I haven’t read Stiff (sounds like I should, though), but something in a similar vein that I read and loved is The Undertaking by Thomas Lynch, an undertaker and poet. Wonderful book.
Then there’s Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. Another work-related memoir, this one about the life of a professional chef. If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant, especially if you’ve worked in a kitchen, you really should pick this one up. Easily offended Emeril fans might want to give it a miss, though.
In the Little World is terrific, sometimes funny, and sometimes sad. The subtitle refers to it as a “true story of dwarves, love, and trouble.” I think that about says it all.
Lastly, if you’re in the mood for something a little bleaker, there’s The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman. Most of us have at least heard about the story because of the movie, so I won’t go into a big plot rundown. But it is a really shocking, moving story. Bonus - the movie is pretty faithful, so reading the book won’t destroy the movie for you, as a looser adaptation might have done.
Next of Kin: My Conversations with Chimpanzees, Roger Fouts. It’s my favorite book, and this is at least the third time I’ve recommended it in a Cafe Society thread. It’s mostly an autobiography, and it’s the true story of a project to teach chimpanzees how to speak sign language.
Kon-Tiki, by Thor Heyerdahl - describes his efforts to prove it was possible to sail from South America to Hawaii/ Polynesia in handmade canoes.
Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams - I second this one. I couldn’t really get into the Hitchhiker books, but this was great.
The Corpse Had a Familiar Face, Edna Buchanan. She writes a lot of mystery novels, but this book has true stories from her time as a crime writer at the Miami newspaper. TRULY a page turner!
Another good one by Anthony Bourdain is A Cook’s Tour. He travels the world in search of exotic dishes, very entertaining. He also had a show on the Food Network to go along with the book but it is only about 8 episodes. It runs every now and then.
No one has even mentioned The Good War by Studs Terkel? Wow. It’s a must-read, a brilliant and addictive look at WWII from every imaginable perspective.
Mark Bowden’s Killing Pablo goes into the sometimes shady machinations behind the hunt for Pablo Escobar; very compelling reading.
Another vote for Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation.
Ian MacDonald’s Revolution in the Head is the best book about the Beatles’ music I’ve ever read, and I’ve read my share and then some.
When She Was Bad by Patricia Pearson is a very eye-opening look at women who commit violent crimes. Made me see quite a few things from a different perspective.
I don’t know if biographies count, but I’m almost finished with the second volume of Peter Guralnick’s biography of Elvis Presley, and I can barely put it down despite (or, perhaps, because of) how utterly sad Presley’s life ended up. I can say pretty confidently you don’t need to be a fan of Elvis to find this a great read. (The two volumes are Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love.)
Lastly, pretty much anything by art critic/historian Robert Hughes; I recommend his survey of the Modern art movement, The Shock of the New.
If you like biography, try Hitler and Stalin: Parallel Lives by Alan Bullock
If you have read The Diary of a Young Girl I found I Will Bear Witness to be almost unbelievably compelling. It’s theh diaries of a Jewish Professor who because of his veteran status and marriage to a Gentile manages to live in Dresden through the war.
Finally, and seeing as I am stereotyping myself with a certain period of history, try Stalingrad by Anthony Beevor.
Okay–wow! All I could think of while making my list is how glad I am to be a part of this board with such illustrious and generous people! Thank you ALL! I’ve got quite a list–four pages, I think! These books sound great and I can’t wait to get started!
Sorry about all the exclamation points. I couldn’t help it.
What? All these posts and no mention of Alan Moorehead? He wrote a couple of great books about the exploration of the Nile early in his career (The White Nile and The Blue Nile) and a great biography of Darwin. But for my money, his best book was one about an ill-fated expedition to central Australia … can’t remember what it was called, but my, it was good.
Must second Barbara Tuchman. Guns of August is great – you’ll never respect generals again once you read it – but I liked “A Distant Mirror” about Europe in the 14th century much better. You’ll never respect SCA again after you read it.
Also, no mention of Steven Levy’s “Hackers”? A must read if you want to understand how personal computers came about.
On Wings of Eaglesby Ken Follet, retells the true story of the imprisonment in Iran of Ross Perot’s employees and his efforts to get them out, including hiring mercenaries, when no one in the U.S. government would do anything to help. An absolutely mesmerizing page-turner that reads just like one of his popular spy novels, only every word in it is true. It offers a fascinating look at the underlying events that eventually led up to the Iranian hostage crisis and (IMO) the Iran/Contra scandal years later.
And though it’s not technically non-fiction, it’s close enough to perhaps qualify. If you have the stomach for it, I’d also recommend Night, by Elie Wiesel
And if you’re interested in Hollywood starlets, you might enjoy any of the books by our esteemed poster, Eve (Golden). You can find them at evegolden.com
Way ahead of you