Boy, this is a tough list, but fun to think about.
Off the top of my head, here’s my top 5, ranked in order.
Top 5 Books
- Lolita, Nabokov
- The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway
- Jeeves and the Tie That Binds, Wodehouse
- The Pyrates, George Macdonald Fraser
- Red Harvest, Dash Hammitt
Commentary: I read Lolita when the Library of America published its edition of Nabokov, and pieces of it still remains. A beautifully written, subtle book. Sun Also Rises has been with me since high school, and as I’ve matured, the book has matured with me. Jeeves and Pyrates are classics of comedy that I’ve read and reread. They still hold up. “Red Harvest” was written from the soul of the man who lived it.
Top 5 Movies
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Casablanca
- Moulin Rouge
- Re-Animator
- South Park: Bigger, Longer and Harder
Commentary: Yes, I do have rather common tastes, don’t I? “Raiders” and “Casablanca” are perfectly constructed movies and they’ve held up under repeated viewings. “Moulin Rouge” has its faults, but I’m still blown away by its production, its music, by Nicole and its operatic story. “Re-Animator” is dirty fun, appealing to the 13-year-old in me. “South Park” is top-notch in both its foul-mouthed excesses and its pointed satires against censorship, the effects of media violence and jingoism.
Top 5 Albums
- The Man Comes Around, Johnny Cash
- London Calling, The Clash
- Love and Theft, Dylan
- Platinum, Elvis Presley (3-disc set)
- Let It Be … Naked
Commentary: I love all of Cash’s American recordings. I first heard “The Mercy Seat” in a Borders bookstore. It snuck into my brain and creeped me out before I realized that it was Cash. I should have known, of course, but it was the song that captured me, and the way he put it across. “London Calling” you all know. I’m still amazed as the variety of styles the Clash played, the humor, the rage. Its politics has dated, but you can still dance to it. I’m not a dedicated Dylan fan, so I like “Love and Theft” for its own values. The fact that he took phrases from a book about Japanese yakuza for some of the lyrics makes it even more cooler and American (after all, we stole from everybody, starting with the country).
Elvis Presley. Enough said.
Recently came into listening to Let It Be … Naked, and it grabbed me in a way the first edition did not. It was a brilliant move to end the album with three songs that encapsulated each Beatle’s spiritual beliefs: Lennon’s “Across the Universe”, Harrison’s “I Me Mine” and, fittingly and finally, McCartney’s “Let It Be,” which doubles as a coda for the Beatles. Requiem in pace.