HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS
by J.K. Rowling

MCSWEENEY’S QUARTERLY CONCERN, ISSUE 29

THE CORRECTIONS
by Jonathan Franzen

A SON OF THE CIRCUS
by John Irving

Currently Reading:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Say what you will about a 32 year old man being a superfan of the Harry Potter series but, man: danger, betrayal, lust, outlaws, death, horcruxes. I can’t think of better ingredients for the ultimate page-turner. I procrastinated reading these until recently and now I’m incredibly bummed I plowed through all seven in a few weeks, because I find myself wishing for more. By the time you get to Deathly Hallows, the tone is so awesomely dark, it’s hard to remember how playful and innocent the series was at the beginning. I really hope they don’t screw up the movie(s).

Favorite Books (In No Particular Order):

McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Issue 29
So, I’ve been a subscriber since the beginning, but, to be honest, I’m only fully caught up through issue 15 or so. Still, when I’m between novels or know that I’m not going to have a ton of leisure time, I go for an excerpt from one of the Concerns. I’m really glad they keep putting these out.

Tape Op — Issue 65
There are few things I find more delightful than getting a new Tape Op in the mail. This one, from a little while back, is particularly awesome because, among others, it profiles the recording process of Kevin Barnes and Bjorn Yttling. It’s nice to know there are other people out there as obsessed with Reason and recording shakers as I am.

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
This one is very subtle in how it brings up the woes a post-post-modern world. It’s like a 21st century update of Brave New World, but totally dysfunctional. It’s also one of the most entertaining arguments for karma I’ve ever read.

A Son Of The Circus by John Irving
I became a big Irving fan because someone had left a bunch of his paperbacks, tattered and dusty, in an old crevice beneath the television in the apartment I used to live in Brooklyn. I love how vibrant and complex his characters are. It’s easy reading too, which is nice sometimes for when I’m too wired to sleep after a 12 hour workday but I don’t want the challenge of making it through “Infinite Jest” for the third time. This one is not quite as wacky as “Garp” or “Hotel New Hampshire,” but still not nearly as heavy as “Cider House.” I also really love how he doesn’t put any taboos on human sexuality.

GOING SANE
by Adam Phillips

JOHN BARLEYCORN
by Jack London

JESUS’ SON
by Denis Johnson

THE GREAT GATSBY
by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Right now, I’m reading a book called “Going Sane” by Adam
Phillips–it’s basically him riffing on the aspects of human life
he feels have too long remained unexamined. Feels good to shine
light on the hidden parts of life.

Current Favorites (In no order)

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A huge vision shared in a surprisingly small amount of pages,
and it only grows with repeated reading. The beauty and tragedy
of a life’s struggle with identity, ambition, belonging. America!

Jesus’ Son, by Denis Johnson
I read most of this book over a couple of hours, sitting
with my sister in her old apartment. When I think back on this
book, I can remember its feelings and textures: the interior of a
truck in the winter, and the copper wiring in the walls.

John Barleycorn, by Jack London
Jack London’s memoir through the lens of drinking. Booming,
hilarious, and stirring.

Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck
The quintessential well-intentioned deadbeats are here, living
in coastal California. A good reminder that life is lived
day by day.

A High Wind in Jamaica, by Richard Hughes
The one book I know that truly conveys the mystery, terror, and
excitement of being young and not having any idea what’s going
to happen. This book has magic in it.

2012: THE RETURN OF QUETZALCOATL
by Daniel Pinchbeck

THE POWER ELITE
by C Wright Mills

BREAKING OPEN THE HEAD
by Daniel Pinchbeck

EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC: CAGE AND BEYOND
by Micheal Nyman

Currently Reading:

2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck
Whether you believe in the theory that the world will end in 2012 or not, it’s hard to deny that the world and humanity are at a crux. This book, while not ignoring the dark and desperate aspects of the future, focuses on a seemingly positive outcome to the coming paradigm shift.

