Book Recommendations

I have divided these recommendations into several categories:

Here are the stand-outs of fiction that I've recently read or re-read (in chronological order).

Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer

I was stunned that this book was written by a 25 year old. One word I would choose for this writing is "fresh". Foer mixes up the writing style and narrative perspective and creates a book at once funny and touching, crude and meaningful. It is interesting that so many of the younger generation of writers like to counterpoint tragedy with comedy (not that this is a new concept), but it works here. If the crudity of the teenage Ukranian character bothers you at first, hang on in there, it's simply part of the developing feel of the book.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers

I was hesitant to pick up this book when it first came out, largely because of the title, but I'm glad I did. Eggers writes a book both witty and touching -- a book that expresses his intelligence, his cynicism and his idealism. He brings a lot of gen-X traits to the novel, and manages to pull off quite a good one.

Nausea, by Jean-Paul Sartre

This fascinating novel gave me more insight into the core idea of Existentialism than anything I have read to date. An amazing intellectual achievement.

Blindness, by José Saramago

A grim but powerful novel that carries you through some of the darker sides of human nature in times of extreme trial, and yet also describes how strong the virtuous and idealistic characteristics can be. That's all I will say -- I don't want to give anything away, and I do recommend it very very highly.

Invitations to a Bridge Burning, by David Maizenberg

A well-written set of short stories from an exciting new author. Maizenberg's stories can be intense and perceptive, and he clearly has a keen sense of the absurd.

The Hours, by Michael Cunningham

Cunningham intersperses three stories about: Virginia Woolf writing Mrs Dalloway and near the point of suicide; a modern day Mrs Dalloway living in the West Village; and a woman trying to balance her creative ambitions with the societal expectations of a 1950's housewife. I was blessed to hear Cunningham read at KGB bar in the East Village one evening, and immediately ran out to purchase the novel. The language is so beautiful, and apt, that I would stop and stare at a sentence for minutes with surprised gratitude.

The Idiot, by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The content of the book is amazing, touching on the nature of man, strength, weakness, religion, and society. While the love-tale plot can be a little shallow, Dostoevsky packs more into 5 pages than many authors get into entire novels, and I feel like I only scratched the surface of this book on the first read.

The Adventures of Augie March, by Saul Bellow

The book feels like it is about nothing and many things at the same time. It is a well-written novel that is essentially a character study of a man both lovable and pathetic -- a man slightly confused by the world and himself.

Tropic of Cancer, by Henry Miller

Tropic of Cancer is highly self-indulgent but I think Miller achieves the goal laid out at the beginning of the book of giving literature a kick-in-the-teeth/shot-in-the-arm. Some people are angered or even disgusted by what they read in this novel, but to me the book -- for all its weaknesses -- had a power and wit which were as undeniable as the passion of the writing style.

A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole

Imagine a huge, rusted old buick, back seat littered with McDonalds' wrappers, plastic ducklings, and the occasional dog-eared copy of Chaucer or Donne... it careens and swerves down a narrow street, hitting a garbage can, pausing, going into reverse, hitting a telephone pole, birds above squawking in terror and emptying their bowels onto the roof and windshield... the car skids across the alsphalt, pulverizing a mailbox and a couple of lawn ornaments... finally the car jumps the curb, magically aligns in the right direction, and drives off into the distance, leaving behind a yo-yo, two torn tablets of yellow paper, and a street full of spectators, cringing behind shutters and peering behind curtains, caught between horror and humor and soon bursting into infectious, roaring laughter.

The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing, by Melissa Bank

This is a 'fun' read, with witty cynicism and sharp prose. I wondered if Bank wrote the entire book just to get to the last chapter -- a denouncing of 'The Rules' (the 'how to catch your man' book that was a craze not too long ago) -- but it doesn't matter. This book is in the same vein as Bridget Jones, but not quite so over-the-top.

The Joke, by Milan Kundera

The layers and sheer thoughtfulness of this book are astounding. I read the 1982 translation, but have heard that a newer translation better adheres to Kundera's original.

The Locusts Have No King, by Dawn Powell

Powell has been revived in the last few years. She lived in New York's West Village and wrote about the personalities in the city around her with razor-sharp, needle-piercing wit. The Locusts is about many things, but at the root it centers on a love story interrupted by the call of success and mid-life crises. While the book has its flaws, her portrayal of 1948-era personalities is priceless.

The Awakening, by Kate Chopin

Like a snapshot of emotion, this book presents the struggle between duty and desire, individualism and society. Chopin does not moralize or romanticize either angle, she simply says, "here you are, this is to be human". To quote Edna speaking of Mademoiselle Reisz, "...when I left her today, she put her arms around me and felt my shoulder blades, to see if my wings were strong, she said. 'The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth.'"

By The Shore, by Galaxy Craze

A haunting and beautiful story of a 12 year old girl in England becoming aware of the complications of human interactions.

