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Powell's was, and still is, my favorite bookstore. If you're ever in Portland you have to set aside several hours and go there. I live in Austin, TX now and my two favorite bookstores are any of the...

What's to say? Why give valuable time in your life to books you don't like?

Train Dreams by Denis Johnson and The Moviegoer by Walker Percy, both highly recommended reads.

And you should not be ashamed at all! Any semi-decent person would not laugh in your face for not...

Is there an American equivalent to Oscar Wilde? I can't think of any others that have the same wit and humor about them. Or of any nationality. I finished his Complete Works and If you have any...

You should read Go Down, Moses by William Faulkner and what he has to say about it.

Among the Thugs by Bill Buford. It's about football (soccer) firms (gangs) in England. Usually after each match they march through whichever city they are in, rioting, harassing, and destroying...

My mother is a fish.

As part of a generation who has grown up with the internet, personal computers, MP3 players, smart phones, digital readers, etc. I have refrained from buying an e-reader like the Kindle or Nook. My...

My advice to those who found The Road boring or amateurish is to read Blood Meridian, Suttree, Child of God (which I think is often overlooked), and/or All the Pretty Horses. All the Pretty Horses is...

Yes, I agree. I was not trying to argue, nor was my teacher, that poems and songs are synonymous, rather, that they do share many qualities. I think your response eloquently illustrates that. What I...

Thinking this question over, George H.W. Bush is arguably a great "tragic hero." Wether you agree with his politics or not, I think he thought what he was doing was "good" for the United States (a...

It's important to remember WHY Creon is a tragic hero when you are comparing/contrasting him to someone. Creon represents the state against the individualism of Antigone. Also, you need to define...

I had an English teacher that introduced us to poetry in this manner: First, he asked how many of us had bought a book of poetry in the last year. A few people raised their hands. Then, he asked how...

On the "narwhale:"

My own opinion is, that however this one-sided horn may really be used by the Narwhale–however that may be–it would certainly be very convenient to him for a folder in reading...

Just got to the cetology chapter. There is a certain humor to it. I like how he attributes certain personalities to several and his musings on whales like the humpback and sulphur bottomed are a...

Yes, I've picked up on the homoeroticism. The scene of Queequeg and Ishmael sleeping was hilarious XD

Not strange in a negative way at all. Strange in the best way possible. And I would agree with that point of strange as common in great works.

I'm about fifty pages into Moby Dick. Queequeg has been introduce and Ishamel is in the whalers chapel. It is a very strange book. Is this a common reaction?

Thanks for all the recommendations. This was exactly what I was hoping for.

I've only read Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer and I'd like to know what you think are his better novels/works? I'd like to read more of him he wrote so much and those two books seem to overshadow...

One way to read the ending is that Holden becomes an adult. (It's up to the reader if this is a good or bad thing.) The passages that allude to Gatsby when he's rubbing out the "**** you's," when he...

Any Atsuro fans out there? Favorite poems of his? He's one of the freshest poets I've read. If you haven't read anything by him I can't recommend Romey's Order enough. You can read a lot of his poems...

Likewise! You are in for a very, very good read. I'd recommend picking up Faulkner: A Literary Companion by Nicholas Fargoli. It's a compilation of reviews of Faulkner's novels by his contemporaries....

Have you tried reading Hemingway? His language is simple and his novels and stories are interesting reads.

Thomas McGuane's The Bushwhacked Piano