I'm looking for book suggestions. After finishing Paul Allen's autobiography, everything else has been a let down. Not that that was so amazing, I just can't find anything new that seems cool and holds my interest.
I'm a fan of Mark Bowden (Searching for Pablo, Black Hawk Down) and he has a new book out, but I read about half of it and it sucks. Also, I tried Confidence Men and didn't like it.
So now I turn to you. I like non-fiction. Could be entertainment/writing related, politics, sports, I don't know. If you've read anything recently that blew your mind, regardless of what it was, I would like to know about it. However, I'm not that big on reading novels (like that James Patterson guy, the Reacher books, etc) so there you go.
Thanks.
20 comments:
I loved Jay Mohr's parenting memoir - hilarious - but I have a feeling you might hate him. I know you said you like non-fiction, but Donald Ray Pollock's two books are beyond superb. "Knockemstiff" is a collection of short stories featuring many of the same characters, and his new novel "The Devil All the Time" is about, among other things, husband and wife serial killers. Top notch stuff, critically acclaimed, impossible to put down.
Eric Clapton's autobiography was good. Don Rickles' memoirs are worth a read (I adore him, though). Keith Richards' memoir was funny and only boring when he talked about guitar crap (ditto Clapton). I liked Russell Brand's first memoir, but most guys I know reject it because of the title. Any book of short stories by Alice Munro is great - not "chicklit" at all. "I Killed" (comedians' stories of being on the road doing stand-up) was interesting. "I'm Dying Up Here," on stand-up's golden era, was involving as a sort of comedy nerd, but ultimately could have just been a feature in Vanity Fair.
Oh and since I know you're not an ideologue, try "The Future and Its Enemies" by Virginia Postrel - it attracts equal hatred from Pat Buchanan and Ralph Nader, which is a huge endorsement. Excerpts at dynamist.com.
In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks- Adam Carolla
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. It's a true story of a man named Louis Zamperini who has an unbelievable life story. Essentially he was nearly an Olympic runner before WWII and then he joined the Air Force. What happens next I don't want to spoil. Very well written and an amazing story. Enjoy!
If you haven't read it, The Hollwood Eye by Boorstin is a good read. I'm currently reading The Drunkard's Walk by Mlodinow. It's about how randomness is more common than we think.
Chuck Klosterman. If you like nonsensical anecdotal autobiographical ramblings, that is. ;-)
I just read ROGUE, the Joe McGuinness book on Palin, this was the guy who rented the house next to her ... I quite enjoyed it, he pretty much splits her open and it's fun.
Then there's Tina Fey's Bossypants.
and for something completely different, Hollywood Animal by Joe Esterhaus ... yeah, I said it, but it's so much fun ...
I enjoyed reading the Barbara Walters Memoir, "Audition". It was a great read and gave a little back story to the history of politics and the news. Don't be a chauvinist and pass this by just because it's told by a woman (especially Barbara).
And if you want to get all scholastic, read Plato's "Republic" (that is, unless you've already read it in school). It was assigned to me in a philosophy class I took back in college and I enjoyed it.
Oh...and my favorite book of all time was "On the Road" by Jack Karouac. It's a must read too.
Roger Ebert's new memoir.
Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. Sounds morbid, by it's HILARIOUS and super interesting.
Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer. Will make you afraid of Mormons, but it's fascinating. I have to say, I knew very little about how LDS started and this book was mind-blowing. Every few pages I was screaming, "WHAT?" It will also make it impossible to take Mitt Romney seriously. Where Men Win Glory, also by Krakauer, may interest you, if you're into military shit. I've been trudging through it over the last two months, though. You know what? I'll just recommend ALL of Krakauer's books, because I've also read Into Thin Air and Into the Wild and both were also excellent.
Tina Fey's book, obviously.
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs bio. It's coming out pretty soon (10/24)and based on Isaacson's reputation and past work promises to be a pretty damn good read.
In the same vein if you can get a copy of Steve Levy's Insanely Great: The Life and Times of the Macintosh it'll probably hold you over until 10/24.
Don't be bashing Reacher, he's the best
I like "High Concept". The book about Bruckheimer's ex partner in crime Don Simpson. Sex, Drugs, and Top Gun!
Counting Coup by Larry Colton
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
Devil's Teeth by Susan Casey
(Although none of these are as amazing a read as "Unbroken," but I know you already read that.)
Freakonomics. Everyone should read this.
"Blood, Bones, and Butter" is a really amazing memoir/food/travel essay. "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid" by Bill Bryson is really good too, I think you'd like his sense of humor. If you feel like going old school, check out "Travels With Charlie" by John Steinbeck. He traveled around the US in 1960 in an RV with Charlie, his gigantic grey poodle, and wrote about all the crazy shit that he saw/experienced. It's a total classic but it still feels really fresh and contemporary. Um, what else... this might not be up your alley but you should give "Hunger Games" a try. It's high school level fiction but it's a really fun, quick read AND the movie is coming out next year, so you'll have a leg up on that.
I just got into Dave Eggers and read "A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius" and "Zeitoun" and enjoyed both. Both are non-fiction (well, the former has some embellished bits) and good reads.
Armies of the Night, Norman Mailer's "nonfiction" account of the March on the Pentagon in the 60s, is the best nonfiction book I ever read. But then again, Mailer was an unqualified genius.
I'm in the middle of reading Jeff Stepakoff's Billion Dollar Kiss about his adventures in the TV trade, and it's very good, but you've probably already read it. Hell you may have recommended it and that's why I picked it up.
I'm looking forward to checking out the other recommendations in this thread.
You can pre-order "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson on CD and digital download at prices Amazon and iTunes can't beat!
http://premieraudiobooks.com/sql/au_search.php?query_sku=9781442346277%7C9781442346949%7C9781442346284_D%7C9781442346956_D&aid=&search_title=STEVE%20JOBS%20by%20WALTER%20ISAACSON&pages_header=642
Dave Barry, anything by him. But something tells me you've already got into him.
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