMEQUAKE, but BLUEBEARD wasn’t).
Todd, true. A certain kind of SF like STAR WARS and STAR TREK made money. SF that Vonnegut and Atwood wrote took more time to break into the black. But, I’m sure Atwood is being well compensated for her THE HANDMAID’S TALE.
Meanwhile, the publishers of THE MARTIAN and READY PLAYER ONE were still making Every effort a decade or so back to have these books Not Be Placed in sf and fantasy sections despite being in the first case utter sf and in the latter utter fantasy. Again, thinking that would limit their audiences. SF and fantasy readers would find them anyway, and sf/fantasy-phobic audiences would not avoid them if they were in the Fiction Sections.
Todd, many publishers still think the SF label is a stigma.
Exactly, and so do the more dense and/or snobbish readers. Hence the resistance of Vonnegut and Atwood, and some other writers and certain publishers, to having their sf so labeled.
Steve, FOR THE LOVE OF BOOKS is a great browsing book! I now have a list of books to look for from these authors.
Good tragedy and good comedy both don’t come easy, as Mr. Starkey will remind you.
Favorite book? If I wanted to play it safe, I’d say either ALICE IN WONDERLAND or HUCKLEBERRY FINN, both of which are absolute favorites. If I wanted to go father afield, I’d opt for a couple that just blew me away: Joe Lansdale’s MUCHO MOJO and Barry Malzberg’s LONE WOLF series (which I consider to be one long book).
What about you, George?
Jerry, it depends on the day. Some days it would be a P.G. Wodehouse book. Other days it might be THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO or Robert Stone’s DOG SOLDIERS or something from Jack Vance. But, more likely, it would be the next book I read.
Picking a single favorite book would be ridiculously difficult. Even a single most important is only slightly easier, as in not easy at all.
I’m assuming the writers listed are the ones who were asked to name their favorite writers and are not, in fact, the actual favorite writers. I’d be more interested to know who each of the writers chose as their favorite(s). And is it just me or does Peggy Noonan’s name stick out like a sore thumb amongst the others?
Oliver Stone is certainly another. Albeit both of them have written (poorly but remuneratively) for a living to a certain degree.
Todd, Oliver Stone’s favorite books are:
1. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD By Harper Lee
2. ZORBA THE GREEK By Nikos Kazantzakis
3. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE By J. D. Salinger
4. LORD JIM By Joseph Conrad
5. THE GINGER MAN By J. P. Donleavy
6. JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE NIGHT By Louis-Ferdinand Celine
He has a bit more taste than talent or good sense.
Deb, Peggy Noonan’s favorite books are:
1. SAMUEL JOHNSON By W. Jackson Bate
2. A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN By Betty Smith
3. SAINTS FOR SINNERS By Alban Goodier
4. The Moviegoer By Walker Percy
5. All of Tom Wolfe
Ben Bradlee? Oliver Stone?
I loathe everything associated with the Reagan Administration, including and especially Peggy Noonan. who now shows up occasionally as a talking head on the Sunday morning “Face the Press” gabfests.
Fred, Peggy Noonan has a column in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL each week. Sometimes she has to use Pretzel Logic to explain the actions of the GOP.
I’m familiar with most of these and would be interested in seeing their choices. My own pick would be McMurtry’s LONESOME DOVE, which has been sitting in my top spot since I read it in the Eighties. I keep thinking that something will overcome it, but it hasn’t happened yet.
Michael, LONESOME DOVE is a great novel and an outstanding TV series.
Sorry, somehow this comment was tucked in above:
I don’t think there’s a contributor here who’s work I’m not aware of, albeit Putin fanboy Stone and curdled whimsey factory Irving are, to say the least, not favorites (while a number of others are)…I dig this kind of essay anthology, as well, for what it can point us to.
Many favorites here, such as Vonnegut, Leonard, Friedman, Oates, Blount, T. Wolff, Paley, Davenport and others…notable how many of the humorists are particular favorites of mine. Though Oates is rather famous for Not Being Humorous.
