Book Recommendations

[rubbers]

junkie and naked lunch are the cornerstones of modern drug fiction. But if you want to read the cornerstones of contemporary drug fiction, you have to read denis johnson.

Get his short story collection "Jesus' Son."

A hundred times better then requiem

and i can't believe all the people reccomending million little pieces. you guys must really enjoy completely wasting your time.

[viv1984viv]

seems like this is becoming the book thread, I think there used to be one trash but if this is the only one in superculture its good, I love abe/amazoning all the suggestions of people. Im finding books hard at the moment, i have put the camus "myth of sisyphus" on hold. It certainly isnt as much of a page turner for me as much as his better know stuff, maybe I just need to sit down one day when im in the right mood and commit to it. Also, im reading Wildes "dorian gray" I really like the idea but im beginning to really loath how wilde writes, very much style and charm before content. I dont care about all the details like silver trays, rare china, gilt edges and cigarette holders, I dunno, I just dont have enough enthusiasm as he maybe did for going on about all the details of these dandys or flaneurs or whatever trotting about london.

From what I remember Easton Ellis and Selby jr left a similar impression on my, very fast flowing but intense text, extremely vivid engrossing, I guess naked lunch could be scene as similar, allthough I should really mention Boroughs first! I wasnt as gripped by boroughs "lunch" as other writers. I really love selby jr but sometimes I feel like im corrupting myself reading his books and feel irreversably changed afterwards, its dark stuff.

[poly800rock]

junkie. william s burroughs.

that said, i started reading dark star safari on the reco of someone on this thread. really good read thus far

[LIVENUDEGIRLS]

THE ALCHEMIST.

I don't know man...but if at some point in your life (maybe now) you are/were fuckin lost like i was. READ THIS SHIT. It changed my whole perspective....i went from Todd Bridges to Bill Cosby after readin that shit.

Oh yeah, "Good Luck" is a short, simple but very effective book as well.

This post inspired me to check out The Alchemist. Thanks alot.

[C0C0]

the alchemist is always a good read....just finished reading it in italian also lol

[fallen angels]

Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World, by Haruki Murakami. i love imaginative japanese fiction

[B-15C]

Seeing all this Ellis makes me think there's a superfuturist joke going around; I'm bad with irony when I'm not listening for it. At least nobody's mentioned Palhaniuk yet.

Borges's The Aleph makes me happy. William Gibson's Neuromancer and All Tomorrows Parties - both about fake futures, appropriately fashion obsessive, but still readable.

[Guest youngteam]

one of my majors as an undergrad was english. this is going to sound strange, but being forced to read joyce, plus being surrounded by unrepentant tools who un-ironically say 'tome' instead of 'book' or say things like 'the prose is like the bastard child of raymond carver' during class discussions, made me never want to read again. thank god i didn't study gynecology. fuck, i hate english majors.

and if you want a recommendation, go read to the lighthouse or some fucking thing, though the realization that i liked virginia woolf made me feel like i was emasculating myself. it still beats fucking ayn rand or bret easton ellis, though.

[Corbin Law]

though ive only read one of her books

i think it is set in my mind

that ayn rand can suck it

as can so many other writers of shitty dystopian novels

i still havent read 1984 and something about it

pushes me away. but i know i will have to senior year

i have a feeling im going to be let down.

[fadingblue]

faust (10 characters)

[showbiz00ditc]

i just picked up The Game at dj's recommendation.

im about 100 pages in and im lovin it.

i say superfuture needs a thread about PU (pickup) methods, stories, negs, openers, etc.

i may start it later.

[mswill_i_am]

Oscar Wilde - Picture of Dorian Grey.

vain superfuturians beware!

amen. great book

[mswill_i_am]

the curious incident of the dog in the night time by Mark Haddon

she's come undone by wally lamb

i know this much is true by wally lamb

white oleander by janet fitch [i know it was a movie but the book is much much better]

thats what i've read in the past 2 months or so...

