15 Things Kurt Vonnegut Said Better Than Anyone Else Ever Has Or Will 1. "I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'"The actual advice here is technically a quote from Kurt Vonnegut's "good uncle" Alex, but Vonnegut was nice enough to pass it on at speeches and in A Man Without A Country. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. The New Canon: 15 Modern Classics You Should Read Right Now | Qwiklit People may tell you that literature is dying, but plenty of authors are hard at work redefining the book world with groundbreaking and mind-bending works sure to be read and reread for quite some time. With so many books vying to be the next “Great American Novel”, this is merely a list of those who have earned their eminence and moved a generation some believed was devoid of literacy. Let us know what makes your list of modern classics in the comments. 1. Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides (2002) What is it about? Spanning three generations, this novel chronicles a hermaphrodite’s shift in gender identity in 1960′s Detroit. Why you should read it: While Oprah sang this novel’s praises by including it in her book club, Eugenides is a very skilled storyteller that understands the often-complicated relationship between family and sexuality. 2.The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen (2001) 3.The Fortress of Solitude – Jonathan Lethem (2003) 4. 5. What is is about? 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.
2013′s 10 Best Works of Fiction So Far It may be hard to believe, but we’ve already made it halfway through 2013. And what a year for fiction it’s been! The first half of this year has been full of wonderfully strange short fiction, big important novels, and everything in between — and it’s only getting better (Donna Tartt! Margaret Atwood!) from here. After the jump, Flavorwire’s favorite fiction from the first half of 2013. Tenth of December, George Saunders George Saunders is a perennial Flavorwire favorite — and he’s also a favorite of pretty much anyone who’s serious about contemporary fiction.
A List of Books | 623 of the Best Books ever Written - StumbleUpon 30 Books I’m Glad I Read Before 30 - StumbleUpon In various ways, these 30 books convey some of the philosophy of how Angel and I live our lives. I honestly credit a fraction of who I am today to each title. Thus, they have indirectly influenced much of what I write about on this site. If you haven’t read these books yet, I highly recommend doing so. Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert – Gilbert, a Harvard professor of psychology has studied happiness for decades, and he shares scientific findings that just might change the way you look at the world. What are your favorite books? Photo by: Katie Harris
10 New Must-Reads for July Though the book industry tends to slow down in the summer (heat makes it hard to turn the pages), July is still filled with great reads for your poolside or air-conditioner-side afternoons. Don’t be shy: grown ups can indulge in summer reading too. After the jump, ten books to get pumped about this month. The Classic Horror Stories, H.P. If you, like certain Flavorwire literary editors, have always wanted to get into H.P. 50 Books That Changed the World For centuries, books have been written in an attempt to share knowledge, inspiration, and discoveries. Sometimes those books make such an impact that they change the way the world thinks about things. The following books have done just that by providing readers an education in politics and government, literature, society, academic subjects such as science and math, and religion. Politics and Government These books represent some of the most important works that examine politics, economics, and philosophy that affect government. The Republic by Plato. Literature From creating characters and stories that have become ingrained in cultures around the world to upsetting censorship to inspiring the imagination of many, these works of literature have all touched the world in significant ways. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. Society These books have made an impact on society with views on racism, feminism, individualism, and scholarship. Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. Religion
7 Better-Than-Beach-Reads About Famous Writers Though a great many literary novels have novelists as protagonists — e.g. Roth’s Nathan Zuckerman, or Chabon’s Grady Tripp, and that’s just for starters — much fewer explicitly take their inspiration from real-life writers. Or at least, they didn’t until recently, partly because of a certain stigma that has always attached to biography and biographers, the idea that they are people who sort through other people’s garbage in search of a crucial piece of mail. The public has generally disagreed on this point. Whether or not you think that’s just literary snobbery, of late even certain “serious” novelists have taken up the task of describing the lives of real writers. Abba Abba, by Anthony Burgess, tells the story of the last months of John Keats’ life, which he spent dying of consumption in Rome.
50 Most Influential Books of the Last 50 (or so) Years In compiling the books on this list, the editors at SuperScholar have tried to provide a window into the culture of the last 50 years. Ideally, if you read every book on this list, you will know how we got to where we are today. Not all the books on this list are “great.” The books we chose required some hard choices. We also tried to keep a balance between books that everyone buys and hardly anyone reads versus books that, though not widely bought and read, are deeply transformative. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 45.
10 of the Greatest Debut Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novels Today marks the release of Danie Ware’s debut novel Ecko Rising, a genre-bending SF-fantasy mash-up set in a futuristic, tech-crazed London. To celebrate the release, Flavorwire asked Ware to curate a list of some of her favorite science fiction and fantasy from debut novelists. After all, she is an expert. Ware explains: “You never realize what a minefield of explosive wonder the ‘debut novel’ question really is until you start to stretch out a foot, navigating your way to an answer. “There are those that come across as door openers –- publishing a less ambitious project first, making way for subsequent creative vision (Mieville’s King Rat). “There are even those whose first novels are not actually counted as science fiction or fantasy at all, though they themselves went on to write reams of the stuff (David Eddings’s High Hunt). The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams As game-changers go, they don’t come bigger than this.
The Greatest Books of All Time, As Voted by 125 Famous Authors “Reading is the nourishment that lets you do interesting work,” Jennifer Egan once said. This intersection of reading and writing is both a necessary bi-directional life skill for us mere mortals and a secret of iconic writers’ success, as bespoken by their personal libraries. The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books asks 125 of modernity’s greatest British and American writers — including Norman Mailer, Ann Patchett, Jonathan Franzen, Claire Messud, and Joyce Carol Oates — “to provide a list, ranked, in order, of what [they] consider the ten greatest works of fiction of all time– novels, story collections, plays, or poems.” Of the 544 separate titles selected, each is assigned a reverse-order point value based on the number position at which it appears on any list — so, a book that tops a list at number one receives 10 points, and a book that graces the bottom, at number ten, receives 1 point. In introducing the lists, David Orr offers a litmus test for greatness:
Which Books Should You Read If You Want To Get Laid? If you’re looking for complacent cogs in the machine, stay away from the Heller fan. By Nerve Staff Omnivore, a book review hub based out of London, recently announced that it's launching a new dating website to connect potential partners through their taste in literature. I can't number the times I've tried catching a commuter's eye on the MTA solely on the basis of the book they're reading. Here are Nerve's suggestions for the sexiest, most personal books you can and should be reading in public. 1. Just Kids is one of the most attractive books you could catch someone reading over a cup of coffee. 2. Despite its reputation, Moby-Dick is chill as hell. 3. Anne Carson is one of the most famous living poets and she's also batty as all get out. 4. If you don't love A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels you are dead inside. 5. Leaving the Atocha Station is Ben Lerner's first novel. 6. 7. Y: The Last Man is a contemporary classic in the comic book world. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.