# Book(s) You read that you're pretty sure nobody else has read **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 2, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645 "2012-05-02T15:22:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/61 "2012-05-11T20:19:59Z")
> [@Eutychus](#): > > Read it. I love the final line. 🙂 > > How about **L-1 L-2 N J C** by\* J. J. Sephoj\*. > > Or **Nocturnal Vaudeville** by _Stephen Scheck_. Read it, too. It’s by Jeremy Leven, the same guy who wrote _Creator_. Like Creator, this one was filmed, too, as _Crazy as Hell_. ---
**Author:** ![phxjcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/62 "2012-05-11T20:24:15Z")
Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World, Liaquat Ahamed (2009). Story of the four central bankers in the 20’s and 30’s that [arguably] created the Great Depression. Reads like a novel, it is a real page turner. Forget politics or economic theory–it is a great read about how personal conflicts can drastically affect hundreds of millions. Santayana was correct. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/63 "2012-05-11T21:18:21Z")
> [@phxjcc](#): > > Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World, Liaquat Ahamed (2009). This was an enormous bestseller. It has 142 reviews on Amazon. And yes, I read it. Did you misread “nobody” for “everybody” in the title? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/64 "2012-05-11T21:22:22Z")
What came to mind was an old mildewed Penguin Classic hardback I found and read as a teenager at my grandparents’ house (of all places): _Yama: The Pit: A Novel of Prostitution_ by Alexandre Kuprin. The description on [amazon.com](http://amazon.com) (it is listed, unsurprisingly, as out of print): "No sheepish morality is here, but sheer, stark truth. The titanic Kuprin, with incorruptible pitilessness, yet with unimpeachable sincerity and unsurpassed humanness and compassion, depcits the “everyday, accustomed trifles, these business-like, daily commercial reckonings, this thousand-year-old science of amatory practice, this prosaic usage, determined by the ages… There remains a dry profession, a contrast, an agreement, a well-high honest petty trade, no better, no worse than, say, the trade in groceries. All the horror is in just this – that there is no horror…” > **[Yama: The Pit: A Novel of Prostitution: Kuprin, Alexandre, Guerney, Bernard...](https://www.amazon.com/Yama-Novel-Prostitution-Alexandre-Kuprin/dp/0898752620)** > > Yama: The Pit: A Novel of Prostitution \[Kuprin, Alexandre, Guerney, Bernard Guilbert\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Yama: The Pit: A Novel of Prostitution And that’s kind of how I remember it. Kuprin leached all the interest out of what should have been a juicy subject, or else prostitution in Odessa in the early 20th century wasn’t very interesting to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/65 "2012-05-11T21:38:37Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > What came to mind was an old mildewed Penguin Classic hardback I found and read as a teenager at my grandparents’ house (of all places): > > _Yama: The Pit: A Novel of Prostitution_ by Alexandre Kuprin. > > The description on [amazon.com](http://amazon.com) (it is listed, unsurprisingly, as out of print): > > "No sheepish morality is here, but sheer, stark truth. The titanic Kuprin, with incorruptible pitilessness, yet with unimpeachable sincerity and unsurpassed humanness and compassion, depcits the “everyday, accustomed trifles, these business-like, daily commercial reckonings, this thousand-year-old science of amatory practice, this prosaic usage, determined by the ages… There remains a dry profession, a contrast, an agreement, a well-high honest petty trade, no better, no worse than, say, the trade in groceries. All the horror is in just this – that there is no horror…” > > [Yama: The Pit: A Novel of Prostitution: Kuprin, Alexandre, Guerney, Bernard Guilbert: 9780898752625: Amazon.com: Books](http://www.amazon.com/Yama-The-Pit-Novel-Prostitution/dp/0898752620) > > And that’s kind of how I remember it. Kuprin leached all the interest out of what should have been a juicy subject, or else prostitution in Odessa in the early 20th century wasn’t very interesting to begin with. Am I the only one thinking of Terry Pratchet’s “the Whore Pits (remamed ‘the street of negotiable affection’)”? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/66 "2012-05-11T21:44:19Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **The Snouters** – a German fantasy about Darwinian evolution on an island where a single species of rodent has adapted to fill all ecological niches, like Darwin’s finches. the book is tongue-in-cheek, so many of the adaptations are wonderfully ludicrous. Some of them look as if they were deliberately drawn as caricatures of people, but who they were (politicians? entertainers? well-known evolutionary biologists?) I have no idea. I own that one. Some great illustrations, though I don’t like the more anthropomorphized ones–I wish he had played it more straight. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/67 "2012-05-11T21:57:06Z")
Anyone else read _The Motel of the Mysteries_? A wonderfully illustrated book about an archaeologist in the future unearthing a motel room and assigning totally spurious meanings to the artifacts he finds there. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/68 "2012-05-11T22:07:55Z")
I’ve never run into anybody else who has read _The Three Christs of Ypsilanti_, by Milton Rokeach, but I bet somebody here has. It was written in the early 60s by a shrink who introduced thee of his mental patients to each other to see what would happen. Thing was, each of them thought he was Christ. Sounded intriguing, which is why I read it, but it actually bored the living bejeezus out of me. …and hey **Doc** , I read part of that horrid _Love Machine_ book, too. It was in a waiting room and I had no other choice. I swear! ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/69 "2012-05-11T23:37:57Z")