Favorite Books:

The Power Elite by C Wright Mills
The book clearly and concisely breaks down how the United States is run by the military-industrial complex. Written in 1956 yet still relevant today, it shows how there has been a deliberately slow-moving process to dissolve the Constitution, basically referring to the idea that corporations are kingdoms, the military is their guard and consumers are their peasants.

Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism by Daniel Pinchbeck
A really fascinating and quick read. It’s very inspiring and eye opening.

Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond by Micheal Nyman
It’s sort of like Our Band Could Be Your Life for composers.

OUR BAND COULD BE YOUR LIFE
by Michael Azerrad

AIR GUITAR
by Dave Hickey

ESSAYS ON THE BLURRING OF ART AND LIFE
by Allan Kaprow

MALLET EYES
by Jeremy Sigler

Currently Reading:

Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad
It’s the perfect book to read on tour. I recently met Michael! I was so flattered and excited to chat with him about music!

Favorite Books (In No Particular Order):

Air Guitar by Dave Hickey
Not one of my all time favs, but a solid read!

Essays on the Blurring of Art and Life by Allan Kaprow
This book contains some of truest and most beautiful discoveries, which are essentially Kaprow’s entire body of work. So, so good.

Mallet Eyes by Jeremy Sigler
A sophomore book of minimal poems by my mentor. Highly recommended!

TO SIBERIA
by Per Pettersen

DEAR AMERICAN AIRLINES
by Jonathan Miles

HOTEL THEORY
by Wayne Koestenbaum

GREAT AMERICAN FIRES
by Jack Gilbert

Currently Reading:

To Siberia by Per Pettersen
I have only just started it, but I am a fan of his previous novels. His writing is simple, detailed, and emotionally compelling—he writes like someone who doesn’t have a choice.

Top Picks:

Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles
Benny, the main character, tells his life story in the form of a letter of complaint to American Airlines while stranded at O’Hare International Airport. He embodies the essence of someone in collapse, where both insanity and complete vulnerability of character mix with rage and sorrow, to end in beauty. It sounds like something you have read before, but it is not.

Hotel Theory/Hotel Women by Wayne Koestenbaum
Physically, this is one of the most beautiful books I have seen. It contains two books in one. Hotel Theory is an essay on hotels using pop references, pop figures, classical composers and writers to describe the lives of hotels and the people who occupy them. Hotel Women is a short story told in dime-store fashion using fictitious versions of Lana Turner and Liberace who are watching their careers fade away from the roof top pool at Hotel Women. Hotel Theory and Hotel Women run on parallel vertical columns side by side on each page. It’s genius.

Great American Fires by Jack Gilbert
He is old now and he has done more traveling than he has done publishing, but his poems are completely true and beautiful. There is nothing I can say to do justice to his work.

All American Poem by Matthew Dickman
Apparently Dickman is a baker in Portland, Oregon. He makes civil war re-enactments and parking lots poetic. His way of referencing the stuff that most people wouldn’t consider poetic is refreshing.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND OTHER WRITINGS
by Benjamin Franklin

WHAT IS THE WHAT?
by Dave Eggers

COPYRIGHT’S PARADOX
by Neil Weinstock

THE LONG WALK
by Richard Bachman

Currently Reading:

Autobiography and Other Writings by Benjamin Franklin

Nick Krill: The great Mike Quinn from And the Moneynotes lent me this book for our latest tour. The language is sometimes an obstacle for me when getting into this book—especially when I’m reading it while bouncing in a bumpy van—but is a nice tour read.

Other Picks:

What is the What? by Dave Eggers

Jon Eaton: I pretty much enjoy everything Eggers has written, but I think this book is the best to recommend, as it seems to have way more of a point than any other novel or story of his. I think Eggers has an urge to try and bend the rules of conventional story creation, which as an anarchist, I support. Wait—can anarchists support things? 

Copyright’s Paradox by Neil Weinstock

Thomas Hughes: I first became interested in the ills of copyright with Lawrence Lessig’s brilliant Free Culture. The paradox of copyright, Weinstock argues, is that while originally designed as an “engine of free expression,” it is now being used as a tool to deprive others of their right to free speech. Weinstock successfully argues its wrongs but also offer solutions to how copyright law can be reformed.