The Thought Gang, by Tibor Fischer

Hystical and intelligent, all about a Cambridge Philosophy professor with a penchant for inebriation and bank robbery.

The Path to the Spider's Nest, by Italo Calvino

Written in 1947, the book is an intense novel about a young boy involved in the Italian resistance (of whichCalvino had first-hand experience). Make sure you read Calvino's preface essay.

Middlemarch, by George Eliot

It took me quite a while to wend my way through the 838 pages of this book, but Eliot is both a masterful wielder of the English language and wonderfully penetrating in her depictions of mankind.

Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austin

I can read this book again and again and again. It is one of the best love stories ever written.

Play It As It Lays, by Joan Didion

A psychologically intense novel about a troubled woman adrift in the Southern California lifestyle.

Patrick O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin series

this is a wonderful, multi-book series of historical fiction focused on a captain in the British navy at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, and his naturalist/doctor/covert operative friend. They are fun, fascinating, incredibly well-researched and well-written.

For artists on art sources, see the bibliography.

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing

After my entire family read this book and raved about it, I figured I had to give it a try. The book more than lived up to its praise. It is one of the most incredible, exciting, and tense stories I've ever read.

The Beak of the Finch, by Jonathan Weiner

Won the Pulitzer; Weiner focuses on the work of many scientists, but focuses on the long and careful studies of the finches on Daphne Major in the Galapagos Islands. It is a wonderful and inspiring book that shows how evolution is more than theory. Weiner makes us think about where we come from and how nature evolves around us and with us.

The Origins of Virtue, by Matt Ridley

Ridley investigates the history of human cooperation. He draws upon ecological and evolutionary studies, complexity threory, anthropology, psychology and sociology. A fantastic book.

America Day by Day, by Simone de Beauvoir

A fascinating book on Beauvoir's tour around the United States in 1947. She is critical yet fair, thoughtful and perceptive. It is an outsider's look at America on the cusp of the cold war, before the sexual revolution, and before the civil rights movement. The book makes one stop and think -- have we changed? Have we improved? What needs to be done to take us even further?

Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond

Won the Pulitzer; a fascinating study on why human societies evolved in different ways, why power centers emerged in certain places, starting back 15,000 years ago. Diamond’s strength is in research, not writing, but you hardly notice it.

Complexity, Mitchell Walldrop

An enjoyable history of the birth of the Sante Fe Institute and their studies on chaos theory and complexity theory. A wonderful example of the benefits of cross-fertilization of ideas across vertical lines, which will probably resonate with anyone who has interests across many areas of study/life.

Consilience, Edward Wilson

The Harvard biologist/ecologist’s attempt at bringing the sciences and humanities closer together. Wilson is a wonderful writer and, especially where it is concerned with the realm of science, this book shines.

Connexity, by Geoff Mulgan

An excellent book that explores the implications of increased independence matched with growing interdependence, and examines them across economic, political, philosophical, and social realms.

Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson

Neuromancer, by William Gibson

Snowcrash, by Neal Stephenson

Dune, Frank Herbert

I tune out many business books these days. Most have too much hype and not enough substance. Here are a couple classics:

AOL.com, by Kara Swisher

Great history book on the rise, fall, rise, fall, rise of AOL. Well researched, edited, and written.

Gates, by Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews

The best history book on the rise of the PC era I have ever read. The authors come from the Wall St. Journal, and hence exhibit the kind of quality writing, research and editing lacking in most business books today. If you like this, you might also enjoy the recent book on AOL.

Crossing the Chasm, by Geoffrey Moore

Required reading for anyone in the technology field.

Built to Last, James Collins and Jerry Porras

Well-written and inspirational book on the habits and characteristics of visionary companies. Definitely my favorite biz-book.

How to Win Friends & Influence People, Dale Carnegie

I never liked the title, but the contents are simply wonderful; a must-read that charms, inspires and reminds us that at the end of the day, business is about people.

Other business books that are interesting: Peter Drucker's The Effective Executive, Theodore Levitt's The Marketing Imagination, Ford Harding's Rain Making.

Lulu's Provencal Table, by Richard Olney

A book on Provencal cooking which is as much a story about Lulu Peyraud, the wife of the proprietor of Domaine Tempier, a vinyard near Bandol in the south of France.

In this age of Amazon and Borders, it is always wonderful to find a cozy bookstore where the owners love their work and take care over every book they choose to stock. They are a dying breed -- one of my favorites, Tillman Place in SF, has now closed down.

Three Lives, Manhattan

Located on the corner of 10th St. and Waverly St. down in the West Village. They primarily stock fiction.

Richard Hilkert Bookseller, San Francisco

Located at 333 Hayes, by Octavia St. down by the Symphony and Opera buildings, Hilkert is extremely strong in interior and garden design, architecture, and music.