[american_hearts]

i just picked up The Game at dj's recommendation.

im about 100 pages in and im lovin it.

i say superfuture needs a thread about PU (pickup) methods, stories, negs, openers, etc.

i may start it later.

trust me...all girls know about The Game by now except for the most naive. and for those...do you really need a book? there's nothing new under the sun.

[american_hearts]

Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World, by Haruki Murakami. i love imaginative japanese fiction

I halfway remember a lengthy murakami-centered thread from the past...

at any rate, I was introduced through Hard-boiled Wonderland, forced myself to finish Wind-Up Bird Chronicles and at the end of the day really prefer the poignancy of Norwegian Wood.

[Lucas]

Great book my mom read it to me when i was small just got back from a journey all around europe and im really glad i picked up the alchemist right be for i left for the trip! Because of this book we went on a side trip to africa haha

THE ALCHEMIST.

I don't know man...but if at some point in your life (maybe now) you are/were fuckin lost like i was. READ THIS SHIT. It changed my whole perspective....i went from Todd Bridges to Bill Cosby after readin that shit.

Oh yeah, "Good Luck" is a short, simple but very effective book as well.

[dasman989]

Catch-22

Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy

Two books to Ilive by.

[Agent Orange]

Mr Ibrahim and the flowers of the Koran, similar to le petit prince - imo even better, both best in the french original

also a great book

boris vian - i spit on your graves

sarcastic to death, fun to read. i always give this as a present to peaople who dont like literature or read rarely. was first censored, then forbidden after its publication in 1947.

i also really enjoyed books that others already recommened, eg neil strauss - the game, and the stranger from camus is one of my alltime favorites.

"And I felt ready to live it all again. As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the gentle indifference of the world. Finding it so much like myself - so like a brother, really - I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate."

i simply love that paragraph

[thefunkytechnician]

Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt

The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford

edit: forgot to add Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists (this book is the shit)

[Guest Goose25]

'1421 - the year china discovered the world'

it's true - they did!

[Analyst]

Snow by Orhan Pamuk...

Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy...

Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe...

[jpgm]

don de lillo - underworld

[denimdestroyedmylife]

^ i love that book. great superfuturian rec. the graff, the urban grit, it's all in there.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

one of my majors as an undergrad was english. this is going to sound strange, but being forced to read joyce, plus being surrounded by unrepentant tools who un-ironically say 'tome' instead of 'book' or say things like 'the prose is like the bastard child of raymond carver' during class discussions, made me never want to read again. thank god i didn't study gynecology. fuck, i hate english majors.

and if you want a recommendation, go read to the lighthouse or some fucking thing, though the realization that i liked virginia woolf made me feel like i was emasculating myself. it still beats fucking ayn rand or bret easton ellis, though.

i agree with all of this. and TO THE LIGHTHOUSE may be the most beautifully written english-language book ever.

[sybaritical]

If we're talking about Don Delillo don't forget about "white noise".

I just finished " an artist of the floating world" by Kazuo Ishiguro.

It took a while to get with it but left me fairly happy.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

i liked white noise, too-----perfect for the supergay with a short attention span

[jpgm]

also....

jonathon lethem - 'the fortress of solitude'...amazing book.

anything by murakami...'dance dance dance' is a particular favourite.

currently reading david mitchell - 'number 9 dream'

and about to start on gautam malkani - 'londonstani'

[Swych]

Design book- Massive Change, Bruce Mau

Leisure reading- Rainfall, Barry Eisler

About a half japanese half american assassin based in Tokyo that specialises in 'natural deaths'. Yakuza, Politicians, Sex and very real descriptions of Tokyo make this a great fun read. Real slick kills and stylish action.

[designersheep]

my favourite fiction:

Albert Camus - L'étranger

a book just with illustrations (yet to look at all of it, but I find his drawings very appealing especially in here):

Zak Smith - Pictures Showing What Happens on Each Page of Thomas Pynchon's Novel Gravity's Rainbow

CLICK to see the illustrations

[DEPHT]

Who Owns History? by Eric Foner