The Long Walk by Richard Bachman

Sam Hughes: I heard about this one on the Internet. It’s basically like the movie Speed, but instead of Keanu and a bus, it involves teenage boys walking on a road. It’s like a post-apocalyptic sporting event where only one out of one hundred can survive. If you liked Bachman’s The Running Man, check it out.

The Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic by Pamela Weintraub

Joe Hobson: This book is an explanation of the gray areas of this serious disease. I was recently diagnosed with lyme disease, and I began reading it to find out about my crutch. It’s a pretty frightening reality plus an entertaining read.

WE TELL OURSELVES STORIES IN ORDER TO LIVE
by Joan Didion

GILEAD
by Marilynne Robinson

INDEPENDENT PEOPLE
by Halldor Laxness

THE BEARS’ FAMOUS INVASION OF SICILY
by Dino Buzzati

Reading Right Now:

We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live by Joan Didion
The collected nonfiction of Joan Didion with topics ranging from the nature of California  (never take no cutoffs and hurry along as fast as you can) to her brief time spent in El Salvador during the mid-eighties to Miami’s role in attempting to overthrow Castro since the early sixties. It’s brilliant, incisive writing.

Four Favorites:

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
This book glows. Try reading any one page at random and telling me otherwise. It’s amazing—my favorite book yet.

Independent People by Halldor Laxness
Follows an Icelandic crofter and his family during his battle to retain independence at all cost over forces supernatural, colonial, and, as always, financial. Interspersed are pages upon pages on sheep and their proper care, terrifying Celtic myths, and some pretty filthy humor from the late nineteenth century.

The Bears’ Famous Invasion of Sicily by Dino Buzzati
A morality tale for the kids that features some stunning, detail-mad illustrations.

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Maybe not the first but certainly the greatest work of self-affirmation published.

LOLITA
by Vladimir Nabokov

CONSTITUTION OF LIBERTY
by Friedrich Hayek

NIGHTS OF PASSED OVER
by Mark Kozelek

ON THE ROAD
by Jack Kerouac

SWAY
by Zachary Lazar

THE PARTNER
by John Grisham

Reading Right Now:
I have this habit from when I was young of juggling a couple books at a time, and it still continues to this day. It does get tricky when the storylines get crossed but, for the most part, it works for me. Currently I am going between Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, Constitution of Liberty by Friedrich Hayek, and Nights of Passed Over by Mark Kozelek (a collection of his lyrics).
 
Current Favorites
 
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
Great energy. When I finished it, I re-read it again.
 
Sway by Zachary Lazar
An eerie look at three iconic figures from the sixties: The Rolling Stones, Kenneth Anger, and Bobby Beausoleil. While it’s based on fact, a lot of the conversation between characters and references are fictional. Still, it gives an interesting look at these three stories and their parallels.
 
The Partner by John Grisham
Read it a long time ago but the story stuck with me. I don’t know what his best books are, but this was one of those random reads that I really enjoyed while on holiday.

THE ICE-SHIRT
by William T. Vollmann

SEX CRIMES OF THE FUTCHER
by Billy Childish

LONDON FIELDS
by Martin Amis

THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE
by Haruki Murakami

Reading Right Now:
The Ice-Shirt by William T. Vollmann.
Viking and Inuit magic, mythology and lore form the premise of this historical account, which covers the Norsemen’s arrival in Greenland.  Later in the book, when you start getting to the interviews with contemporary Greenlandic people, the confusion of not knowing the fiction from the facts sets in.

Recent Top picks:

Sex Crimes of the Futcher by Billy Childish
A memoir as a novel as a memoir centered on the co-dependant and masochistic relationship between William Loveday and his long-suffering girlfriend Karima, or as he calls her “The Troll.” Readers familiar with Childish’s biography and with the Young British Artists brat pack of the nineties can speculate that Karima is indeed Tracey Emin. It’s an interesting glimpse into the past private life of an art-world superstar.  

