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William Collen's avatar

House of Leaves gave me the heebie-jeebies when I first read it. But I couldn't finish Lolita; I got as far as the break between parts I and II and the overwhelming sense of utter devastation and despair was too much for me.

When I finished Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid of Earth, I wasn't disturbed in a Halloween-creepy kind of way, but the immense loneliness of the title character weighed heavy on my heart for a week afterwards. That book is powerfully honest and truthful, and I was left with the sense that there are many men all over—even in my own neighborhood—who experience crushing loneliness like that.

Nonfiction? My in-laws are both doctors. Once, at their house, I was idly flipping through their bookshelf and came upon a medical text called "Atlas of Skin Diseases" . . . and I shouldn't have, but I looked. It was full of pictures. I didn't need to see those.

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Bethany Simeo's avatar

Absent in the Spring by Agatha Christie

Nothing more disturbing than Joan being offered that glimpse of the truth about her life and what she’s really done to her family and watching her slowly settle back into the shell of her life.

Disturbing in a good, self reflective way.

Also the fact that Christie said it was the only book she’s ever been satisfied with and she wrote it in three days- inspired

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