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Thank you, dear Scribbler, for recommending Anne Fadiman's Ex Libris : Confessions of a Common Reader. I found it in stock at Amazon, in an $8.00 paperback version, which is hard to beat . I noticed somebody mentioned PJ O'Rourke, and Geoff made reference to Patrick McManus (btw, geoff, there are a dozen or so of his books on amazon... which would you recommend most highly??). like most of you, i'm a voracious reader and would be most grateful for any recommendations you can offer. i suppose it's hard to narrow it down to just a few, but please give it a shot the first that come to mind, for me, would probably be Tender is the Night, Snow Crash, Last Chance to See and Watership Down.
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thank you, Jackie. believe it or not, it didn't occur to me to see if it was a YART. On the other hand, from i can see of that thread, it was a bit more general than what i was looking for; i'm not after a list of the 100 Most Imporant Literary Works or anything. i'm more interested in books such as the ones scribber and geoff mentioned; preferably more contemporary works that may have moved you in some way.
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old hand
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old hand
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AnnaStrophic steered me to THE PROFESSOR and THE MADMAN by Simon Winchester. It deals with the construction of the OED, so it's one everyone on this board should find interesting.
Patrick McManus' stuff appeals mostly to outdoorsy types, but all of his yarns have that essential "been there, done that" identification that makes his humor accessable to most all of us. Go to the library and browse all of his stuff!
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Since leaving the News Biz I read a great deal more fiction than I used to. In working years I read a lot of non-fiction, some job-related, some not. And I dealt with facts in writing news so reading fiction now is a pleasure. Although I still read some "fact books" for research. As an aside, I sang for many years and listened to vocal music ... my taste now is for orchestral. Hmmmmm. How about you all? What is the preponderance? Fact or Fiction? wow
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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How about you all? What is the preponderance? Fact or Fiction?
Nonfiction, mostly, if not necessarily fact.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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In reply to:
Fact or Fiction?
I rotate: a classic followed by something nonfiction (especially works related to language, architecture, forensics, or evolutionary biology) followed by science fiction, and then back to a classic.
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Oh My, Sparteye ! Way too organized even for me ... who was required by a brother, for his birthday gift, to promise that for one year I would not organize him before breakfast!
I tend to be a "Columbus" reader ... I discover an author or a topic and read all those books in one fell swoop then usually turn to something completely different! (Not meaning to bring on another go-'round on Monty Python emoticon) wow.
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I'm another rotatory. I try to rotate between fiction, non-fiction, and something in Indonesian, but then I get hooked on a particular author and try and read everything I can get hold of reasonably easily by that person. I'm currently reading St. Augustine's Confessions (in translation, I hasten to add, my Latin's far too rusty).
Bingley
Bingley
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I read anything that isn't nailed down, and I even read things that are if I can see the writing clearly enough. But no organisation about it. You should see our collection of books!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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