Over the years there's been so many - as a pastor I guess that's inevitable, given how important reading is - but right now my answer would have to be Wendell Berry. His novels, his essays, his poetry have all been so helpful - stimulating, consoling, expanding and more besides.
So of his novels, maybe Jayber Crow? Or perhaps Hannah Coulter. The Memory of Old Jack wouldn't be a bad choice either. For short stories that also deal with the same Port William community I'd suggest Stand By Me. For essays, maybe It All Turns On Affection or a collection like The World-Ending Fire. And for poetry, I'm reading his Collected Sabbath Poems which would be a fine, fine read. There are Library of America collections of his essays (2 vols) and his fiction (1 volume, another due next year).
Agreed, with Richard, on Berry and his LOA volumes. Also, since there are so many essay collections, The World Ending Fire collection is an excellent one to start with.
Chandler. Though there are writers I appreciate more and I understand the holes in him now, his style turned me onto what I appreciate about writing. Style, mood, poetic vibes and that need to answer the mystery.
Yes! The Big Sleep is the only book that I reread immediately after I finished it. I literally (in both senses of the word) finished the last page and started the first page all over again.
David McCullough. I had always loved to read, but as a young mom with three preschoolers, I was struggling to read. I couldn't figure out who I was as a reader and if it was worth the investment. For some reason I decided to read John Adams by McCullough. (This was before the movie.) Then I waded through Truman. The success of completing those two books relit my reading life. I began reading more widely, following book blogs, and became good friends with my librarian. Maybe any book could have triggered a reading revival but for me it was McCullough and I still get warm fuzzies thinking of his books.
In "The Great Bridge" McCullough describes some of the investors in the Brooklyn Bridge as though they were in a Thomas Nast cartoon. It puts the reader in the frame of mind at the time of the bridge's construction and really enlivens the characters. This is just one of the techniques that McCullough uses.
Ray Bradbury. I read The Martian Chronicles when I was in middle school, and I was hooked. Something Wicked This Way Comes is still one of my favorite novels.
And Joel, I remember those Laissez Faire Books catalogs! I ordered a book of Mencken quotes from them, because they praised him so much.
Joel, there are so many amazing authors who have influenced my life. I could write for days on this topic and not say everything I would like. However, the one author that stands out above all the others is my grandmother, Juanita Yates. She was a journalist first and foremost, writing a weekly column for small town newspapers in rural Missouri. She wrote about everyday farm life and raising 10 kids. In 1976 she was named Missouri Press Woman of the Year and in 1982 Missouri Mother of the Year. She self-published several books in small batches and sold them herself. She never achieved widespread acclaim but was well-known and highly respected throughout Missouri. She taught me a lot about literature and writing and the arts. Besides all that she was just a damn good grandmother.
I have a clear obsession with Joan Didion, haha. My list of favorite writers doesn't contain a lot of women, strangely, but the moment I read one of Didion's essays for the first time (by accident, no less -- a copy of "Political Fictions" was sitting on the floor at a used bookstore in Pasadena, just calling my name), my entire world was changed. I think I've read almost everything she's ever written at this point.
I'm a bigger fan of her nonfiction than her fiction, honestly. I would recommend:
1. Slouching Toward Bethlehem: If you're interested in a collection of essays about Didion's experiences wandering among the hippies of the Haight-Ashbury in the 1960s (and her wry, intelligent disdain for them), an encounter with a five-year-old on LSD, critical thoughts about California life, and an interview with the "Secretary General" of an obscure (now obsolete) American Maoist group, this would be the place to start.
2. Political Fictions: If you're interested in the perspectives of a female journalist (who in no way ever succumbed to the identity politics of the feminism of her time) on politics and the campaign trail in the late 1980s to 2000, this would be the place to start.
3. The Year of Magical Thinking: If you're interested in a first-hand account of how a brilliant and stoic writer grieved the tragedy of her husband's sudden death while she was making dinner, and the year of mourning and unfamiliar vulnerability that followed, this is a great place to start.
Honestly, all of her work is excellent -- the way she uses words is what struck me first about her writing, followed closely by her unique insights and worldview.
