What's your favorite book that nobody else ever reads?

[Birdmonster]

You know. That book you buy everyone for a gift because you're sure they don't have it or that novel you love that even your most literate friends don't know about. Your diamond in the rough, if you will.

Mine is Towing Jehovah (http://www.amazon.com/Towing-Jehovah-Harvest-James-Morrow/dp/0156002108/sr=8-1/qid=1168556614/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-6591888-8196629?ie=UTF8&s=books). Just a wonderful book about finding God dead and belly up in the middle of the Atlantic.

I'm also always surprised by how few people seem to know Handling Sin (http://www.amazon.com/Handling-Sin-Michael-Malone/dp/1570717567/sr=1-1/qid=1168556690/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-6591888-8196629?ie=UTF8&s=books), but I actually had this recommended to me via the SDMB, so it doesn't really fit my OP. Probably my favorite book ever. No joke. Now, who was I supposed to thank for that...

[Birdmonster]

Yes. It was Thudlow Boink who gifted me that recommendation. I salute you sir. Thank you.

[Gala Matrix Fire]

I don't buy it for people, but I lend them my copy, then I keep having to find and buy a new copy, which is harder and harder to do:
Sam Patch; Ballad of a Jumping Man.
About a real American character who was famous for jumping off of bridges and buildings, and who had a tame black bear who sometimes jumped along with him.
The book is narrated by the bear, who is a real deep thinker.

[RealityChuck]

Mine is Towing Jehovah (http://www.amazon.com/Towing-Jehovah-Harvest-James-Morrow/dp/0156002108/sr=8-1/qid=1168556614/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-6591888-8196629?ie=UTF8&s=books). Just a wonderful book about finding God dead and belly up in the middle of the Atlantic. One of my favorites, too.

For me, I'd mention The Sot-Weed Factor by John Barth.

[AuntiePam]

Mine is Towing Jehovah (http://www.amazon.com/Towing-Jehovah-Harvest-James-Morrow/dp/0156002108/sr=8-1/qid=1168556614/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-6591888-8196629?ie=UTF8&s=books). Just a wonderful book about finding God dead and belly up in the middle of the Atlantic.


That's in my TBR pile. I went on a Morrow binge last year after reading The Last Witchfinder, but haven't gotten to Jehovah yet. A little Morrow goes a long way.

One book I push on people is The Dollmaker by Harriett Arnow. At least two people bought the damn thing on my rec but neither of them have read it. I don't know if they have bad memories of the Jane Fonda movie version, or if the dialect turns them off. But nobody except me has read it, and it's my favoritest book in the whole world!

I've bought five or six (remaindered hardcover) copies of Crazy Love by David L. Martin for giving. It's a love story with an animal rights subplot. Far as I know, none of the people I gave the book to have read it.

[jackelope]

J. P. Donleavy's Wrong Information Is Being Given Out at Princeton: The Chronicle of One of the Strangest Stories Ever to Be Rumoured About Around New York (http://www.amazon.com/Wrong-Information-Being-Given-Princeton/dp/0312244991/sr=1-1/qid=1168559458/ref=sr_1_1/102-7300472-1394556?ie=UTF8&s=books).

[Birdmonster]

AuntiePam: There is nothing more frustrating than giving a book which will never be read. Send those people a paperweight next time. Heathens!

Anyway, I'm a Morrow fanatic and, if you liked Witchfinder, I feel very confident you'll enjoy Towing Jehovah and the two pseudo-sequels which are equally blasphemous and utterly wonderful.

[delphica]

I used to give Michael Chabon's first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, to everyone I knew on any gift-giving occasion. This was back when it was his only novel. Now that he is very popular, I feel that my work is done.

Another campaign I was on was for Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle. Then JK Rowling mentioned it as one of her favorite books, and it came back into print, and they made it into a movie, and heck, it didn't need me any more.

Another one I still like to push is Lawrence Block's Hitman. It's a great quirky book of interconnected short stories about a killer for hire. It's a wonderful example of a book that rises above its subject matter.

[Sonia Montdore]

My favorites are two slim novels by Nancy Mitford, The Pursuit of Love and its companion piece, Love in a Cold Climate. They are nowadays usually issued together in one volume. I love both novels and am always lending or giving them to friends, who usually aren't as caught up in the stories and characterizations as I am, to my immense disappointment.

[Birdmonster]

delphica: I'm hiring you as my PR man.

[Eve]

I don't know if no one reads them (not on this board!), but some of the favorites I keep around and have to reread every few years include Joan Crawford's My Way of Life (http://www.amazon.com/My-Way-Life-Joan-crawford/dp/0671209701/sr=1-8/qid=1168562786/ref=sr_1_8/103-5495652-3491846?ie=UTF8&s=books), Henri Murger's Bohemians of the Latin Quarter (http://www.amazon.com/Bohemians-Latin-Quarter-Henri-Murger/dp/0812218841/sr=1-1/qid=1168562843/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-5495652-3491846?ie=UTF8&s=books), and of course the collected Variety Obituaries (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/103-5495652-3491846?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=variety+obituaries&Go.x=17&Go.y=15&Go=Go).

[Phantom Dennis]

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson is one of my favorite novels, and while I'm sure it's been enjoyed by many of the smart folks on this board, I've had a hell of a time getting any of my friends or family members to get beyond the first couple of chapters. Apparently they get lost ofter the first few equations. ;)

It helps that I have a good background in science and history, and a degree in computer science. I can imagine many of Stephenson's "tangents" causing my eyes to glaze over if I didn't have the educational foundation to grasp most of the subjects covered in the book.

[vivalostwages]

Under the Skin by Michel Faber.
No one thinks of Greenland, can't recall author's name.

[LANmom]

Time is the Simplest Thing by Clifford D Simak

[Evil Captor]

"Far Tortuga" by Peter Mattheissen.

[AuntiePam]

Another campaign I was on was for Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle. Then JK Rowling mentioned it as one of her favorite books, and it came back into print, and they made it into a movie, and heck, it didn't need me any more.


So you're responsible! Must have been you, because when I went looking for it (about three years ago?), it wasn't back in print yet. I found a nice HC though, cheap. Great book, with that intriguing first line: "I'm writing this sitting in the kitchen sink." (Or something like that.)

birdmonster, paperweights it is!

[Manda JO]

Flanders by Patricia Anthony. WWI epistolary novel. Never met anyone who read it except for the person who recommended it to me. Haven't convinced anyone else to read it to date.

[AuntiePam]

MandaJo, I'd read that. But it's out of print. There are some used copies at Amazon, but not from sellers I'd buy from. I'll see if my library can get it.

[Cunctator]

My favorites are two slim novels by Nancy Mitford, The Pursuit of Love and its companion piece, Love in a Cold Climate.My copy of these is fairly well-thumbed too. One just loves them.

[Der Trihs]

Villains by Necessity by Eve Forward. It's set in a fantasy world where the forces of good have closed off the sources of supernatural evil, where "the good guys won", and this has created an imbalance which will eventually destroy the world. Then that universe, and, perhaps, all universes. It's up to a band of villains to save the world from destruction by the forces of good. Has one of my favorite quotes; at one point the villains need to complete a Heroic Task which just isn't within their power. They think and think - until one looks up and says "What are we thinking ?! We're villains ! We'll cheat !"

Wasp by Eric Frank Russell. An old ( 1957 ) sci fi novel about a single man dropped onto an enemy planet, who is supposed to use a combination of cleverness, training and superior Terran technology to destabilize the place. A very good one-man-against-everybody story.

A Logical Magician by Robert Weinberg. A modern mathematician is recruited by Merlin ( yes, the original ) to save the world from evil magic, but Merlin is captured by the bad guys before he can say a thing about how. He has given the hero the means to find other supernaturals, who according to Merlin are created by the collective belief of humanity; when enough people believed in Merlin, he appeared. There's lots of stuff about how the supernaturals have changed to blend into the modern world, and how certain of their vulnerabilities have changed mysteriously; such as iron no longer hurting fey, and crosses not bothering vampires. The hero has to figure out why, before he gets killed. Oh, and the reason why you don't see, say, Superman or the critter from Alien wandering around is because of modern disbelief and skepticism.

