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.