> [@PapSett](#): > > I have 2 that I’m pretty sure no one else here has ever read. Onre is one of my favorite books, The Lady and Her Tiger bu Pat Derby. I’ve read that!! It was co-authored by Peter S. Beagle. Some years back, I was seriously jonesing for more Peter S. Beagle books, and I found that one in the Atlanta Public Library and read it then. Luckily for me, PSB writes a lot more now than he was writing back then. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/70 "2012-05-11T23:48:58Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > After Man- A zoology of the far future I thought of that at the exact moment I scrolled down.. My Dad’s got it, awesomely weird book. My thread contribution would have to be an obscure Russian propoganda novel going by the name of ‘A Story About a Remarkable Man’; I doubt anyone’s read it not only because it was a private club translation that showed up in a charity book shop I was working in, but also because it was bleedin’ awful. It was hard work getting through it, and I was stuck in bed for a month. Unfortunately, my housemate’s currently nicked it, so I can’t check the author. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/71 "2012-05-11T23:56:25Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **The Carpet Makers** by Andreas Eschbach. Eschbach is Germany’s best SF writer, and this was his only book translated into English. I read this after it was mentioned on one of the podcasts I listened to a few years ago. Very interesting book, though I obviously didn’t like it as much as you did. I don’t have too many that I think others might not have read. Maybe some of the public domain stuff I’ve found on [manybooks.net/Project](http://manybooks.net/Project) Gutenberg would qualify. Something like [Ringstones](http://manybooks.net/titles/sarbanother08ringstones.html) by Sarban, which I rather liked. [The Thing from the Lake](http://manybooks.net/titles/ingrame2373823738-8.html) by Elinor M. Ingram. Nice old-fashioned horror story. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/72 "2012-05-12T03:50:00Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Most of Nabokov’s stuff besides _Lolita_ and _Pale Fire_, my favorite being _Ada_. When I took out Ada in 1992, it was still on the shelf despite last having been checked out in the late 1970s. Read it – probably in the late 1970s. Brother and sister, twins I think; brother walks on his hands; “Ada” pronounced like a soft “Ardor.” My own readings aren’t too exotic. Maybe R. A. Lafferty’s Okla Hannali. Maybe a minor work by Georgette Heyer. Maybe a comparatively recent book by Barth or Phillip Roth. ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/73 "2012-05-12T13:49:43Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Satan- His Psychotherapy And Cure By Cy Kassler (JSPS) I was working as a dishpig in a Chinese food place when I read this. I was sitting down to my chicken-ball supper and reading this when Dean, a 70ish Chinese cook who spoke like 10 words of English comes over and says, “Boy!, You read?” “Yeah. I like to read.” “You read book!” “Yup. It’s a good one.” “Book! What book?” At this point I inwardly shuddered and launched into the title:\* Satan: His Psychotherapy and Cure by the Unfortunate Dr. Kassler, J.S.P.S.\* Dean looked at me strangely for a sec and then said “Good, good, good , good! You read!” and walked away. Dean kicked ass! That being said, it is so cool that I’m not the only one. Great book that I wish I hadn’t leant out. ---
**Author:** ![Surok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@Surok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surok)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/74 "2012-05-12T17:41:44Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > My thread contribution would have to be an obscure Russian propoganda novel going by the name of ‘A Story About a Remarkable Man’; I doubt anyone’s read it not only because it was a private club translation that showed up in a charity book shop I was working in, but also because it was bleedin’ awful. It was hard work getting through it, and I was stuck in bed for a month. > > Unfortunately, my housemate’s currently nicked it, so I can’t check the author. Might this be ‘Story of a Real Man’ by Boris Polevoi? It’s about a fighter pilot who, IIRC, loses both his legs. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/75 "2012-05-12T21:56:39Z")
_The Rape of the A.P.E (American Puritan Ethic : The Official History of the Sex Revolution, 1945-1973)_ by Allan Sherman. Yep-the same guy what sung “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh” ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/76 "2012-05-12T22:25:23Z")
“Handbook For Russian Parents” I was in a third world country, the only books, were one shelf, most in the local language, and, I’d read the other two English language ones. It was actually a very interesting read, and wasn’t at all what I was expecting! ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/77 "2012-05-12T22:34:37Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > _The Rape of the A.P.E (American Puritan Ethic : The Official History of the Sex Revolution, 1945-1973)_ by Allan Sherman. > Yep-the same guy what sung “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh” Read it. I think I found it lying around the house when I was like 15. I can’t say I recall anything about it other than the title. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/78 "2012-05-12T22:38:30Z")
> [@](#): > > The Rape of the A.P.E (American Puritan Ethic : The Official History of the Sex Revolution, 1945-1973) by Allan Sherman. Read it, enjoyed it, great fun! ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/79 "2012-05-12T23:52:49Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > The Angry Clam- a picture book. A clam searches for meaning in the universe. I googled this, because I must have it, and now that I’ve found the description, I REALLY must have it. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645/80 "2012-05-21T21:30:00Z")
_ **The Virtues of Hell** _, by Pierre Boulle (the guy who wrote the _Planet of the Apes_ books). Not what you’d think from the title; it’s about drug smugglers in Southeast Asia. I read the whole thing over a weekend; I couldn’t put it down. _ **Going After Cacciato** _, by Tim O’Brien. A slightly retarded GI decides to desert during the Vietnam War and walk to Paris. I always wanted to see someone make a movie of this with Michael J Pollard as Cacciato, Richard Widmark as his overage Lieutenant, and the mustached dude from _Apocalypse Now_ as Stink. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-s-you-read-that-youre-pretty-sure-nobody-else-has-read/620645.md?page=5)