Thank you so much for these recommendations. They all sound good. I’ve been in Tennessee twenty years now, almost as long as I lived in California. But I grew up in the Golden State and am only now beginning to think about how formative that experience was. I have a default libertarian, laissez-faire, optimistic bent that comes in part from living in Northern California. I’ve been coming back to this in the last few months. Slouching Toward Bethlehem sounds excellent along those lines.
Of course! Didion grew up in Sacramento and had that same "California conservative" slant (which was really more classical liberal than conservative). I believe she went to Berkeley too, so that influence is in there too.
Her politics are very hard to pin down, which is why I love her political writing so much. She was mostly just concerned about reality, less about fitting into a category. With your background, I think you'll really appreciate her work!
I grew up in Roseville, a Sacramento suburb, just a few miles up I-80! I worked in Sacramento for a few years. By then I’d moved further out to Lincoln. That California conservative thing was bigger when I was a kid than today. It’s more marginalized now, especially in state politics. But it absolutely shaped my outlook.
That's awesome! I feel like you will identify a lot with her work. Even when she lived in other states, that California outlook is always present. Hope you and your family have a very happy Thanksgiving!! :)
I'm not sure how I got on this email list, but I'm thankful I did. The answer which comes to mind is probably the answer I should go with, though I'll probably add a second, maybe a third, and be ticked off later that I left someone out.
First, Charles Portis. The critic, Ron Rosenbaum, called Portis "America's great, unknown writer." He's been called the greatest comic novelist the country ever produced. He's most famous for his second novel, "True Grit," which has extremely funny things in it, but is usually thought of as a Western. I think it's the writer, Donna Tartt, who called it "pitch perfect." She's a huge Portis fan, and she's right in her appraisal of "True Grit." Portis' output was slim, just five novels, but I'm grateful to God that He gave Portis to the world. ( Note: "The Dog of the South" has no actual canine in it, and the South makes an appearance only in that Little Rock is where the story begins. It is, hands down, the funniest book I've ever read. )
Flannery O'Connor. If you haven't read her, get her "Complete Stories" and read straight through. Also, "The Habit of Being," the collection of her letters, is one of my favorite books.
Steven Millhauser. It's dismaying that more people haven't heard of him. He's best described as a magical realist. He has a fabulous imagination. I urge people to buy a copy of "The Barnum Museum," and read the title story. You'll know from that whether he's for you.
Flann O'Brien, "The Third Policeman." More surrealism than magical realism. There is no book like it. The collection of his World War II. era newspaper columns, "The Best of Myles," is a display of genius.
Dostoevsky. Waugh. Walker Percy.
J.F. Powers' "Morte d'Urban" is a great comic novel with a remarkable serious turn.
J.L. Carr's "A Month in the Country" is the most moving novel I've ever read.
"Fancies and Goodnights," the collected stories of John Collier. Pure entertainment. Ray Bradbury called Collier his greatest influence. Not a bad endorsement.
"The American Language" is a superb book. It helped me understand the U.S. a lot better.
In my case, the author was Jack London. "The Call of the Wild" was the gateway drug- tightly and starkly written, understandable and without elaborate narrative or eloquence padding. That led me to his other books, written much the same way regardless of topic.
The things he wrote about have largely become the things I write about or am most interested in writing- dogs, history, speculative fiction, sociology, memoirs and socialist politics. He didn't confine himself to one topic or genre but his style is always recognizable as his. That's been my approach as a writer and I thank him for that.
I have to confess, picking just one writer is tough for me. So my answer is much like the line: “love the one you’re with.” Currently, I'm appreciating Sherwood Anderson and his work "Winesburg, Ohio." Anderson's influence and mentorship were crucial for writers like Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and many others. I’m grateful for their gratefulness.
Perfect choice. And a great reminder about why gratitude matters. Everything in the universe is so wildly contingent. Remove a guy like Anderson from the equation and do we even get Hemingway, Faulkner, and Steinbeck? Probably not as we have them. In a world where everything is connected and dependent, gratitude seems like the only reasonable approach to living.
I have to choose Evelyn Waugh and his novel about the funereal customs of Los Angelenos, “The Loved Ones.” It’s fairly short, but I also remember it because it was the first or certainly one of the first grown-up books that I can remember reading. Also, my father drove me across town to see the movie about the book at a revival house I recognize now that it’s not Waigh’s greatest novel, but it’s still pretty funny and insightful.
