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DARKTRUTH
From the HBC Livejournal community
Harriet
the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
I read this book once a year to regain my sanity. Every last
bit of it is so good and so true.
The
Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire
He is amazing in all respects. I would probably get it on
with his corpse. So good, all the time.
 High
Fidelity by Nick Hornby
The
Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The first book I actually loved. If I were on a desert island,
this is probably the one I'd take.
The
Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Cliché? Maybe. Good? Definitely. It's good every time I read
it. Saddest life ever, Sylvia Plath.
House
of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
I get sucked in every time. This is my obsession book.
Me
Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
If I'm having a bad day, I'll read part of this. The turd
as big as a burrito? Makes me laugh 'til I cry every time.
MARIE MUNDACA
HBC Staff Writer
When
I started writing up this list, I definitely noticed a trend—most
of the books have pre- and post-apocalyptic subjects, but
at their core are contained themes of story-telling and the
nature of memory.
1. Infinite
Jest by David Foster Wallace
At over 1,000 pages this is definitely the sort of book one
could read over and over again and keep finding new things
to entertain. I've read this 3 times, and there are still
things I'm learning. Each read renders the book both less
and more confusing.
 2.
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
I've only read this one once, and it took me 5 years. I could
definitely read this again.
[Read
more about Thomas Pynchon]
3. The
Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Ethan Becker,
and Marion Rombauer Becker
I don't really like to cook, so I don't need some fancy-ass
Union Square Café cookbook. I'm satisfied with this inclusive,
all-purpose tome. The Joy of Cooking can tell you how
to cook just about anything. And the rabbit skinning illustration
is classic.
4. Super
Flat Times by Matthew Derby
There is something about this post-modern speculative fiction
book that really hits me hard. Derby's writing is sad, funny,
and detached all at the same time. These connected tales told
via trapped memories in a post-apocalyptic future are provocative
and bizarre.
5. Fiskadoro
by Denis Johnson
Although I used to keep several copies of Jesus' Son
to lend people, Fiskadoro is my favorite Johnson book.
Nuclear war survivors in the Florida Keys try to rebuild their
world. This tiny book reminds me of the most beautiful snow
globe—an exquisite self-contained world you can get lost
in.
6. You
Bright and Risen Angels by William T. Vollmann
Vollmann's first book is a surreal exploration of a dystopia
where everyone is divided into two groups: revolutionaries—a
group of engineers called the Society of Daniel—and reactionaries—sentient
insects. The two narrators, the young romantic and the evil
Big George struggle over the direction of the book. You
Bright and Risen Angels reminds me of my high school crush—awkward
and beautiful.
 7.
The Ring of Brightest Angels Around Heaven
by Rick Moody
Brightest Angels has all the benchmarks of this period
in Moody's writing—hapless slacker characters, disaffection,
and cynicism are all layered atop a tiny core of loneliness
and sentimentality.
8. Franny
and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
I grew up in a quirky family with a hyper-intelligent sibling,
so when I began to this book when I was in high school, I
was immediately drawn in. I felt like I could have been a
member of the Glass family. And when I saw my last name in
the book (Seymour read the Mundaka Upanishads), I felt like
Salinger was speaking directly to me. I love this book, but
I don't know that I've gotten it. But why have I never named
a cat Bloomberg? Perhaps I have, somewhere deep, taken some
of the lessons of Franny and Zooey to heart.
9. My
Cousin, My Gastroenterologist by Mark Leyner
When this book came out, I was an over-educated, under-employed,
Nirvana-listening Gen-X'er. I avoided getting this book for
a few months—it was essentially a required accessory
in my 'hood and I was bucking the trend, but I read the first
story in the bookstore and I was hooked. Full of references,
pop-cultural and literary, MCMG was Mystery Science
Theater 3000 in book form.
10. The
Thin Place by Kathryn Davis
I was not prepared for The Thin Place. This town, this
time, these people are all so real, I found myself wondering
what they were doing when I wasn't reading the book. The Thin
Place takes place in a pre-apocalypse—there are hints that
something terrible happens in the future—where the division
between the physical and the metaphysical is breaking down
and strange, anomalous events are taking place. Davis easily
knits big themes like resurrection and religion with tiny
events like listening to an audio book of The Forsythe
Saga. The Thin Place is a love letter to the world,
good and evil alike.
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