Jess Walter

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I heartily recommend the following books:
(N-Novel; SS-Short Stories; NF-Nonfiction; P-Poetry)

2013
SS--The Fun Parts, Sam Lipsyte (Twisted in the best way)
SS--She Loves Me Not, Ron Hansen (Masterful story writer)
SS--Godforsaken Idaho, Shawn Vestal (Diverse "new-west" collection)
N--&Sons, David Gilbert (Deconstructing literary myth)
N--The Love Song of Jonny Valentine, Teddy Wayne (Moving satire)
N--Malarky, Anakana Schofield (Jaysus, that voice!)
N--Little Known Facts, Christine Sneed (Dead-on Hollywood)
N--American Pastoral, Philip Roth (Don't retire Phil)
SS--Tenth of December, George Saunders (Yep. That good)

2012
N--The Land of Plenty, Robert Cantwell (Northwest '30s proletarian)
N--Where'd You Go, Bernadette (Epistolary Seattle satire)
N--The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, Jonathan Evison (corner of moving and funny)
NF--Elsewhere, Richard Russo (Moving, intelligent memoir)
NF--Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine Boo (Powerful powerful powerful)
N--Leaving the Atocha Station, Ben Lerner (Meditative in the best way)
N--What Happened To Sophie Wilder, Christopher Beha (Life/​art/​love)
N--How Should a Person Be, Sheila Heti (Generational touchstone?)
SS--God Bless America, Steve Almond (Wonderfully funny and smart collection)
SS--Celebrity Chekhov, Ben Greenman (Wry and surprisingly poignant)
SS--Interventions, Richard Russo (Brilliant, with lovely paintings by Kate Russo)
N--Telegraph Avenue, Michael Chabon (Fireworks show)
N--Lionel Asbo: State of England, Martin Amis (Acidly funny, classic Amis)
N--Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, Ben Fountain (Perfect satire, lucid, powerful)
N--In the Kingdom of Men, Kim Barnes (Beautifully written epic adventure)
N--Truth Like the Sun, Jim Lynch (Propulsive story of the dawn of modern Seattle)
N--They Eat Dogs, Don't They, Christopher Buckley. (Mostly funny lobbyist lit)
N--A Land More Kind than Home, Wiley Cash. (Tight, restrained, suspenseful, beautifully-written debut by a talented young novelist)
N--Money, Martin Amis. (Reread to remind myself: damn)
SS--Favorite Monsters, Sharma Shields. (Lovely, twisted, wry short stories that entertain and disturb)
N--The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach. (Likeable, lyrical, lovely, everything you've been promised in an 18th century/​baseball novel)
N--The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain (Shouldn't you go back and read your top ten books every once in a while? Or maybe listen to them while you drive, as I did)
SS--Stories of Vladimir Nabokov (Audio, incredible dexterity and range)

2011

NF--Empire of the Summer Moon, SC Gwynne (Big history of Comanches)
NF--Half Life, Darin Strauss (Wrenching sudden memoir)
N--Empty the Sun, Joseph Mattson (Hard-boiled LA goodness)
N--Lark and Termite, Jayne Anne Phillips (Epic and incantatory)
N--Damned, Chuck Palahniuk (Great depiction of hell)
SS--Don't Cry, Mary Gaitskill (Cold hard brilliant)
N--Fathermucker, Greg Olear (Great: funny and sweet)
NF--The Tiger, John Vaillant (Great nature channel read)
SS--The Angel Esmerelda, Don DeLillo (Lesser stuff, still ...)
N--Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer
N--The Oregon Experiment, Keith Scribner
N--The Many Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell
NF--The Savage City, T.J. English
N--There is No Year, Blake Butler
NF-!-The Art of the Novel, Milan Kundera
N--Short, Cortright McMeel
N-!-2666, Roberto Bolano
P--House of Words, Jonathan Potter
N--A Young Man's Guide to Late Capitalism, Peter Mountford
SS--While Mortals Sleep, Kurt Vonnegut
N--A Visit from the Good Squad, Jennifer Egan

2010 Recommended Reads

P--BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY, Robert Wrigley
N--THE VAULTS, Toby Ball
N--EARTHQUAKE ID, John Domini
NF--A COMMON PORNOGRAPHY, Kevin Sampsell
N--MOOCH, Dan Fante
N--GOD'S OWN COUNTRY (Out Backward in the US), Ross Raisin
N--KAMBY BOLONGO MEAN RIVER, