Author of St. Michael Poker & Drinking Club and Baxter's Friends
I’ve read a number of interviews and blog posts in which writers comment upon, or list, books you should read if you want to write. They are interesting, but I wouldn’t be so presumptuous to prescribe a reading list for others, particularly a list of books you should read if you want to be a writer.
Instead of offering a list of “must read” books, I prefer to list those books I’ve read over the years that have, in one way or the other, influenced me the most and influenced my writing. In later blog posts I will focus on some of these books individually, and discuss how they influenced me and my writing.
So here is my top ten list of fiction, in no particular order-
ANOTHER ROADSIDE ATTRACTION- Tom Robbins
LONESOME DOVE- Larry McMurtry
THE CUNNING MAN- Robertson Davies
THE GREAT GATSBY- F. Scott Fitzgerald
IRONWEED- William Kennedy
TROUT FISHING IN AMERICA- Richard Brautigan
COLD MOUNTAIN- Charles Frazier
LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN- Hubert Selby, Jr.
SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST-Ken Kesey
Charles Frazier, F.Scott Fitzgerald, Hubert Selby Jr, Kenkesy, Kurt Vonnegut, Larry McMurtry, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Lonesome Dove, Richard Brautigan, Robertson Davies, The Great Gatsby, Tom Robbins, William Kennedy
Down Cemetery Road is the much-anticipated prequel to the unforgettable Baxter’s Friends. Ned Randle raises the curtain on the formative years of Billy Bright’s life, revealing a formula for his adult years that is at once both intoxicating and utterly sobering. Down Cemetery Road delves into the disillusionment of adolescence sadly often shot down by mid-life.
Read more.