Lammycat Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 No Running With Scissors. I thought that was a kick ass book.Almost picked up his new one at the library last week. It's about his father, from what I gathered from the book jacket. Anyone read it yet? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
H to the ickle Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I'm glad Watchmen and Sandman made that list. Also, no Chuck Palahniuk?? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
redpillbox Posted July 21, 2008 Author Share Posted July 21, 2008 I have not been able to get into Eggers, by the way. He's been reccomended to me by alot of people but I just cannot get into Heartbreaking Work. I would agree about Heartbreaking - I completely stalled out. At the risk of enflaming the fans, it just felt way too clever ('How's that working for you? : What? : Being clever?') for its own good. It wore a bit thin after a while. Don't hurt me. Your favorites that didn't make it bobbob? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bobbob1313 Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Well, Life of Pi is probably my favorite book ever, so that's a pretty glaring omission. Also, Me Talk Pretty One Day is David Sedaris' best book. Lamb: The Gospel According To Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal.I, LuciferA Short History Of Nearly Everything Damn, I'm blanking on more, but really, they didn't get many of them for me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mfwahl Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I've only read two by Eggers, but I liked What is the What a whole lot more than You Shall Know Our Velocity.How We Are Hungry, his collection of short stories is a good introduction. What is the What is amazing. Glad to see him high on the list. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Interesting that they included William Gibson's Neuromancer, but not Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. I only skimmed the list long enough to notice that Gibson was on there but Stephenson was not. Aside from that ... it's Entertainment Weekly, and no one should care what they say ... about anything. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NightOfJoy Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 They list "Jimmy Corrigan" by Chris Ware (which is a comic) but no "Blood Meridian" by McCarthy. Thusly, this list does not pass go, does not collet $200 and must start from the beginning. Sorry but its for the best. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Whitty Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I shan't argue with The Road at #1. Harrowing, absorbing, image-etching writing going on there. As if old cellars weren't creepy enough... I can't say enough good things about Raymond Carver. Dan Brown and no Larry Brown is laughable. Also- no Tom Robbins? That's a surprise. And seeing as they've included non-fiction, you could do worse than giving Bill Bryson a mention- I always enjoy his stuff. Maybe a bit too scientific for what EW was going for, but I have to include something from both Richard Dawkins and Jared Diamond if I'm compiling essential books from the last quarter-century. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NightOfJoy Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I shan't argue with The Road at #1. Harrowing, absorbing, image-etching writing going on there. As if old cellars weren't creepy enough... I can't say enough good things about Raymond Carver. Dan Brown and no Larry Brown is laughable. Also- no Tom Robbins? That's a surprise. And seeing as they've included non-fiction, you could do worse than giving Bill Bryson a mention- I always enjoy his stuff. Maybe a bit too scientific for what EW was going for, but I have to include something from both Richard Dawkins and Jared Diamond if I'm compiling essential books from the last quarter-century. Good catch....no Tom Robbins is a glaring oversight. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PopTodd Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Maybe not a surprise, but I miss:FrindlebyAndrew Clement Yeah, it is a "kid's" book -- geared toward middle schoolers, really. But it's too much fun and it works for me as a "grown-up", too. Especially, as a lover of words. Nicholas Allen has plenty of ideas and most have gotten him into trouble at school. But now Nick's in fifth grade, and it looks like his days as a troublemaker are over. Everyone knows that Mrs. Granger, the language arts teacher, has X-ray vision, and nobody gets away with anything in her classroom. To make matters worse, she's also a fanatic about the dictionary, which is hopelessly boring to Nick. But when Nick learns an interesting tidbit about words and where they come from, it inspires his greatest plan yet: to invent a word. From now on, a pen is no longer a pen - it's a frindle. It doesn't take long for frindle to take root, and soon the excitement spreads well beyond his school and town. His parents and teacher would like Nick to put an end to all this nonsense. But frindle doesn't belong to Nick anymore. All he can do now is sit back and watch what happens. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jimmyjimmy Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Dan Brown and no Larry Brown is laughable.Another good catch. And your spot on. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
quarter23cd Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Something from Russell Banks would have been nice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Something from Russell Banks would have been nice.I was thinking that too - and Paul Auster. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jules Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I've read exactly 1 of those books. Any guesses? Edit: Shit, make that 3. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I've read exactly 1 of those books. Any guesses? Edit: Shit, make that 3.Into Thin Air Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jules Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Into Thin AirNo, but I do own that and will likely read it eventually. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Lonesome Dove Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RaspberryJam Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I'm a little pissed about the Tom Robbins omission too. I read Jitterbug Perfume in high school and it is what made me a reader. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bobbob1313 Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I've read 11 of those books, and just realized the list sort of redeems itself by including Holes, probably my favorite book as a youngin'. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gogo Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Holes, probably my favorite book as a youngin'.This essay in the New York Times book review section yesterday discusses the Young Adult publishing "ghetto", and one author is even quoted as saying "There isn Quote Link to post Share on other sites
NightOfJoy Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 I was thinking that too - and Paul Auster. Another good catch, I really liked 'Moon Palace'. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
redpillbox Posted July 21, 2008 Author Share Posted July 21, 2008 For the baseball lovers out there, the first chapter of DeLillo's Underworld was some of the best baseball writing I've read. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Somnambulist Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 I just finished "The Road" after seeing it a #1 on this list. Man, that was a good book. I agree with the poster that it's a shame there is no Irvine Welsh on there. I've read a lot of his books with the exception of Trainspotting and found them all great. Maribou Stork Nightmares being my favorite. Would have liked to have seen more John Irving on there but I'm guessing they were going for one book per author. I picked up "The Ruins" by ? Smith at the library tonight after seeing it on this list. I'd heard it was a great book but the movie they made recently was supposed to be horrible. I've been using this list as a "oh yeah, I wanted to check that one out" reminder list. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 For the baseball lovers out there, the first chapter of DeLillo's Underworld was some of the best baseball writing I've read. I couldn't agree more - though I would add the first chapter is one of the best opening chapters ever - some of DeLillo's finest writing. I love that book. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Whitty Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 When was Ironweed published? That's another potentially glaring omission... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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