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Kevin reads!
I know what you're saying: Kevin, you were a massive lit nerd in '07, could you be an even bigger one in '08? The answer is a resounding "Yes!" Along with writing and producing videos and just generally kicking ass 22/6 (I'm not a robot), I managed to hit the 50-book mark.
So here is the list. It includes the dates, page count and a short, sometimes slanderous, occasionally inaccurate, usually unreliable review by me. Also, an (R) in the title denotes a book that I re-read.
To give credit where credit is due, the title for this blog was Jamelah's idea. I pretty much take my marching orders from her.
And for you State fans:
"Have you tried bibliophile?"
"Are you asking if I am one or if they threaten my sexuality?"
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1) "I Celebrate Myself: The Somewhat Private Life of Allen Ginsberg", Bill Morgan, 654pg.
12/16/06-01/21/07
People sometimes forget that he was one of the pioneers in the civil/gay/women's rights movements. Ginzy touched so many people, literally and figuratively.
2) "The French Revolution", Thomas Carlyle, 206pg.
12/26/06-01/11/07
A chaotic, opinionated and passionate history of the French revolution.
3) "Collected Poems 1947-1997", Ginsberg, 1161pg.
01/04/07-01/24/07
Ah Ginzy, so prolific.
4) "Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Dog", D. Thomas, 120pg.
01/22/07-01/26/07
What a huge talent and one of the great lyrical writer/poet/warlords. Okay, not sure about that last one.
5) "The Black Book", Pamuk, 466pg.
01/25/07-02/11/07
Now with a Nobel Prize under his belt it doesn't seem as jarring when I say Orhan Pamuk is the most vital novelist of our time.
6) "A History Of Modern Russia", Robert Service, 555pg.
01/27/07-02/17/07
"My father came to this country from Russia when he was three with a gun, a grenade and a picture of Stalin in his pants." Don Rickles
7) "One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich", Solzhenitsyn, 182pg.
02/18/07-02/21/07
"Hey Kevin, can you recommend a book about a day in the life of a Russian political prisoner?"
8) "Dubliners & A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man" (R), Joyce, 411pg.
02/18/07-03/07/07
I'm glad I re-read these after conquering "Finnegan's Wake" and "Ulysses" last year; "Dubliners" is Joyce at his most accessible.
9) "The Age Of Napoleon", Christopher Herald, 457pg.
02/22/07-03/09/07
Just getting up to speed on my French history.
10) "The Western Canon: The Books and Schools of the Ages", Harold Bloom, 493pg.
03/10/07-04/03/07
Holy crap! This book showed me just how little I've read and provided a great outline for future reading.
11) "Player Piano", Vonnegut, 341pg.
03/10/07-03/20/07
I'm not crazy about some of his storylines, but I love the way he writes.
12) "Divine Comedy", Dante, 541pg.
03/21/07-04/05/07
Dante was one pissed-off, twisted, bitter mother fucker. And the fact that he called it a "Comedy"? Grande coglione, my friends.
13) "The People Look Like Flowers At Last", Bukowski, 299pg.
04/05/07-04/07/07
It's becoming the literary equivalent of Groundhog's Day: the annual attempt to make money off the corpse of Bukowski. And, much like Groundhog's Day, it's irrelevant.
14) "The Poems of Emily Dickinson", Ed. by R.W. Franklin, 636pg.
04/08/07-04/30/07
Emily quickly vaulted into my top five poets with her sparse wit (what, like you don't have a top five list of poets?).
15) "One Matchless Time: William Faulkner", Jay Parini, 433pg.
04/08/07-04/17/07
I'm really in awe of Faulkner: he was able to write both "classic" novels and incredibly experimental prose and write them both well.
16) "Nothing Like The Sun", Burgess, 234pg.
04/18/07-04/25/07
Speculating on Shakespeare's love life, this might be the best historical novel I've ever read…wait, make that the second best…
17) "Go Down, Moses", Faulkner, 365pg.
04/27/07-05/06/07
A great example of fragmented short stories coming together to tell a unified story, spanning generations.
18) "On The Road" (R), Kerouac, 310pg.
05/01/07-05/08/07
Read this one annually. It's Kerouac!
19) "Genius: A Mosaic Of One Hundred Exemplary Creative Minds", Bloom, 814pg.
05/09/07-06/04/07
Again, Bloom blows my fucking mind by analyzing/categorizing the greatest creative minds throughout history.
20) "A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide And The Question Of Turkish Responsibility", Taner Akcam, 376pg.
05/09/07-05/19/07
Coincidentally, this came to the forefront briefly in the media just after I read this book; another terrible massacre caused by religion (in a nutshell).
21) "Falling Man", DeLillo, 246pg.
05/19/07-05/24/07
The long-awaited utterance on 9/11 by a great American author, and it didn't disappoint. Written by any other novelist, a great book. But going by DeLillo Standards (which exist only in my mind), just a good book.
22) "Back On The Fire: Essays", Snyder, 164pg.
05/25/07-05/27/07
Snyder once again showcases his distinct voice and unique insights on environmental issues, esp. forest fires. It's Japhy!
23) "Libra", DeLillo, 456pg.
06/05/07-06/16/07
THIS is the best historical novel I've ever read, speculating on Oswald and the JFK assassination.
24) "Molloy", Beckett, 176pg.
06/05/07-06/09/07
Popping my Beckett cherry, this book was…ok…
25) "Malone Dies", Beckett, 109pg.
06/10/07-06/15/07
But this book really hooked me with its weirdness…
26) "The Unnamable", Beckett, 122pg.
