We’ll start with a picture book. Art Deco New York combines the best decade, the best city, and the best design all in one! Sophistication doesn’t require Shakespeare.
Whether or not every high school senior has read Atlas Shrugged or not, I enjoy Dagny’s aggressive beauty, the materialism, and the the neo-realism approach to science fiction.
Granted, I first read Dovey Coe in Middle School, but I read it to this day awed by Dowell’s combination of satire and poetry.
L’Aspic Bleu is sadly, (pun!), one of the lesser-knowns of Edward Gorey. Which is unfortunate because this is a real gothic gem.
I believe The Illuminated Rumi to be the best collection of Rumi’s poetry you can buy. And Rumi, by the by, is basically essential to your life.
A friend recommended The Blind Assassin to me because of it’s timing (a good portion takes place during the 1920s), but I loved it because its narrator, Iris, is one in a million.
The Last Tycoon takes place, when else? The 1920s. I think of it as the better-written, wittier and more realistic bastard child of Atlas Shrugged.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve recommended The Story of My Baldness since our random hook-up at Strand in January. Literally, the story is of a gorgeous young man with an excessively dysfunctional family and small penis searching for L’Amour Fou. Yes, run, don’t walk, to the bookstore.
I actually have New York Magazine to thank for the introducing Within the Context of No Context. George Trow reminds me of a friend that myself and all his friends regard as a dying breed. It’s more or less an academic and modern approach to The Great Gatsby told in the first person.
If you haven’t notice, this slew of recommendations has a particular theme. Strong female figures? Check. Snobby middle class? Check. Artsy nerd sighing in contentment while browsing Strand? Wait: that’s me.
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