Books Etc.

I’ve been thinking an awful lot about writing and books lately, and I’ve wanted to do a post about the contents of the bookshelf in my office. I realize that to list the entire contents of the bookshelf would be a monumental task, so I’m jut going to take the top shelf and give a brief comment on each book: what it means to me, how many times I’ve read it, etc. My sister does posts like this from time to time, and I guess this is sort of my version of that idea. I’ll start from left to right—like reading a book.

1. Dispatches, Michael Herr
I’ve read this twice, once when I was in France, aged sixteen, and again a few years ago. The account is a vivid description of the Vietnam War
2. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Read this one twice, once as assigned in eleventh grade, and again on my own in Africa. Fitzgerald, for some reason, caused me to brood for about seven years. Well, maybe it wasn’t all his fault.
3. The Great Shark Hunt, Hunter S. Thompson
Another influential author. My sister Lindsay turned me on to Thompson and for a while I wanted to be like him. This caused problems, and possibly permanent liver damge. I’ve read this anthology twice.
4. Chronicles, Volume One, Bob Dylan
Read once. I have the compulsion now to pull it from the shelf and open it and start reading, but I know I’ll never finish this post if I do.
5. Time and Again, Jack Finney
My brother in law leant me this book. He used to be teacher, and judging how the professors at the college I attend are about leant books, I better get it back to him soon! Read once.
6. Papa Hemingway, A.E. Hotchner
My other brother-in-law gave me this book. He was in the Hemingway society for a number of years. This is a great, largely unsentimental, account by a fond friend and admirer of Hemingway. Read once.
7. The Civil Rights Movement, Bruce Dierenfield
This was a text book for History of Civil Rights. Partially read.
8. Long Walk to Freedom, Nelson Mandela
I read this book in my first semester back in school. I did a presentation about this figure who I hold up as the greatest single historical figure of the post WWII twentieth century. I read parts of it again for an African history class.
9. Pudd’nhead Wilson, Mark Twain
My sister Emily gave me a copy of this book right before I left for Africa in the eighties. Sadly, that copy was lost, but I bought another copy, though I haven’t gotten around to re-reading it yet.
10. Cry the Beloved Country, Alan Paton
I have to admit, I’ve never read this book. Tough admission, but I believe I need to put it at the top of my list. It is a first edition Scribner’s, which is important. See previous post.
11. Beyond the Miracle, Allister Sparks
I haven’t read this book in its entirety, but I did use it to write a paper on Thabo Mbeki. Sparks has written two other journalistic accounts of the transition from Apartheid to the present government in South Africa.
12. The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Medieval World
I used this for a class, lots of useful information and maps about a confusing period of history. Helped straighten things out for me.
13. African American Art, Sharon F. Patton
Also a school text book. African American Art is extraordinarily expressive. Anyone who reads this should check out James Hampton’s Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly and the story behind it online.
14. All You Need is Love: The Peace Corps and the Spirit of the 1960’s, Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman
This was also a text book used for U.S. in the Atomic Age history class.
15. A Short Guide to Writing About History, Richard Marius, Melvin Page
Textbook used for my History 300 research seminar
16. Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
The only Jane Austen I ever read (and I use the word read loosely because it was assigned in senior English—during my sloth period—and I doubt that I read more than three pages) is Pride and Prejudice. I have no idea why this novel is in my bookshelf, although maybe my mom slipped it in there in the hopes that I would get hooked on Austen. It hasn’t happened yet.
17. The Best Stories of Guy de Maupassant
I’ve read a couple of these stories, but I always get distracted by something else. Maybe I’ll get motivated to read the rest someday.
18. Old School, Tobias Wolff
I just can’t gush enough about this funny, real, heartbreaking look at boarding school life. So much of it just hit home with me. Read once, with plans to read many times again.
19. Back in the World, Tobias Wolff
A collection of short stories by Wolff from the eighties. Again, just can’t say enough about this provocative master of short fiction.
20. The Night in Question, Tobias Wolff
More short stories, this time from the nineties. Stories that end, and leave you staring at the ceiling, pondering but fulfilled.
21. The Collected Stories of William Faulkner
I’ve read maybe a fourth of this huge, dense anthology. You need to commit to Faulkner, like changing careers or something. At times I’m more than ready to make that commitment, and sometimes the challenge offers up profound rewards.
22. Three Volumes of The Historian
I get this scholarly journal now for some reason; don’t ask me if I’ve read any of the articles. I’m assigned too many in my course work as it is.
23. Paradise Lost, John Milton
Read this for a class. I ended up loving it. Like reading a pointy-headed fantasy novel in verse, of course with huge religious themes and fire and brimstone and social commentary, and sex, and political doctrine, and satire and…
24. Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney
Another vivid work from English Lit. I wrote a paper about the use of boasting in Beowulf and used this volume. We read it in high school out of the humongous Norton’s Anthology with its teeny-tiny print, all written out in prose. YAWN! This modern translation made the poem ring in bearable tones.
25. My Folks Don’t Want Me to Talk About Slavery, slave narratives
I bought this book on a trip to James Monroe’s house, Ash Lawn, outside of Charlottesville. Turns out that the publisher is located in Winston-Salem. First hand account of life under slavery.
26. German Boy,Wolfgsang W.E. Samuel
My parents gave this book to me to read. Sadly, I have to admit that I haven’t gotten to it yet.
27. Slow Burn: Burn Fat Faster by Exercising Slower, Stu Mittleman
This is an exercise book that I actually used for a while. If there is any book that I need to re-read it is this one!
28. Grendel, John Gardner
Beowulf from Grendels point of view. From the postmodern perspective of the “other.” Spellcheck doesn’t accept the word Grendel, talk about “othering.”
29. The non-Existent Knight and The Cloven Viscount, Italo Calvino
I read the non-Existent Knight for a class as well. I need to put more general reading texts in my bookshelf, assigned reading isn’t the same as the books I actually would read by choice. Still, this is the great Calvino.
30. Without Feathers, Woody Allen
A loaned book from my sister Lindsay, I’ve read excerpts. Very funny. Especially the piece about going to the prostitute for intellectual stimulation.
31. The Partner, John Grisham
I keep meaning to read Grisham. As a result I’ve collected five of six of his books and started all of them. I need a private beach for a month and no other reading choices to accomplish this. This title somehow ended up in the shelf.
32. Richard III, Shakespeare
Read this for class as well. Okay, here’s the deal with me and Shakespeare. I haven’t ever been bitten by the bug. There is no un-philistine reason for this, only the fact that the long lamenting soliloquies make me queasy. There, it’s said. Hate me if you will. Maybe someone will bring me around someday.
33. Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson
Wish I could say I’ve read a single word of this book. Can’t say that though.
34. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
I’ve started this masterpiece, five, maybe six times. I figured if I could manage War and Peace I could manage this. I figured wrong. Possibly another month on a private island for this one.
35. Childhood, Boyhood, Youth, Leo Tolstoy
See #33.
36. Tarantula, Bob Dylan
I got this at a second hand store for eight dollars. It’s a first edition, but other than that it’s unreadable. But that’s just me. I would try to tackle it again but I don’t want to remove it from the little zip-lock bag it came in.

So that’s the top shelf of my bookcase. I’d say I came out about 70/30 on what I’ve read of its contents and what I haven’t. Of course I’m adding points to the read list if I’ve read a book twice.:-)