06/16/07-06/22/07
And this one won me over with its strange monologue by a freaky, unnamed character.
27) "Decline Of The West/Abridged", Spengler/Hughes, 415pg.
06/23/07-07/03/07
Just a refresher; Spengler's pretty much dead-on in his analysis of recurring patterns, or traits, in history.
28) "The Story Of A Novel" (R), Wolfe, 93pg.
06/24/07-06/25/07
This was a commissioned piece which Wolfe wrote immediately after "Look Homeward, Angel" and shows a yet-unsuccessful author who is unsure about himself and his future.
29) "Hadji Murád", Tolstoy, 119pg.
07/04/07-07/06/07
If you think problems between Russia and the Causasian region are new, read this short novel. Actually, even if you don't, read it anyway. Just read the damn book and quit arguing with me.
30) "John Adams: Party Of One", James Grant, 450pg.
07/04/07-07/17/07
It's amazing how John Adams, a borderline monarchist, could work with T. Jeff and the Rebels to stage an effective revolution. Actually I saw T. Jeff and the Rebels at a roadside bar outside of Pekin, IL. Great classic blues band.
31) "A Clockwork Orange", Burgess, 212pg.
07/07/07-07/14/07
This might be the Year of Burgess.
32) "The New Life", Pamuk, 296pg.
07/18/07-07/28/07
Or maybe the Year of Pamuk.
33) "Americans", Edward Countryman, 241pg.
07/18/07-07/26/07
An excellent history of the development of the culture of America.
34) "The Dharma Bums" (R), Kerouac, 244pg.
07/26/07-08/03/07
An annual re-read and maybe the happiest Kerouac book.
35) "Don Quixote", Cervantes, 891pg.
07/29/07-08/23/07
I thank Bloom for this book, which not only utilizes almost every comedic premise, but also is a "meta" novel: characters appearing in books two and three have read book one and punk Quixote and Sancho thusly.
36) "On The Road: The Original Scroll", Kerouac, 408pg.
08/24/07-08/29/07
It's about time this came out, but I prefer the traditional version. It's interesting nonetheless and a must-read for Kerouac readers.
37) "Then We Came To The End", Joshua Ferris, 385pg.
08/29/07-09/03/07
I might be the only voice out there saying "Overrated!" I don't think the fact that almost every review compares it to a TV show ("It's like NBC's 'The Office'!") is a good thing.
38) "The Insanity Defense", Woody Allen, 342pg.
08/30/07-09/08/07
The funniest book I've read in a long time. Why doesn't Woody do a movie based on some of these stories?
39) "Heart Of Darkness" (R), Conrad, 77pg.
09/06/07-09/08/07
I loved it in middle school and still love it today.
40) "Shakespeare's Complete Works", 1201pg.
–Comedies, 1-475, 09/09/07-10/11/07
–Histories, 478-804, 10/21/07-11/12/07
–Tragedies, 806-1134, 12/07-12/19
–Poems, 1136-1201, 12/20-12/22
One thing (among many) I noticed: all the crazy shit goes down after midnight in his stories.
41) "Other Colors", Pamuk, 417pg.
09/21/07-10/12/07
Pamuk's latest book, a collection of previously published articles and essays.
42) "The Town And The City" (R), Kerouac, 499pg.
10/03/07-10/18/07
Another annual re-read. I still love the section about the big Thanksgiving Day football game.
43) "Jesus And Yahweh", Bloom, 238pg.
10/13/07-10/20/07
I lean more towards Yahweh. He's old school. He didn't like gratuitous praise, was pretty damn moody and quick to throw a plague/pestilence on your ass.
44) "The Tree Of Smoke", Denis Johnson, 614pg.
10/19/07-10/27/07
Now THIS book lived up to its billing and Johnson's getting the credit he deserves. Who knew there could be a fresh novel written about Vietnam?
45) "Ward No. 6 And Other Stories", Chekhov, 360pg.
11/13/07-11/26/07
It's about time I got into Chekhov. I'm sorry, but the Russians just do this lit thing better.
46) "Thinking Like A Director", Michael Bloom, 221pg.
11/14/07-11/24/07
A big help to me as a broadcast writer/producer, getting insights into stage direction.
47) "The Pleasures Of The Damned: Poems, 1951-1993", Bukowski, 548pg.
11/25/07-11/30/07
Finally, a Bukowski book worth publishing. Nice to have all his great works in one collection.
48) "Shakespeare", Anthony Burgess, 238pg.
11/27/07-12/04/07
What I imagine it would be like to have a Shakespearean scholar get drunk and tell you everything he knows.
49) "Ape And Essence", Huxley, 205pg.
12/04/07-12/06/07
Huxley's vision of a post-apocalyptic future. Surprisingly, it's a lot like Dr. Who.
50) "God Is Not Great", Christopher Hitchens, 283pg.
12/20/07-12/26/07
But Christopher Hitchens IS so read this book. This book actually made me feel secure.
51) "Keep The Aspidistra Flying", Orwell, 248pg.
12/26/07-12/29/07
I think "Animal Farm" and "1984" overshadow Orwell's other great works, namely this one and "Homage to Catalonia" and "Down and Out in Paris And London".
52) "Slaughterhouse-five", Vonnegut, 275pg.
12/30/07-01/02/08
Finally, I got around to this classic, probably the most interesting war novel I've ever read.
53) "The Short Stories", Hemingway, 457pg.
12/29/07-
It's Papa! With his massive ego in tow!
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Goodbye Again: The Definitive Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
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William Cook
Release date: January, 2004
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