[Captain_C]

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett. No one should have to go through life without reading this.

[delphica]

So you're responsible! Must have been you, because when I went looking for it (about three years ago?), it wasn't back in print yet. I found a nice HC though, cheap. Great book, with that intriguing first line: "I'm writing this sitting in the kitchen sink." (Or something like that.)

birdmonster, paperweights it is!

It's just a gem of a book, isn't it? It's the kind of book where every time I reread it, I pick up on something new.

And I think The Dollmaker sounds right up my alley, I will definitely put that on my to read list.

[Dunderman]

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett. No one should have to go through life without reading this.That book can hardly be characterised as one that "nobody else ever reads". I agree that it is great, though.

The only other book mentioned in this thread that I have read is Time is a Simplest Thing, and I'm not sure I remember it correctly. Is it the one where psychics mind-travel to other planets and one of them gets an alien back home with him?

[Dung Beetle]

I don't know anyone IRL that reads. In the past, I have recommended A Simple Plan by Scott Smith, because it has a fascinating premise and it's easy to read. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is another that I consider easy to get "hooked" on. I don't think I've actually succeeded in getting anyone to read more than a page or two. :(

For audio books, I like I Know This Much is True, by Wally Lamb, read by George Guidall...and it's gotta be the audio version, because I really think Mr. Guidall's performance adds so much to it. I did get my mom to listen to some of it, but she was going through a lot of life changes at the time and she said she couldn't concentrate enough to keep up with the plot. Grrr!

[WordMan]

Hmmm - I have read Morrow before (Only Begotten Daughter) but not read Towing Jehovah - have to pick it up. Thanks Birdmonster - and Handling Sin looks like a winner, too...

Mine are pretty broad:

- Please Kill Me: an Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain. An incredibly readable, fascinating, well-researched and definitive look at the evolution of punk rock from the Velvets, through the Pistols, co-written by the guy who coined the use of the word punk in the sense that it has come be known for in music, Legs McNeil.

- Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, by Haruki Murakami - Murakami wrote Norwegian Wood, called the Catcher in the Rye of Japan, but getting him boxed-in in the 80's with young turk lit authors like Jay McInerny and Brett Easton Ellis. This book - along with another excellent book called A Wild Sheep Chase - separated Murakami from that group and put him on a path to where he is one of the most respected authors working today. This book is a surreal mystery - a fun page turner with hints of violence and sex, and also an inquiry into who we are as individuals. The lead character gets sucked into a scheme to rent his memory to store facts (kinda like the old Gibson story Johnny Mnemonic) and his story alternates with actions in shadow world that is much more the calm interior of the spirit. How do these worlds intersect? That would be telling. Murakami's stuff reads excellently in English...

- Liege Killer by Christopher Hinz - goes in an out of print. Strictly B-grade hard sci-fi, I have read it a few times and simply can't put it down when I do, in an almost guilty-pleasure sort of way. It is a few thousand years in the future, there was a war that rendered Earth uninhabitable, so survivors live in space stations orbiting it. Re-introduced into this situation is a paratwa, a genetically-bred assassin that is two humans that share one brain - use of paratwas was what led to the destruction of the Earth previously. How did it get here? How can it be stopped? Tons of plot holes, but it reads, to me like a move screenplay for a Terminator-type of sci-fi action flik. Big, dumb fun - but a lot of fun.

My $.02

[Malthus]

Another one I still like to push is Lawrence Block's Hitman. It's a great quirky book of interconnected short stories about a killer for hire. It's a wonderful example of a book that rises above its subject matter.

Hitman is truly great. I love genre-busters. :D

Another truly great little book that I've never heard of anyone reading except me, but which I recommend continually: Zod Wallop Bt William Browning Spenser - it is sort of like Dr. Suess meets Philip K. Dick and Tolkien while on LSD ... and at the same time, packs an effective emotional punch.

http://www.amazon.com/Zod-Wallop-William-Browning-Spencer/dp/1565048709/sr=1-1/qid=1168611841/ref=sr_1_1/104-9500456-5259968?ie=UTF8&s=books

[CalMeacham]

The Snouters by Harald Stumpke -- translated from a German original. Sature describes the adaptive radiation of a variety of lage-nosed rodents living on an isolated island and evolving to fit into all the available ecological niches, a la the finches on the Galapagos that Darwin described. Except that the forms these rodents take on and the survival strategies they use are often outrageously unlikely, yet described in scientific earnest, and given real-sounding taxonimical designations. It looks as if they made some of the Snouterrs resemble their scientific colleagues -- which sounds like a cute little in-joke until you read closely and discover that this variety traps its prey in its copious nasal mucous discharge, oer something. A real treat for Evolution nerds and Stephen Jay Gould fans:

http://www.amazon.com/Snouters-Form-Life-Rhinogrades/dp/B000HB93RI/sr=1-1/qid=1168611732/ref=sr_1_1/102-8282394-9391344?ie=UTF8&s=books

And somebody eveidently wrote a sequel:

http://www.amazon.com/Snouters-Revisited-Charles-C-Davis/dp/0533113164/sr=1-4/qid=1168611732/ref=sr_1_4/102-8282394-9391344?ie=UTF8&s=books

End Product: The First Taboo by Dan Sabbath. I have the only copy of this book I've ever seen or heard of. It's a book about -- well -- shit. More than you ever wanted to know about excrement, and its place in history. A truly perverse read. And I've had occasion to quote and cite it on this Board. (Which says something about this Board):

http://www.amazon.com/End-product-first-Dan-Sabbath/dp/091635475X/sr=1-1/qid=1168612049/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-8282394-9391344?ie=UTF8&s=books




By the way, I've read Wasp by Russell, too. It's great, as is his novel Sinister Barrier, which has to be the ultimate paranoid novel. Both are available, and the NEFSA volume Entities has them both in one cover, with two other novels:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/002-0905487-8726459?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Eric+Frank+Russell

[Dung Beetle]

End Product: The First Taboo by Dan Sabbath. I have the only copy of this book I've ever seen or heard of. It's a book about -- well -- shit. More than you ever wanted to know about excrement, and its place in history. A truly perverse read. And I've had occasion to quote and cite it on this Board. (Which says something about this Board):

http://www.amazon.com/End-product-first-Dan-Sabbath/dp/091635475X/sr=1-1/qid=1168612049/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-8282394-9391344?ie=UTF8&s=books




Had to put in an inter-library loan request. :o

[Shoeless]

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson is one of my favorite novels, and while I'm sure it's been enjoyed by many of the smart folks on this board, I've had a hell of a time getting any of my friends or family members to get beyond the first couple of chapters. Apparently they get lost ofter the first few equations. ;)

It helps that I have a good background in science and history, and a degree in computer science. I can imagine many of Stephenson's "tangents" causing my eyes to glaze over if I didn't have the educational foundation to grasp most of the subjects covered in the book.
Same here. In fact, I need to go buy another copy of the book because the first two I owned, I lent out to people who have not read it and not returned it. Argh!

[CalMeacham]

Well, of course, with a handle like Dung Beetle you had to....

[yanceylebeef]

Mine is Towing Jehovah (http://www.amazon.com/Towing-Jehovah-Harvest-James-Morrow/dp/0156002108/sr=8-1/qid=1168556614/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-6591888-8196629?ie=UTF8&s=books). Just a wonderful book about finding God dead and belly up in the middle of the Atlantic.

I'd add to Towing Jehovah both Bible Stories for Adults (http://www.amazon.com/Bible-Stories-Adults-James-Morrow/dp/0156002442/sr=1-1/qid=1168613873/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-3178119-1535030?ie=UTF8&s=books) and Only Begotten Daughter (http://www.amazon.com/Bible-Stories-Adults-James-Morrow/dp/0156002442/sr=1-1/qid=1168613873/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-3178119-1535030?ie=UTF8&s=books) .