If you're going to read one Vonnegut book, it should be Slaughterhouse Five. But I suggest reading Cat's Cradle before S-5. You can sense him building up to the themes and emotional angst that writing Slaughterhouse Five must have been for him when you read the earlier book.
Christopher Morley. Largely forgotten now, I first discovered him via his book PARNASSUS ON WHEELS and that led me to many happy hours tracking down his books in various used bookstores in NYC in the late 1980s. A terrific, mellow, and very eclectic writer.
E.B. White — a beautiful writer & has such wonderful human insight. I keep a volume of his essays by my bed and in my car at all times, always close at hand!
Over the years there's been so many - as a pastor I guess that's inevitable, given how important reading is - but right now my answer would have to be Wendell Berry. His novels, his essays, his poetry have all been so helpful - stimulating, consoling, expanding and more besides.
I’ve not read much of Berry. What’s a good place to start?
So of his novels, maybe Jayber Crow? Or perhaps Hannah Coulter. The Memory of Old Jack wouldn't be a bad choice either. For short stories that also deal with the same Port William community I'd suggest Stand By Me. For essays, maybe It All Turns On Affection or a collection like The World-Ending Fire. And for poetry, I'm reading his Collected Sabbath Poems which would be a fine, fine read. There are Library of America collections of his essays (2 vols) and his fiction (1 volume, another due next year).
Great suggestions, Richard. Thanks!
Agreed, with Richard, on Berry and his LOA volumes. Also, since there are so many essay collections, The World Ending Fire collection is an excellent one to start with.
Thanks, Brian!
Read Berry soon. He is perhaps the “fullest” living writer—he writes in every form and all are linked in theme and philosophy.
Jayber Crow will surprise you.
Chandler. Though there are writers I appreciate more and I understand the holes in him now, his style turned me onto what I appreciate about writing. Style, mood, poetic vibes and that need to answer the mystery.
Love that answer—and that rationale.
Yes! The Big Sleep is the only book that I reread immediately after I finished it. I literally (in both senses of the word) finished the last page and started the first page all over again.
That’s high praise.
David McCullough. I had always loved to read, but as a young mom with three preschoolers, I was struggling to read. I couldn't figure out who I was as a reader and if it was worth the investment. For some reason I decided to read John Adams by McCullough. (This was before the movie.) Then I waded through Truman. The success of completing those two books relit my reading life. I began reading more widely, following book blogs, and became good friends with my librarian. Maybe any book could have triggered a reading revival but for me it was McCullough and I still get warm fuzzies thinking of his books.
Gina - great choice. I am a big fan of McCullough's. He helped get me interested in reading non-fiction again after years of only reading fiction.
In "The Great Bridge" McCullough describes some of the investors in the Brooklyn Bridge as though they were in a Thomas Nast cartoon. It puts the reader in the frame of mind at the time of the bridge's construction and really enlivens the characters. This is just one of the techniques that McCullough uses.
That’s wonderful. He contributed so much. I ran a short commemoration of him when he passed away last year. https://www.millersbookreview.com/p/bookish-diversions-david-mccullough
I too wrote about McCullough at his death.https://homejoys.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-tribute-to-david-mccullough.html?m=1
Love it. Thanks for sharing!
Ray Bradbury. I read The Martian Chronicles when I was in middle school, and I was hooked. Something Wicked This Way Comes is still one of my favorite novels.
And Joel, I remember those Laissez Faire Books catalogs! I ordered a book of Mencken quotes from them, because they praised him so much.
Bradbury, yes!
And how fun to find another LFB reader!
Joel, there are so many amazing authors who have influenced my life. I could write for days on this topic and not say everything I would like. However, the one author that stands out above all the others is my grandmother, Juanita Yates. She was a journalist first and foremost, writing a weekly column for small town newspapers in rural Missouri. She wrote about everyday farm life and raising 10 kids. In 1976 she was named Missouri Press Woman of the Year and in 1982 Missouri Mother of the Year. She self-published several books in small batches and sold them herself. She never achieved widespread acclaim but was well-known and highly respected throughout Missouri. She taught me a lot about literature and writing and the arts. Besides all that she was just a damn good grandmother.
