# What's your favorite book that nobody else ever reads? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 11, 2007, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621 "2007-01-11T23:06:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/1 "2007-01-11T23:06:22Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/2 "2007-01-11T23:13:04Z")
Yes. It was **Thudlow Boink** who gifted me that recommendation. I salute you sir. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/3 "2007-01-11T23:16:55Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/4 "2007-01-11T23:19:52Z")
[QUOTE=Birdmonster] 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. [/QUOTE] One of my favorites, too. For me, I’d mention **The Sot-Weed Factor** by John Barth. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/5 "2007-01-11T23:48:52Z")
[QUOTE=Birdmonster] 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. [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/6 "2007-01-11T23:52:31Z")
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). ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/7 "2007-01-11T23:56:44Z")
**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. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/8 "2007-01-12T00:01:26Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2007, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/9 "2007-01-12T00:09:31Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2007, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/10 "2007-01-12T00:16:18Z")
**delphica** : I’m hiring you as my PR man. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2007, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/11 "2007-01-12T00:50:39Z")
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). ---
**Author:** ![Phantom\_Dennis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/51bf81/32.png) [@Phantom\_Dennis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phantom_Dennis)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2007, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/12 "2007-01-12T02:06:07Z")
_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. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2007, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/13 "2007-01-12T03:12:09Z")
**Under the Skin** by Michel Faber. **No one thinks of Greenland** , can’t recall author’s name. ---
**Author:** ![LANmom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c89c15/32.png) [@LANmom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LANmom)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2007, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/14 "2007-01-12T03:19:48Z")
Time is the Simplest Thing by Clifford D Simak ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2007, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/15 "2007-01-12T03:38:42Z")
“Far Tortuga” by Peter Mattheissen. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2007, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/16 "2007-01-12T03:48:19Z")
[QUOTE=delphica] 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. [/QUOTE] 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! ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2007, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/17 "2007-01-12T03:53:22Z")
_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. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2007, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/18 "2007-01-12T04:09:08Z")
**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. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2007, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/19 "2007-01-12T04:20:47Z")
[QUOTE=Sonia Montdore] My favorites are two slim novels by Nancy Mitford, _The Pursuit of Love_ and its companion piece, _Love in a Cold Climate_. [/QUOTE] My copy of these is fairly well-thumbed too. One just loves them. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621/20 "2007-01-12T04:23:56Z")
_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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-book-that-nobody-else-ever-reads/387621.md?page=2)