My non-Morrow books would have to include The Butcher Boy (http://www.amazon.com/Butcher-Boy-Patrick-McCabe/dp/0385312377/sr=1-1/qid=1168614008/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-3178119-1535030?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Patrick McCabe and Charles Stross's first novel Singularity Sky (http://www.amazon.com/Singularity-Sky-Charles-Stross/dp/B000IOF5DU/sr=1-1/qid=1168614082/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-3178119-1535030?ie=UTF8&s=books) . It's kind of uneven in places, but there is so much imagination there it's scary!

[FordPrefect]

In my circles, my favourite book Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan. My family won't read it because Sagan is an atheist. They will sit around at Christmas discussing the benefits of the Q-Ray bracelet*, but Satan might invade if they read a book by an author who doesn't believe in the same god as them.
Throw in Hero With a Thousand Faces as another fave

*After nearly ruining a weekend at a resort in November by raising a big stink their opposition to gay marriage I felt I should keep my mouth shut over the Q-Ray. It's just a fucking magnet and their $30, but it was still trying though.

[Labdad]

J. P. Donleavy's Wrong Information Is Being Given Out at Princeton: The Chronicle of One of the Strangest Stories Ever to Be Rumoured About Around New York (http://www.amazon.com/Wrong-Information-Being-Given-Princeton/dp/0312244991/sr=1-1/qid=1168559458/ref=sr_1_1/102-7300472-1394556?ie=UTF8&s=books).

I'm delighted to see another Donleavy fan on the board. When I read the OP, the first thing that came to my mind was The Unexpurgated Code: A Complete Manual of Survival and Manners (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/044007794X/ref=cm_cr_dp_pt/105-1464869-5951622?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books). This may be the single funniest book I've ever read in my life.

It's a series of essays, some just a single line; other several pages, about all kinds of situations and the proper way to behave.

An example:

"Upon Coming Upon Two Citizens Engaged in a Fight
It is quite an enjoyable sight watching two suddenly infuriated guys really slam each other around, and you must take some pleasures where you find them. However good citizenship insists you do something. But first reconnoiter from behind an abutment and stay there if the antagonists are armed. If it is fists, advance closer and then you might, with appropriate sporting admonitions, make sure that fair play obtains. But on no account part the antagonists. Not only is there far too much peacemaking these days, but combatants will frequently turn in your direction and after beating the bejesus out of you, end up shaking hands and complimenting each other on the good job they did doing it."

[Elendil's Heir]

Two books which I turn to with great pleasure every few years, but which relatively few people I know have read (and, among Dopers, a mere handful), are:

George R.R. Martin's Tuf Voyaging - a wonderful collection of interrelated science-fiction short stories about the phlegmatic captain, owner and sole crewmember of a gigantic starship. Haviland Tuf goes from planet to planet, hiring himself - and his ship's awesome capabilities - out for ecological engineering. It's got funny, whipsmart dialogue, great insights into politics, environmentalism and overpopulation, a cloned and very testy T.Rex, and telepathic cats. Good Lord, what a great book! A masterpiece.

Gary Jennings's Aztec - Mel Gibson only wishes he could make a movie that captures a lost culture as well as this book. This huge page-turner follows the life of Mixtli, an Aztec peasant who rises to the top of Aztec society, and finds himself in the court of Moctecuzoma when the conquistadores arrive. Sex, warfare, architecture, commerce, sex, human sacrifice, exploration, romance, sex, more warfare, politics, intrigue, espionage and, oh yeah, some more sex and warfare. To say nothing of a trenchant critique of 16th C. Catholicism and the Inquisition. If you love historical fiction, you've gotta read this. Highly, highly recommended.

[koeeoaddi]

Flanders by Patricia Anthony. WWI epistolary novel. Never met anyone who read it except for the person who recommended it to me. Haven't convinced anyone else to read it to date.
You're on. I just reserved it at the library.

I know folks have read my favorite book, I just haven't met any of 'em. Maybe the title makes it a hard sell, but I can't convince any of my near and dear to crack open A Soldier of the Great War (http://ec3.images-amazon.com/images/P/0156031132.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg) by Mark Helprin. It's not just about life in the trenches, it's about an old coot professor emeritus of Aesthetics who tells his whole life story and it's as beautiful as it is brilliant.

Read it, dammit!

[UntouchedTakeaway]

(waving to Eve) I have JC's "My Way of Life!"

My two obscure faves are Liz Renay's "My Face For the World to See" (John Waters thought the sequel should be titled "My Ass For the World To Kiss") and "A Guide To Elegance" - by Genevieve Antoine Dariaux. Miss Dariaux was a former directrice at Nina Ricci and as I learned a few weeks ago from an email inquiry I directed to Nina Ricci - still alive! Her book "Entertaining With Elegance" is great, too.

VCNJ~

[Meurglys]

No one thinks of Greenland, can't recall author's name. It was John Griesemer - good book!

My favourite obscure rock'n'roll novel - Jambeaux by Laurence Gonzales.

[Infovore]

The obscure books I find myself going back to read over again are all old and most are likely long out of print:

House of Zeor and the rest of the Sime~Gen series by Jacqueline Lichtenberg and Jean Lorrah - Some of these are starting to come back into print again, and it's about time! Fantastic series by one of the original Star Trek convention organizers and uber-fans. It tells the story of a world where humanity has mutated into two sides, the Simes and the Gens. The Gens produce a substance that they don't need, but the Simes do--the only catch is, the Sime usually kills the Gen when he takes it. Some Simes, called "channels" can take the substance from the Gen and "transfer" it to a normal Sime, but most of Sime society (at least in the beginning) considers this "perversion" and aims to end the whole practice. It's a lot more complicated than that, but that's the gist of it. Highly recommended.

The Hero from Otherwhere, a YA book by Jay Williams (half of the duo who wrote the "Danny Dunn" series). I actually enjoyed it much more than the DD books (which I liked as a kid but haven't made the effort to revisit).

Change Song, a very obscure YA sci-fi book by Lee Hoffman. It's so obscure, in fact, that during my high school days I actually did a bad thing and stole it from the library after not being able to find it anywhere else (claiming I'd lost it and paying for it, of course). Considering it hadn't been checked out in like five years before I'd borrowed it, I didn't feel horrible about it, but I did feel bad. (Please don't anybody yell at me--I know it was wrong, I was 16, and I've never done it again in the 20+ years since.)

Tara Kane. I normally don't like "romance" type books, but this one is more in the genre of Gone With The Wind set in the Yukon Territory during the Gold Rush. It's also historically based. Lots of action and survival stuff to go with the mushy bits.

[Mouse_Maven]

Strange Creations (http://www.forteantimes.com/review/kooks.shtml) by Donna Kossy. I think anyone who is interested in biology should read this book.

Mine is Towing Jehovah (http://www.amazon.com/Towing-Jehovah-Harvest-James-Morrow/dp/0156002108/sr=8-1/qid=1168556614/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-6591888-8196629?ie=UTF8&s=books). Just a wonderful book about finding God dead and belly up in the middle of the Atlantic.

How could things be any worse! Jehovah! Jehovah! Jehovah! Ok, I'm done now.

[well he's back]

Love these kinds of threads - I find so many good books through them.

I've loved The Dollmaker for quite a while.

The book I'm always recommending is [/U]Kristin Lavransdatter[U] the wonderful trilogy of books about a woman in medieval Norway. Some people on this board have read it, but I've never found anyone else in real life.

I also used to recommend Lawrence Durrell's books quite often.

[Malthus]

You're on. I just reserved it at the library.

I know folks have read my favorite book, I just haven't met any of 'em. Maybe the title makes it a hard sell, but I can't convince any of my near and dear to crack open A Soldier of the Great War (http://ec3.images-amazon.com/images/P/0156031132.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg) by Mark Helprin. It's not just about life in the trenches, it's about an old coot professor emeritus of Aesthetics who tells his whole life story and it's as beautiful as it is brilliant.

Read it, dammit!

A great book, but as you say, not really obscure.

My favourites in the category of "great-books-others-have-read-but-I-can't-interest-RL-Friends-in" are:

- "Invisible Cities" by Calvino; and

- "The Man Who Was Thursday" by Chesterton.