Just looked her up. Here’s more about her from her obituary:
“She was named to three National and one International Writing Societies. Juanita was on the board and a presenter at the Mark Twain Writer's Workshop in Hannibal during its 10 years of existence; conducted writing workshops, in schools kindergarten through college and on an adult level, and was an inspirational speaker. . . . She won hundreds of awards for her writing throughout her career, several on the national level.” https://www.hannibal.net/archive/article/obituary-cecelia-juanita-greenwell-yates-94-of-monroe-city/article_c6e5f9da-f023-54b3-b9b2-b873937b9c7a.html
Matthew, this is wonderful. What a tribute. Thanks for sharing!
She was pretty awesome. Thanks for taking the time to look up more about her. I wrote about her in one of my first newsletters.
https://matthewmlong.substack.com/p/of-meadow-flowers-and-butterflies
Thanks for sharing that with us, Matthew!
I have a clear obsession with Joan Didion, haha. My list of favorite writers doesn't contain a lot of women, strangely, but the moment I read one of Didion's essays for the first time (by accident, no less -- a copy of "Political Fictions" was sitting on the floor at a used bookstore in Pasadena, just calling my name), my entire world was changed. I think I've read almost everything she's ever written at this point.
What’s a good Didion book to begin with? Fiction or nonfiction is fine, or both!
I'm a bigger fan of her nonfiction than her fiction, honestly. I would recommend:
1. Slouching Toward Bethlehem: If you're interested in a collection of essays about Didion's experiences wandering among the hippies of the Haight-Ashbury in the 1960s (and her wry, intelligent disdain for them), an encounter with a five-year-old on LSD, critical thoughts about California life, and an interview with the "Secretary General" of an obscure (now obsolete) American Maoist group, this would be the place to start.
2. Political Fictions: If you're interested in the perspectives of a female journalist (who in no way ever succumbed to the identity politics of the feminism of her time) on politics and the campaign trail in the late 1980s to 2000, this would be the place to start.
3. The Year of Magical Thinking: If you're interested in a first-hand account of how a brilliant and stoic writer grieved the tragedy of her husband's sudden death while she was making dinner, and the year of mourning and unfamiliar vulnerability that followed, this is a great place to start.
Honestly, all of her work is excellent -- the way she uses words is what struck me first about her writing, followed closely by her unique insights and worldview.
Thank you so much for these recommendations. They all sound good. I’ve been in Tennessee twenty years now, almost as long as I lived in California. But I grew up in the Golden State and am only now beginning to think about how formative that experience was. I have a default libertarian, laissez-faire, optimistic bent that comes in part from living in Northern California. I’ve been coming back to this in the last few months. Slouching Toward Bethlehem sounds excellent along those lines.
Of course! Didion grew up in Sacramento and had that same "California conservative" slant (which was really more classical liberal than conservative). I believe she went to Berkeley too, so that influence is in there too.
Her politics are very hard to pin down, which is why I love her political writing so much. She was mostly just concerned about reality, less about fitting into a category. With your background, I think you'll really appreciate her work!
I grew up in Roseville, a Sacramento suburb, just a few miles up I-80! I worked in Sacramento for a few years. By then I’d moved further out to Lincoln. That California conservative thing was bigger when I was a kid than today. It’s more marginalized now, especially in state politics. But it absolutely shaped my outlook.
Read the essay “Dreamers of the Golden Dream” if you haven’t already.
Placer County is still a bastion of conservatism, for good and for ill.
That's awesome! I feel like you will identify a lot with her work. Even when she lived in other states, that California outlook is always present. Hope you and your family have a very happy Thanksgiving!! :)
I'm not sure how I got on this email list, but I'm thankful I did. The answer which comes to mind is probably the answer I should go with, though I'll probably add a second, maybe a third, and be ticked off later that I left someone out.
First, Charles Portis. The critic, Ron Rosenbaum, called Portis "America's great, unknown writer." He's been called the greatest comic novelist the country ever produced. He's most famous for his second novel, "True Grit," which has extremely funny things in it, but is usually thought of as a Western. I think it's the writer, Donna Tartt, who called it "pitch perfect." She's a huge Portis fan, and she's right in her appraisal of "True Grit." Portis' output was slim, just five novels, but I'm grateful to God that He gave Portis to the world. ( Note: "The Dog of the South" has no actual canine in it, and the South makes an appearance only in that Little Rock is where the story begins. It is, hands down, the funniest book I've ever read. )
Flannery O'Connor. If you haven't read her, get her "Complete Stories" and read straight through. Also, "The Habit of Being," the collection of her letters, is one of my favorite books.