London Fields by Martin Amis
In London Fields, we follow a self-described “failed suicide” who seeks to orchestrate her own death to escape aging is befriended by a failed writer who decides to document her progress. Every single character in this book is loathsome and utterly repulsive. I love it! It’s a study in misanthropy.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
Japan’s role in World War II and the inner life of an unemployed suburban cuckold are linked by the tumult of an unseen bird and a mysterious bruise. The protagonist’s relationship with his precocious teenaged neighbor is almost creepier than the WW II soldiers who take pleasure in having their enemies skinned alive.

RANDY NEWMAN'S AMERICAN DREAMS
by Kevin Courrier

BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES
by Tom Wolfe

BILLION DOLLAR BABIES
by Bob Greene

THE PAINTED BIRD
by Jerzy Kosinski

Reading Right Now:
Randy Newman’s American Dreams by Kevin Courrier

I just started reading this fairly academic book about Randy Newman’s life, and I’m afraid the author is going to overanalyze everything Randy does to the point where I’ll probably just give up and listen to his records. Little Criminals is my favorite.

Some of my favorite books:

Bonfire of the Vanities
By Tom Wolfe
The classic that everyone’s parents read in the late eighties. Now it’s our turn. Endlessly readable and utterly fascinating.

Billion Dollar Babies
By Bob Greene
A square journalist from the Midwest goes on tour with Alice Cooper during his 1973 U.S. tour. Hilarity ensues.

The Painted Bird
By Jerzy Kosinski
It’s a brutally graphic and sometimes cringe-inducing autobiographical tale of a young boy wandering around war-torn Eastern Europe during WWII.

DARWIN'S FOX AND MY COYOTE
by Holly Menino

CHRONICLES
by Bob Dylan

THE MASTER AND MARGARITA
by Mikhail Bulgakov

CAT'S CRADLE
by Kurt Vonnegut

I am currently reading Darwin’s Fox and My Coyote by Holly Menino. With endless reasons to escape reality right now, I was somehow drawn to reading this semi-scientific look at how canines in the wild (Chile, The Channel Islands) and the not-so wild (U.S. suburbs) are managing to hang on. There’s so much to learn by watching wild animals and I’m intrigued by how they continue to thrive, even in my home Los Angeles. We do everything we can to take ourselves out of competition with the rest of the food chain, but in reality, human social interactions are not far removed from the of the rest of the animal kingdom.

Top Three Books:

Chronicles, Volume 1
By Bob Dylan 
Reading the autobiography of the world’s most brilliant and elusive trickster certainly keeps your wheels turning. File under “Fiction”?

The Master and Margarita
By Mikhail Bulgakov
One of the most imaginative and creative books I’ve ever read, Bulgakov creates more vivid images in my mind than any other writer.

Cat’s Cradle
By Kurt Vonnegut  
Vonnegut’s playfully cynical storytelling rings true like the clever musings of an insightful ol’ friend. Vonnegut’s work makes me want to get my act together, and create.

HOT WATER MUSIC
by Charles Bukowski

MY FATHER’S DRAGON
by Ruth Stiles Gannett

1984
by George Orwell

THE ROAD
by Cormac McCarthy

Over the past week or so, I’ve just been in the habit of picking up whatever book of mine is closest. I am currently reading Hot Water Music by Charles Bukowski, Atonement by Ian McEwan, and The Stranger by Albert Camus. I’m making progress, but slowly.

If I were to list my three favorite books tomorrow, or next week, I’m sure there would be some variation, but here they are as of right now. (I’ve listed them in chronological order of when I read them, and judging by the impact they’ve had on me.)

1. My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett – I haven’t read this book in probably eighteen years. But as a little kid, I remember being completely captivated by the imagery and illustrations. It was the book that I would beg my mom or sister or babysitter to read aloud to me. It sparked my imagination, and got me dreaming.

2. 1984 by George Orwell. Everybody should read this.

3. The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I finished this book recently. It has a profound clarity of vision. McCarthy imagines a post-apocalyptic world so thoroughly, and accomplishes so much by saying so little.