Both are truly amazing. :)

[Der Trihs]

- Liege Killer by Christopher Hinz - goes in an out of print. A fun book, which has two sequels, if you didn't know about them.

George R.R. Martin's Tuf Voyaging - a wonderful collection of interrelated science-fiction short stories about the phlegmatic captain, owner and sole crewmember of a gigantic starship. Haviland Tuf goes from planet to planet, hiring himself - and his ship's awesome capabilities - out for ecological engineering. It's got funny, whipsmart dialogue, great insights into politics, environmentalism and overpopulation, a cloned and very testy T.Rex, and telepathic cats. Good Lord, what a great book! A masterpiece.Ooooh, one of my favorites. "Please accept my assurances that no personal animosity of any sort is intended towards any of you. Nonetheless, it appears, unfortunately, that I must now go forth and destroy your respective worlds. Perhaps you would like to draw straws, to determine where I might best start."

House of Zeor and the rest of the Sime~Gen series by Jacqueline Lichtenberg and Jean Lorrah - Some of these are starting to come back into print again, and it's about time! Fantastic series by one of the original Star Trek convention organizers and uber-fans.Seconded.

Not so much an obscure book, but an obscure author; Doris Piserchia (http://www.digitalmediatree.com/dorispiserchia/) . She stopped writing back in the early 80's but her stuff was excellent. Very imaginative. Some of her stuff includes :

Doomtime : Set in a far future Earth where the dominant life form are a pair of mountain-tall sentient trees that have extended their roots over much of the planet. They hate each other, and are constantly trying to destroy one another. They can temporarily ( or permanently ) absorb creatures into themselves, including people; this process lets them read people's minds, and is pleasurable enough to be addictive, which is one way they control people.

Spaceling : The protaganist is an orphan girl who is a mute, a person who can see the Rings, which are drifting rings of light that are interdimensional gates to those who can see them. Anything or anyone that passes through is transformed into a new form. She, however, secretly has abilities that others don't. She can see many more Rings than others can, her forms are different than normal people's forms, and she can command the Rings to move as she desires. She ends up having to discover her truly odd origins, and deal with multiple conspiracies that want to help/hurt/use her.

[Eve]

"A Guide To Elegance" - by Genevieve Antoine Dariaux. Miss Dariaux was a former directrice at Nina Ricci and as I learned a few weeks ago from an email inquiry I directed to Nina Ricci - still alive! Her book "Entertaining With Elegance" is great, too.I idolize her. Sometimes before I go out to lunch or to the theater, I think, "Now, what would Joan Crawford or Genevieve Antoine Dariaux think of this outfit? Do the shoes go with this belt? Shall I remove one accessory?"

[Ol'Gaffer]

The obscure books I find myself going back to read over again are all old and most are likely long out of print:

<snip>

The Hero from Otherwhere, a YA book by Jay Williams (half of the duo who wrote the "Danny Dunn" series). I actually enjoyed it much more than the DD books (which I liked as a kid but haven't made the effort to revisit).

<snip>



Holy crap. I loved that book when I was a kid. I used to have a completely battered paperbook copy somewhere but I don't think that I have even thought of that book in 20 years. Glad to know I wasn't the only one who liked it!!

[Annie-Xmas]

Calvin Trillon's Remembering Denny (http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Denny-Calvin-Trillin/dp/0446670324/sr=1-1/qid=1168638276/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-8581922-2338409?ie=UTF8&s=books). Unlike anything else Trillon has written, and a hauntingly good read.

[E. Thorp]

Except for my wife, I have never met another fan of Penelope Fitzgerald's The Beginning of Spring. Anyone?

[Evil Captor]

Not so much an obscure book, but an obscure author; Doris Piserchia (http://www.digitalmediatree.com/dorispiserchia/) . She stopped writing back in the early 80's but her stuff was excellent. Very imaginative. .

Yes, she was great. I remember she wrote a really haunting and horrific short story called "We Are Idio" that would make a great radio play. One of those works you can't forget once you read it. I didn't like her longer works, but her short stories were just supercharged with emotion and power and originality.

[jackelope]

I'm delighted to see another Donleavy fan on the board. When I read the OP, the first thing that came to my mind was The Unexpurgated Code: A Complete Manual of Survival and Manners (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/044007794X/ref=cm_cr_dp_pt/105-1464869-5951622?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books). This may be the single funniest book I've ever read in my life.Holy cow, you mean I'm not the only person who's ever read this?

I found my copy in a Boulder used-book store in 1993; I've read it more times than I can count. My favorite chapter:Upon Dying of Shame

[...] It will astonish you at how slow folk are to conclude that you have paid your debt to society. And they will spend years continuing to intimidate you with their fish eyed looks. Till sometimes you've just about had enough. It is time then to set up on your lawn a sign illuminated by night with two large lettered words on top and two very tiny lettered ones underneath.

FORGIVE ME
you fuckers

This plea really shakes the neighbours and especially the ones who crawl up close to read the small print.OK, actually I have two favorite chapters. The other reads, in its entirety:How to Prevent People from Detesting You

Don't try.

[Lazlo]

Okay, I'm looking for a copy of Towing Jehovah tomorrow.

[don't ask]

The book I have given away the most times is Point Last Seen by Hannah Nyala. (http://www.amazon.com/Point-Last-Seen-Hannah-Nyala/dp/0743457552) a true account by a woman tracker of her career tracking while trying to escape an abusive partner.

After I read most books I give them away to people I think will enjoy them and tell them to pass them on. My boss borrowed this book and she then loaned it to a friend, who loaned it to a friend etc until someone lost track of it. Not knowing I didn't expect it back she bought a replacement copy which I in turn gave back to her to loan to the person who had asked for my copy.

Sometime later I found 6 copies of it remaindered for $1 so I bought all of them and they are gone now.

[BrainGlutton]

The Adventures of Doctor Eszterhazy, (http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Doctor-Eszterhazy-Avram-Davidson/dp/0913896284/sr=8-1/qid=1168796502/ref=sr_1_1/102-9666357-8690562?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Avram Davidson. (http://www.avramdavidson.org/)

[LANmom]

That book can hardly be characterised as one that "nobody else ever reads". I agree that it is great, though.

The only other book mentioned in this thread that I have read is Time is a Simplest Thing, and I'm not sure I remember it correctly. Is it the one where psychics mind-travel to other planets and one of them gets an alien back home with him?
Twas I who mentioned Time...Yes, you remember well. I always liked the, I believe unique, idea that human bodies can not tolerate space travel but the mind could be used to explore the final frontier. Seemed safe enough at first thought until the alien encountered started messing around with time. I should re-read that book. I haven't read it in years!

[Der Trihs]

Sorcerer's Son by Phyllis Eisenstein. A sorcerer, Smada Rezhyk, is fearful of his neighbor the sorceress to the point of paranoia after she refuses a proposal of marriage - and it is paranoia; she barely thinks about him, much less plots against him. His particular ability is the summoning and binding of demons; these demons are basically elementals, and not especially evil. He decides to keep his neighbor occupied while he prepares certain defenses against her, and sends one of his demons, Gildrum, in human form as a "wanderer", with orders to seduce her. He also gives Gildrum some of his own semen, whcih he ( or she; Gildrum has male and female human forms ) is to impregate her with, and then leave. This is done. The resulting son grows up with no knowledge of his father, and eventually sets out to find him.

Complicating things is the fact that Gildrum has secretly fallen in love with the sorceress, and developed feelings for the son as well; he/she can't do much about it ( or even mention it ) , being bound to Rezhyk. An interesting part of the book is the issue of the justice of summoning and binding demons in the first place; instead of ignoring the issue like most fantasy, it becomes a major plot point.

For humerous fantasy, I recommend several series by Craig Shaw Gardner. His Ebeneezum and Wuntvor books aren't great literature, but are quite funny. They parady almost everything in fantasy. Another funny one is his Cineverse Cycle, set in a multiverse where the laws of reality are based on movies; for example, heros never run out of bullets, but sidekicks do - so it's very important to figure out which you are.