I’d be hard-pressed to pick a favorite — and we all know how painful a hard press can be! — because I enjoy different books for very different reasons. I don’t open GOLDFINGER or RIGHT HO, JEEVES, for the same reasons I read NOSTROMO or SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION.
Nor either pair together for the same reasons.
There are definitely more authors that I don’t recognize, than those that I do, but that doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of books like this. It is always fun to see what a person’s favorite book(s) is and why.
Carl, exactly! The book choice is interesting, but the reasons why the author picked that book (or books) can be compelling.
Having read several of Helene Hanff’s books last year I had the same feelings. Most of the books she described I know nothing about, but in reading her thoughts you can’t help but form a kinship as she was definitely a fellow book lover.
Carl, most writers are book lovers. However, when I was a college professor, I was constantly befuddled by students who seldom read any books…including the course textbook! They just wanted to watch videos!
Well, Dave Barry, obviously. I’ve read pretty much all of Dave’s books and I am a regular on his blog.
Ann Beattie, I think I’ve read all of her short story collections
I’ll always have a soft spot for Jacques Barzun (who lived to 104!) for A CATALOGUE OF CRIME.
Amy Bloom 0 read several of her books last year
Roy Blount, Jr. – I’ve read a couple of his funny books
Years ago I read several of Rita Mae Brown’s books
Art Buchwald and Christopher Buckley are worth reading
Philip Caputo’s A RUMOR OF WAR
Anne Fadiman’s books on books and reading are good
I’ve read at least three of Penelope Fitzgerald’s books
I am somewhere in the middle of Martin Gilbert’s multi-volume biography of Churchill. Long but rewarding reading, for the most part.
I’ve read some of Nadine Gordimer’s short story collections
A huge fan of Pete Hamill. I’ve read his fiction (including the mysteries) and non fiction.
I’ve read the large majority of Elmore Leonard’s books, including the westerns.
I read Doris Lessing’s THE GOLDEN NOTEBOOK years ago
Bill Crider was a big fan of David Lodge and I’ve enjoyed all the ones I’ve read.
Norman Mailer was uneven, to say the least. But I loved THE EXECUTIONER’S SONG.
I read several William Manchester books,about JFK and THE GLORY AND THE DREAM.
James McBride’s THE COLOR OF WATER was fascinating.
Frank McCourt, ANGELA’S ASHES was a classic. Also read a couple of his others.
I can read Joyce Carol Oates’s non fiction and her short stories but that’s about all.
Grace Paley was one of the great short story writers.
I read about the first 10 of Robert B. Parker’s Spenser books before I quit. Never read any of his others, except the Jackie Robinson book.
Mario Puzo, did read THE GODFATHER, which was basically fast moving pulp.
I used to like Anna Quindlen’s columns in the NYT a lot. Never read her novels.
I read a couple of Mordecai Richler’s Montreal books.
Alan Sillitoe, read his short story collections and THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG-DISTANCE RUNNER.
We saw most of Neil Simon’s plays and I read quite a few of them.
I went through a John Updike phase at one point. I loved the Rabbit books and read most of his short story collections.
Read several Vonneguts in the ’70s, nothing since.
I read all of Wendy Wasserstein’s plays and we saw several of them.
Read Geoffrey and Tobias Woolf’s books about their parents and I’m a big fan of Tobias’s short stories,
Read Herman Wouk’s THE WINDS OF WAR and the sequel.
I’m sure I’ve missed some, and may have read one book by some of the others (or more than one(). I like these books too,
Jeff, your list proves you are very Well Read, indeed! Like you, I’m a big fan of Mailer’s THE EXECUTIONER’S SONG. His best book in my estimation. Both Bill Crider and I loved David Lodge’s clever novels.
Or did I misunderstand the question? I thought we were talking about the listed authors. My own favorites would be a whole different (mostly) list and impossible to do.
Jeff, I think some commentators decided to play MY FAVORITE BOOK game like the authors in this book. Like you, I would find it difficult to pick one book as a favorite. Depends on my mood.