Steven Millhauser. It's dismaying that more people haven't heard of him. He's best described as a magical realist. He has a fabulous imagination. I urge people to buy a copy of "The Barnum Museum," and read the title story. You'll know from that whether he's for you.
Flann O'Brien, "The Third Policeman." More surrealism than magical realism. There is no book like it. The collection of his World War II. era newspaper columns, "The Best of Myles," is a display of genius.
Dostoevsky. Waugh. Walker Percy.
J.F. Powers' "Morte d'Urban" is a great comic novel with a remarkable serious turn.
J.L. Carr's "A Month in the Country" is the most moving novel I've ever read.
"Fancies and Goodnights," the collected stories of John Collier. Pure entertainment. Ray Bradbury called Collier his greatest influence. Not a bad endorsement.
I’m glad you’re here as well. And you’ve got great taste! Portis is one of my favorites, same with O’Connor!
!!!!!
"The American Language" is a superb book. It helped me understand the U.S. a lot better.
In my case, the author was Jack London. "The Call of the Wild" was the gateway drug- tightly and starkly written, understandable and without elaborate narrative or eloquence padding. That led me to his other books, written much the same way regardless of topic.
The things he wrote about have largely become the things I write about or am most interested in writing- dogs, history, speculative fiction, sociology, memoirs and socialist politics. He didn't confine himself to one topic or genre but his style is always recognizable as his. That's been my approach as a writer and I thank him for that.
London was singular. Too bad he died so young!
I have to confess, picking just one writer is tough for me. So my answer is much like the line: “love the one you’re with.” Currently, I'm appreciating Sherwood Anderson and his work "Winesburg, Ohio." Anderson's influence and mentorship were crucial for writers like Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and many others. I’m grateful for their gratefulness.
Read Winesberg in High School. Enjoyed it then. Recently reread “Hands” a story that has stuck with me for almost 50 years.
Perfect choice. And a great reminder about why gratitude matters. Everything in the universe is so wildly contingent. Remove a guy like Anderson from the equation and do we even get Hemingway, Faulkner, and Steinbeck? Probably not as we have them. In a world where everything is connected and dependent, gratitude seems like the only reasonable approach to living.
I have to choose Evelyn Waugh and his novel about the funereal customs of Los Angelenos, “The Loved Ones.” It’s fairly short, but I also remember it because it was the first or certainly one of the first grown-up books that I can remember reading. Also, my father drove me across town to see the movie about the book at a revival house I recognize now that it’s not Waigh’s greatest novel, but it’s still pretty funny and insightful.
That’s wonderful. I’ve only read Brideshead Revisited.
I'll always be thankful for Kurt Vonnegut. His humor, inventiveness, and just plain weirdness reawakened my interest in reading.
I’ve somehow missed Vonnegut all these years. I’m going to read Slaughterhouse 5 this coming year, however. Any other recommendations?
If you're going to read one Vonnegut book, it should be Slaughterhouse Five. But I suggest reading Cat's Cradle before S-5. You can sense him building up to the themes and emotional angst that writing Slaughterhouse Five must have been for him when you read the earlier book.
Nathaniel West.
After reading The Day of the Locust I felt as though I didn’t need to ponder the horror of Hollywood anymore (after I l’d left it to move to Hawai’i).
It’s wonderful when you can point to an author who had that sort of singular/pivotal effect on you.
Christopher Morley. Largely forgotten now, I first discovered him via his book PARNASSUS ON WHEELS and that led me to many happy hours tracking down his books in various used bookstores in NYC in the late 1980s. A terrific, mellow, and very eclectic writer.
I should consider adding a Morley volume to my classic novel goal for next year.
E.B. White — a beautiful writer & has such wonderful human insight. I keep a volume of his essays by my bed and in my car at all times, always close at hand!
What a tremendous suggestion! I haven’t read E.B. White in years. Thanks for the reminder.
Cormac McCarthy has taught me the beauty in darkness.
Oh, man. I get it. The Road was one of the most powerful novels I’ve ever read.
F.Dostoyevsky
A noble selection.