I also recommend the Castle Perilous series by John DeChancie whenever I get the chance. It's humerous/serious/cosmic fantasy, centered around a castle with 144,000 doors to other worlds ( a large castle, needless to say ). His Starrigger trilogy is also good.

[Shirley Ujest]

No one thinks of Greenland was recommended to me here and I really enjoyed it.

Another doper recommendation: Lindsey Davis' Falco series. Well written, humourous historical mysteries set in ancient rome.

[LANmom]

Well, of course, with a handle like Dung Beetle you had to....
You win the clever-response-of-the-year-so-far award!

[LANmom]

In my circles, my favourite book Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan. My family won't read it because Sagan is an atheist. They will sit around at Christmas discussing the benefits of the Q-Ray bracelet*, but Satan might invade if they read a book by an author who doesn't believe in the same god as them.
Throw in Hero With a Thousand Faces as another fave

*After nearly ruining a weekend at a resort in November by raising a big stink their opposition to gay marriage I felt I should keep my mouth shut over the Q-Ray. It's just a fucking magnet and their $30, but it was still trying though.


I assume they call Karl Sagan an atheist because he is not a bornagainchristian? He is a Secular Humanist. One can be quite ethical (and in many cases MORE ethical! I bet you would agree) than many professed christians.

[Einmon]

An interesting part of the book is the issue of the justice of summoning and binding demons in the first place; instead of ignoring the issue like most fantasy, it becomes a major plot point.Slightly off-topic, but if you enjoyed that you might try the Bartimaeus Trilogy (http://www.amazon.com/Amulet-Samarkand-Bartimaeus-Trilogy-Book/dp/078681859X/sr=8-2/qid=1168876941/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-2874431-2256110?ie=UTF8&s=books), which deals with the same issue. It is touted as a kids' book, but I would consider it to be very close to adult fantasy. I thought it was excellent - reminded me a bit of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (not as complex and deep, but in atmosphere). Be sure to read all three volumes, as the first two are good, but the last one that IMHO pushes it into "rather great" territory. However, since it has 285 mostly rave reviews on amazon, I think one can hardly consider it obscure.

As for obscure, I recommend The Incredible Schlock Homes (http://www.sherlockiana.net/books/rev/schlock.html), which is hard to describe, but a really funny parody of Conan Doyle. It's best enjoyed if you've read all the Sherlockiana out there, and are not averse to a pun or two. Which nobody ever has/is, as much as I try.

[TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW]

Two that I truly love that seem to have been missed by both casual readers and critics, but that are excellent:

Lion Country by Frederick Buechner - These days available only in the omnibus "The Book of Bebb" (http://www.amazon.com/Book-Bebb-RI-Frederick-Buechner/dp/0062517694/sr=1-1/qid=1168877664/ref=sr_1_1/002-3592390-4815239?ie=UTF8&s=books) - the first of Buechner's books about Leo Bebb, a sort of Pat Robertson by way of Jimmy Swaggart huckster that sells cheap ordinations in his half-phony church. The book is pure Flannery O'Connor by way of Walker Percy and early Truman Capote, though it was written in the seventies. It's hilarious, but it bites hard.

and

Endless Love by Scott Spencer - Yes, this is the book that that embarrassingly bad 1981 Brooke Shields move was based on, but don't let that fool you - the book is a really amazing and dense coming-of-age story set against a backdrop of the sixties' values smashing headlong into the seventies and eighties period of the Boomers abandoning most of their core values and moving to suburbia. There's a very heavy Holden Caulfieldism to the main character/narrator, and the actual prose reminds me so much of 70's-era Philip Roth that I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he ghostwrote it. Excellent.

[RunSilent]

CHOCKY, by John Wyndham

ALL THE LITTLE ANIMALS, by Walker Hamilton

THE HISTORY OF LUMINOUS MOTION, by Scott Bradfield

[lizardling]

Villains by Necessity by Eve Forward. It's set in a fantasy world where the forces of good have closed off the sources of supernatural evil, where "the good guys won", and this has created an imbalance which will eventually destroy the world. Then that universe, and, perhaps, all universes. It's up to a band of villains to save the world from destruction by the forces of good. Has one of my favorite quotes; at one point the villains need to complete a Heroic Task which just isn't within their power. They think and think - until one looks up and says "What are we thinking ?! We're villains ! We'll cheat !"

Oooh! Oooh! *waves hand REAL high* I've read that, and I love it to wee little pieces! It's a little bland in places, but hey, the world's been whitewashed. :D :D I should dig it out of my bookcase and read it again...

The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein. It's Arthurian-based, written from Mordred's point of view. Poor bastard. :(

[Kilvert's Pagan]

In my circles, my favourite book Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan. My family won't read it because Sagan is an atheist. They will sit around at Christmas discussing the benefits of the Q-Ray bracelet*, but Satan might invade if they read a book by an author who doesn't believe in the same god as them.
Throw in Hero With a Thousand Faces as another fave

*After nearly ruining a weekend at a resort in November by raising a big stink their opposition to gay marriage I felt I should keep my mouth shut over the Q-Ray. It's just a fucking magnet and their $30, but it was still trying though.May I nominate my entire Sagan collection? I actually like Billions and Billions the most - perhaps because of the poignancy of the last chapter.

My other nominee: English Passengers (http://www.amazon.com/English-Passengers-Novel-Matthew-Kneale/dp/038549744X/sr=1-1/qid=1169261808/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-7198810-5674509?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Matthew Kneale, a darkly humorous historical fiction, in the voice of some 20 different narrators, written against no less than the backdrop of the genocide of the Aborigines of Tasmania.

[AuntiePam]

My other nominee: English Passengers (http://www.amazon.com/English-Passengers-Novel-Matthew-Kneale/dp/038549744X/sr=1-1/qid=1169261808/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-7198810-5674509?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Matthew Kneale, a darkly humorous historical fiction, in the voice of some 20 different narrators, written against no less than the backdrop of the genocide of the Aborigines of Tasmania.

That's a favorite of two other Dopers -- koeeoaddi and twickster -- you're in good company. Great book.

[lawoot]

I, JFK (http://www.amazon.com/I-Jfk-Robert-Mayer/dp/0312923406/sr=1-1/qid=1169309672/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-0284818-7406327?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Robert Mayer. An 'autobiography'/memoir written from purgatory, 25 years after Kennedy's assassination.

[Steve Wright]

I'll throw in a recommendation for two novels of scientific research, mindless bureaucracy, and high comedy: Michael Frayn's The Tin Men (computing and artificial intelligence) and David Langford's The Leaky Establishment (nuclear weapons).

[Archergal]

Flanders by Patricia Anthony. WWI epistolary novel. Never met anyone who read it except for the person who recommended it to me. Haven't convinced anyone else to read it to date.
I've read this book, and I still have a copy of it in my library! I even got my husband, the history buff, to read it. Very well done, very different from Patricia Anthony's other books.

[FordPrefect]

May I nominate my entire Sagan collection? I actually like Billions and Billions the most - perhaps because of the poignancy of the last chapter.
Yes you may, and I have read most, if not all. The last chapter is one of very few that brought me tears.

I assume they call Karl Sagan an atheist because he is not a bornagainchristian? He is a Secular Humanist. One can be quite ethical (and in many cases MORE ethical! I bet you would agree) than many professed christians.
I do agree, and you are right LANmom, sad as that is.

[susan]

Okay, of the books mentioned thus far in the thread, I've read

Towing Jehovah
The Sot-Weed Factor
Cryptonomicon
Under the Skin
Time is the Simplest Thing
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
I Know This Much is True
Invisible Cities
the Bartimaeus Trilogy
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

I didn't like them all, but I read them all (okay, sorry, but I couldn't finish Towing Jehovah despite being 4/5 through).

I heartily recommend Rats, Lice, and History: Being a Study in Biography, Which, After Twelve Preliminary Chapters Indispensable for the Preparation of the Lay Reader, Deals With the Life History of Typhus Fever (http://www.amazon.com/Rats-Lice-History-Preliminary-Indispensable/dp/1884822479), which while not the most up-to-date book on disease transmission is perhaps the most affectionate and elegant.

[HazelNutCoffee]

I love Sagan, and I have most of his books. Billions and Billions is also among my favorites.

I have never met anyone else who's read this book: Memoirs of a Ghost Brother, by Heinz Insu Fenkl. It's the story about a young boy growing up in post-war Korea, and in my opinion is one of the most under-rated books in the history of Asian-American literature.

[Boulter's Canary]

Anything by Keith Roberts but especially The Chalk Giants (http://www.solaris-books.co.uk/Roberts/dchalk.htm) and Kaeti and Company (http://www.solaris-books.co.uk/Roberts/krmain.htm).

When the Lights Go Out (http://www.amazon.co.uk/When-Lights-Out-Tanith-Lee/dp/0747215987/sr=1-84/qid=1169768205/ref=sr_1_84/026-4310940-1733251?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Tanith Lee

[koeeoaddi]

Flanders by Patricia Anthony. WWI epistolary novel. Never met anyone who read it except for the person who recommended it to me. Haven't convinced anyone else to read it to date.
Since this thread's been resurrected, I just wanted to add that I'm in the middle of Flanders now and it's fantastic. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Der Trihs]

A few more . . .

Hiero's Journey by Sterling E Lanier. An excellent book set centuries after a massive worldwrecking nuclear war. The protagonist is an agent for an emerging civilization which is besieged my mysterious forces. It's set in what used to be Canada, and he's a telepath who rides a mutated moose ( Sounds silly ? Only until it stomps a few bad guys into jelly ), and acquires a sentient telepatic bear for a companion. A quest across an unexplored Northeast, filled with all manner of mutants and weirdness.

The Island Worlds series by Eric Kotani and John Maddox Roberts. A good but dated series, especially in the first book Act of God - the Soviet Union is central to it, and the USSR didn't survive that long. That can be overlooked in the later books, however. It's about a future where the near-anarchic Belt society is trying to stay free of the ever-more tyrannical and extreme Earth. In the final book Delta Pavonis they have escaped the Solar System and are exploring the stars. Interesting characters, and some imaginative details. One of my favorites is the cat with a hologram around it that makes it look like a Chinese dragon, zipping around in zero-g.

Traveller in Black by John Brunner. A collection of shorter stories detailing a few of the journeys of "he who has many names but one nature", a "quiet man dressed in black who carries a staff made of light". He lives in a timeless world of magic and chaos, and he slowly is imposing order upon it. Among other things, he grants the wishes of those he overhears ( usually without them realizing that's what has happened ), which seldom turns out the way they wanted of course.

Threshold and Emergence by David R Palmer, a good author who never wrote anything else, unfortunately; no one even knows if he's alive. Emergence is the diary of a 12 year old girl after almost all of humanity is killed by a bioweapon; she and a few others survived because they are the first members of homo superior; with improved immune systems, among other things. Threshold is about a character who's been bred as the apex of a centuries-long secret plan to breed a superman who can Save the Galaxy from Doom - almost. Problem is, the breeders screwed up; it's his offspring who's supposed to be the savior, but they need help now, and thanks to a mistake in timing his intended mate was born years too early and is still a little girl.

[CalMeacham]

I've read Rats, Lice, and History, and highly recommend it. (It has one of the great footnotes of all time. IIRC, you follow the asterisk down to the bottom of the page, and the footnote reads




* Look it up.


I've also read Hiero's Journey. A pretty good book, by a Chilton's editor IIRC. I even have a calendar from the 1970s with one month being an illustration for this book. I think there was a sequel.

[Dijon Warlock]

Little, Big (http://www.amazon.com/Little-Big-John-Crowley/dp/0060937939/sr=8-1/qid=1170170494/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4460816-3580147?ie=UTF8&s=books) by John Crowley.

Hands down, no argument.

The most amazing book I've ever read. Imagine a literary fusion of William Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream," Lewis Carroll's "Sylvie and Bruno" and "Alice" books, and Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine," written by the love child of Benoit Mandelbrot and Umberto Eco (if there was one).

Seriously.

I wish to reproduce with this book.

[DurbBook]

Hello from a newbie! I always recommend Stella Gibbons's Cold Comfort Farm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_Comfort_Farm). It's one of the funniest novels ever written. I own a bookstore, and I subtly sold 13 copies of it last year: "Hey, you! Jogging Shorts! Yeah, I'm talkin' to you, bub. Get over here and take a look at this cool book."

"A babel broke out, in which Aunt Ada could dimly be discerned beating at everybody with the Milk Producers' Weekly Bulletin and Cowkeepers' Guide and shrilly screaming: 'I saw it . . . I saw it! I shall go mad . . . I can't bear it . . . There have always been Starkadders at Cold Comfort. I saw something nasty in the woodshed . . . something nasty . . . nasty . . . nasty . . . .'"

I also love The Stuffed Owl: an Anthology of Bad Verse, selected and arranged by D. B. Wyndham Lewis and Charles Lee.

A fly that up and down himself doth shove.--Wordsworth, "To Sleep"

Thank you all for the suggestions. I'm glad to be here.

[well he's back]

I read Flanders because of this thread also, and I also enjoyed it.

Now, will somebody please read "The Last Unicorn" by Peter S. Beagle, 'cause the high school kids I keep recommending it to won't. They pick up crap like "Eragon" instead. Sigh.

[Bridget Burke]

The Adventures of Doctor Eszterhazy, (http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Doctor-Eszterhazy-Avram-Davidson/dp/0913896284/sr=8-1/qid=1168796502/ref=sr_1_1/102-9666357-8690562?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Avram Davidson. (http://www.avramdavidson.org/)

I just purchased this from an eBay seller in the UK. The price was a bit lower than Amazon's. But the seller also had some tempting R A Lafferty stuff, so I saved no money.

However, we all know that books will get you through times without money better than money will get you through times without books.

Of course, you known that this is now back in print: www.amazon.com/Adventures-Unhistory-Conjectures-Factual-Foundations/dp/076530760X/sr=8-1/qid=1170184382/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-6060729-8091140?ie=UTF8&s=books

[the chicken of exeter]

I bought the two books in the OP and I really can't afford to read any further.

[Der Trihs]

I've also read Hiero's Journey. A pretty good book, by a Chilton's editor IIRC. I even have a calendar from the 1970s with one month being an illustration for this book. I think there was a sequel.The Unforsaken Hiero. Good, but not as good I think. Hiero Desteen is an omnibus volume containing both.

The Riddle Master trilogy by Patricia A McKillip. Set in a world where scholarship and prophecy is set in the form of riddles, so a Riddle Master is quite knowledgeable. It's kings and such are called "land-rulers", because they have a mystical connection to the land. They can sense what happens there to a degree, and often have other abilites. The ruler of An, for example binds the warring ghosts of the Three Portions of An; if he leaves too long they will continue their ancient wars and feuds, making life hellish for everyone.

It begins when Morgan of Hed, Riddle Master and land-ruler of Hed wins the crown of the ghost Peven of Aum in a riddle game that's fatal if lost. That sets of a sequence of events, including attacks by shapechangers. Morgan was also born with three stars on his forehead, and neither he nor anyone else knows what they mean, even after finding a harp and sword with three stars on them. So, he sets out to met the High One, the mysterious and reclusive land-ruler of all the lands who has lived for millenia. Morgan wants to ask the High One, what do the stars mean ? What are these shape changers, and what do they want ? Why hasn't the High One done or said anything about this ?


The Daughters of the Sunstone trilogy by Sydney J Van Scycoc ( her stuff in general is good ); consisting of Darkchild, Bluesong, Starsilk. It's mostly set on the world of Brakrath, whose settlers have mutated somewhat in the harsh environment. They hibernate during the winter, for example, and their rulers are long lived women called barohnas who have an inborn ability to manipulate sunstone, an exotic mineral that stores and concentrates the energy of the sun; the barohnas use it to keep their valleys warm enough to grow food in the summer, and to fry criminals and external enemies, like the greedy offworld culture that would love to take the planet over.

[Birdmonster]

I bought the two books in the OP and I really can't afford to read any further.
As the ol' OP, I'm curious as to your opinion. Do share.

[Archergal]

Now, will somebody please read "The Last Unicorn" by Peter S. Beagle, 'cause the high school kids I keep recommending it to won't. They pick up crap like "Eragon" instead. Sigh.
I have lost track how many times I've read this book since the very first time in 1968. It is my favorite book of all time. I've read it so much that it's shaped the way I think about lots of things.

I worship at Peter S. Beagle's feet.

[TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW]

Little, Big (http://www.amazon.com/Little-Big-John-Crowley/dp/0060937939/sr=8-1/qid=1170170494/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4460816-3580147?ie=UTF8&s=books) by John Crowley.

Hands down, no argument.

The most amazing book I've ever read. Imagine a literary fusion of William Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream," Lewis Carroll's "Sylvie and Bruno" and "Alice" books, and Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine," written by the love child of Benoit Mandelbrot and Umberto Eco (if there was one).

Seriously.

I wish to reproduce with this book.

Amen! One of the most underrated books out there - you never, ever hear people talk about it.

[AuntiePam]

Amen! One of the most underrated books out there - you never, ever hear people talk about it.

I once traded books with a Canadian. I had one that she couldn't find.

She asked what I wanted in exchange and I said "Surprise me". She sent me a new trade pb of Little, Big -- said it was her favorite book.

[Osip]

1)Wrack and Roll by Bradley Denton.
I have two copies. One I read from time to time. (about 3 times a year)
The other is a signed 1st edition.
A nice alternative world heading to the end days. Our heros are loveable and very flawed "wracker" musicians, a drunk rocket scientist, and my personal favorite Clifton "hack" Bonner". I like the characters, the writing is great, I love the fact that every time I read it, I see something different and entertaining.
2)The Devil in Loveby Jaques Cazotte A very old book, but an enjoyable read.

Osip

[lizardling]

The Unforsaken Hiero. Good, but not as good I think. Hiero Desteen is an omnibus volume containing both.

The Riddle Master trilogy by Patricia A McKillip. Set in a world where scholarship and prophecy is set in the form of riddles, so a Riddle Master is quite knowledgeable. It's kings and such are called "land-rulers", because they have a mystical connection to the land. They can sense what happens there to a degree, and often have other abilites. The ruler of An, for example binds the warring ghosts of the Three Portions of An; if he leaves too long they will continue their ancient wars and feuds, making life hellish for everyone.


I love this trilogy! I literally spent years hunting down copies with the cover art that I really liked from various used bookstores. (This was when abebooks was Brand New and Shiny) If you're curious, the art was the wacky 70's version. I've heard some objections about the way that Morgon changes over the course of the books, and I can see their point, but I still love the books nevertheless.

I've picked up and put down some of McKillip's more recent work, though, as they failed to sufficiently grip me.

[lizardling]

Little, Big (http://www.amazon.com/Little-Big-John-Crowley/dp/0060937939/sr=8-1/qid=1170170494/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4460816-3580147?ie=UTF8&s=books) by John Crowley.

Hands down, no argument.

The most amazing book I've ever read. Imagine a literary fusion of William Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream," Lewis Carroll's "Sylvie and Bruno" and "Alice" books, and Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine," written by the love child of Benoit Mandelbrot and Umberto Eco (if there was one).

Seriously.

I wish to reproduce with this book.

How does this compare to Aegypt? I kept trying to wade through Aegypt, and finally concluded that I'd rather stick a spork up my nose than try it again. But then, I had a similar reaction to Foucalt's Pendulum, which I put down for good after getting through... approximately 3/5 of the book by way of sheer cussedness, so my mileage might definitely be different from yours.

[Peanuthead]

Well, thank you fellow Dopers. A great big facetious Thank You! I was planning to go upstairs and read a little bit tonight before bed. But what did I do instead? I opened this thread of course. AAAARRRRGH! Now I have another 16 titles to add to my "Books I want to read " list. When will I ever catch up? So many books - so little time.
So I might as well make a contribution while I'm here.

Fredrik Pohl wrote 2 science fiction books in the 1950s that have already become more fact than fiction. The Man Who Ate the World is a series of interconnected short stories that is conspicuous consumption on steroids, on steroids, on steroids. And in The Age of the Pussyfoot he may have even gone too far into the future. The story is set in the 26th century and has the citizens of the planet carrying around portable hand held devices that provide instant communication, advice, and assistance. Ha! What a crazy idea, huh? Both are non stop page turners from beginning to end. Hard to find but well worh the effort. I gave away my last copy of TMWATW several years ago but you can probably find both by using your portable hand held device that provides ...........

[elfkin477]

The only people I know who have read either of these books are people I've made read them...

Jennifer Government (http://www.amazon.com/Jennifer-Government-Max-Barry/dp/1400030927/sr=8-1/qid=1170224862/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9203903-9619851?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Max Barry
This book toes the line between over the top and disturbingly plausable. It's a world that you tell yourself couldn't exist, could it? Not to mention it contains probably the funniest scene I've ever read.

What Happened To Henry (http://www.amazon.com/What-Happened-Henry-Sharon-Pywell/dp/B000H2MJUK/sr=1-1/qid=1170225015/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-9203903-9619851?ie=UTF8&s=books) by Sharon Pywell
This book is pretty amazing for the first published work of the author. Great character development, as well as a strange and interesting plot.

[Sefton]

Has anyone else read The Quincunx by Charles Palliser? It's a huge and complicated novel, but its such a page-turner that I lost multiple nights of sleep to finish it?

[jackdavinci]

My three favorite not well known time travel related novels: Timefall by James Kahn, Momo by Michael Ende (of Neverending Story fame) and The Green Futures of Tycho by William Sleator (a YA novel by an author who's other works might be more well known such as "Interstellar Pig").

I also really liked the YA coming out novel "Summer of the Blue Coyote".

Michael Crichton and Douglas Adams are very famous for their fiction, but most people I know don't realize they both wrote very good non-fiction travel books. Crichton's "Travels" are mostly anecdotal essays but they give some interesting insight into the authors life and his viewpoints. Adam's "Last Chance to See" charts his travels with a photographer on a quest to photograph some endangered species before they go extinct. Besides all the fascinating animal related stuff, the real life people Adams meets along the way are as quirky and interesting as his fictional characters.

[jackdavinci]

My three favorite not well known time travel related novels:.

doh! I meant *four* favorite, the most favorite of all being The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold of Tribbles fame.

[CalMeacham]

And in The Age of the Pussyfoot he may have even gone too far into the future. The story is set in the 26th century and has the citizens of the planet carrying around portable hand held devices that provide instant communication, advice, and assistance. Ha! What a crazy idea, huh? Both are non stop page turners from beginning to end. Hard to find but well worh the effort. I gave away my last copy of TMWATW several years ago but you can probably find both by using your portable hand held device that provides ...........


"Age of the Pussyfoot" was republished as one half of the collection Bipohl back in the late 1970s/early 1980s. That's how I got my copy. You may have better luck finding it at used book shops/sites under that title.

[Dung Beetle]

The Green Futures of Tycho by William Sleator (a YA novel by an author who's other works might be more well known such as "Interstellar Pig").


One of my favorite YA authors, although his last few books have been stinkers. My favorites are Singularity and House of Stairs.

[AuntiePam]

Has anyone else read The Quincunx by Charles Palliser? It's a huge and complicated novel, but its such a page-turner that I lost multiple nights of sleep to finish it?

Yeah, and I've been tempted to get another copy and read it again. Great book.

[Gulo gulo]

Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin (http://www.amazon.com/Winters-Tale-Mark-Helprin/dp/0156031191/) ~ 100 years in New York. A horse that wants to fly, people dying/reappearing, and memorable characters. When I first read this book, I hated it. I've since had to replace it three times due to wear and tear.

Wolverine Creates the World by Lawrence Millman (http://www.amazon.com/Wolverine-Creates-World-Labrador-Indian/dp/0884963632/) ~ Indian tales from Labrador. Very scatalogical and not for the faint of heart! While it was still in print, it was one of my favourite gifts to give.

Now excuse me while I go add another dozen of those earlier recommendations to my Amazon wish list. When will I ever learn not to read these threads? I just ordered a copy of "Hiero's Journey". :)

[Der Trihs]

The Drake Majistral books by Walter Jon Williams; The Crown Jewels, House of Shards and Rock of Ages. Humerous and bizarre, set in a future after humanity is conquered by the Khosali Empire and centuries later manages to regain independance. The resulting society is an odd combination of Khosoli custums and human ones, complicated by the fact that the "human" culture is mostly the rather warped official version mandated by the Khosali while they were in charge. Which is how the Church of Elvis became the majority religion, for example; complete with a priesthood of Elvis clones.

It's a semi-feudalism, and the protagonist is an "Allowed Burgler", who's allowed to steal as long as he does it with style and records it for the media. He's constantly getting involved with intrigue and adventure, despite trying to avoid it. And chaos, lots of chaos.

[Wendell Wagner]

Der Trihs writes:

> Threshold and Emergence by David R Palmer, a good author who never wrote
> anything else, unfortunately; no one even knows if he's alive.

I searched for information about him and found a message board where he was discussed. People there claim that he's still alive and finally retired from his job as a court reporter. He decided that he couldn't write and hold down a second job. Unfortunately, he couldn't make enough money off his writing to live on, so he stuck with his job. Now that he's retired, perhaps he'll be able to write.

[Shirley Ujest]

I bought the two books in the OP and I really can't afford to read any further.


After you finish reading each chapter, you could rip it out and sell it to the highest doper bidder to remake your money.





:)

[Dijon Warlock]

How does this compare to Aegypt? I kept trying to wade through Aegypt, and finally concluded that I'd rather stick a spork up my nose than try it again. But then, I had a similar reaction to Foucalt's Pendulum, which I put down for good after getting through... approximately 3/5 of the book by way of sheer cussedness, so my mileage might definitely be different from yours.Having made it through all three of the books mentioned ("Little, Big","Aegypt", and "Foucalt's Pendulum"), I can tell you that compared to "Aegypt," "Little, Big" is self-contained. "Aegypt" is only volume one in at least a four volume novel (I've heard someone say seven, but that wouldn't make any sense to me).

LB is meandering and spirally and almost never resolves exactly until the end, but there IS an end (and it is well worth achieving, IMHO). "Aegypt," on the other hand, is only getting started. From there, you have to go to "Love and Sleep", and then to "Daemonomania" that I know of. I haven't checked to see if the fourth volume is published yet.

They both have lots in common with "Foucalt's Pendulum": a plethora of obscure references to things that most people don't normally run across. For me, that makes them interesting. For others, not so much.

"Little, Big" took me four tries before I really got into it and finished it, but it is now one of my very favorite books. It's just so gently out of the ordinary, but in a really nonstandard way...but it's beautiful. It's worth doing.

Since we're on the subject of the OP, another book that I love which I have found no other readers of is The Beaver Papers: The Story of the Lost Season (http://www.amazon.com/Beaver-Papers-Story-Lost-Season/dp/0517549913/sr=8-1/qid=1170426965/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-4460816-3580147?ie=UTF8&s=books).

The basic gist of this book is that the tv show "Leave it to Beaver" was in danger of getting cancelled due to poor ratings, so they solicited script treatments from famous authors to save the show from its impending demise. Of course, the treatments are spoofs of the writing styles of various authors, not actual submissions, but they are hilarious.

It's the "Dysfunctional Family Circus" version of "Leave it to Beaver."

One of my favorite quotes:Beaver: Hey, Wally, how's come they gotta name that yucky thing between a girl's legs after me?

Wally: Gee, I dunno, Beav. Maybe it's 'cause you're such a big goof!"

Maybe it's just me, but I find that hilarious.

[RiverRunner]

I assume they call Karl Sagan an atheist because he is not a bornagainchristian?


How odd. I would assume they call Carl Sagan an atheist because he was, in fact, an atheist. From www.wiktionary.org:

1. A person who does not have a belief that one or more deities or gods exist. (weak atheism)
2. A person who believes that no god exists (strong atheism).

That certainly describes Sagan, and he made no bones about it.

Regarding his books, I loved the information content, for the most part, but the writing style was a bit off-putting on occasion. Haven't read Billions and Billions, though. I might need to look that one up.


My nominees for favorite books that nobody else reads would probably include Silverlock by John Myers Myers and Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun tetralogy.

RR

[Dung Beetle]

My nominees for favorite books that nobody else reads would probably include Silverlock by John Myers Myers
RR
Oooh! ooooh! I read that one, and tried to push it on the boards a couple of times. :)

[AuntiePam]

My nominees for favorite books that nobody else reads would probably include Silverlock by John Myers Myers and Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun tetralogy.


I've read the Wolfe books and will probably re-read them someday. I bought Silverlock on a Doper rec (probably you, DungBeetle) and have started it a couple of times, but something else always pushes its way in and I put it down.

[Ferret Herder]

The Devil in Loveby Jaques Cazotte A very old book, but an enjoyable read.
Oo, I'm glad to see this recommended. I just finished Arturo Perez-Reverte's The Club Dumas (the inspiration for the film The Ninth Gate, and better than that!), and that book was given to the main character by one of the other characters. It intrigued me when I read that reference, as I hadn't heard of the book before.

[Yorikke]

Tough, if not impossible, to find at a store, is my favorite book of all time :

Dream World (http://reviews.blether.com/blether.php?id=10905) by Kent Winslow.

Two books by B. Traven (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_Traven) :

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Treasure_of_the_Sierra_Madre)

and

The Death Ship (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_Ship)

Joe

[MizTina]

An old one, The Joyous Season by Patrick Dennis, dated but hysterical.

I just ordered The Beaver Papers, even with shipping, it's cheap.

[Peanuthead]

Tough, if not impossible, to find at a store, is my favorite book of all time :

Dream World (http://reviews.blether.com/blether.php?id=10905) by Kent Winslow.

Two books by B. Traven (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_Traven) :

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Treasure_of_the_Sierra_Madre)

and

The Death Ship (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_Ship)

Joe


Yes. Yes. Yes! The Death Ship. What a magnificent book! I swear I was in the fireroom shoveling coal with him. Very few books can bring you into the story like this one. Thanks for reminding me of it.

[Annie-Xmas]

I just bought an autographed copy of Alan Zweibel's "Bunny Bunny." This has long been one of my absolutely most favorite books: A story of Zweibel's deep friendship with "Gilbert" (as he called Gilda Radner).

[Dijon Warlock]

I just ordered The Beaver Papers, even with shipping, it's cheap.Oh, wow! I hope you enjoy it (since I mentioned it).

As someone who watched a lot of LitB in reruns, it was just hilarious. The running jokes are a good part of it: all of the ways that the brothers end the episodes with the lights being turned off but the radiance persisting is good, as is the ever-increasing transparency of fellow character Stanley Farfara (who played Whitey Whitney) was also a source of joy. Be ready for more cultural references than you can shake a stick at.

Another one that I have suggested on this board (but is, alas, no longer in print...the book, not the board) is a book entitled "Moses May Have Been an Apache" and Other Actual Facts by Cully Abrell and John Thompson. It's a spoof on the "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" books, and is endlessly amusing.

I've recently waxed enthusiastic about it in this thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=405190).

[koeeoaddi]

An old one, The Joyous Season by Patrick Dennis, dated but hysterical.
I love that book, MizTina, and spent years trying to remember the title. Thank Og for the SDMB. (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=297741)

...and welcome!

[Osip]

Oo, I'm glad to see this recommended. I just finished Arturo Perez-Reverte's The Club Dumas (the inspiration for the film The Ninth Gate, and better than that!), and that book was given to the main character by one of the other characters. It intrigued me when I read that reference, as I hadn't heard of the book before.


I had heard of it, Heck, my family has owned a copy of it for many years (a dutch edition published in the 1800's) But, I had never read it until I saw it mentioned again in "The Club Dumas" Which I think was a damn fine book. I really liked his book "the fencing master" as well.

Now if I can ever find a copy of "the Weapon and the Mourning board" by a man with the last name of Verspek.

Osip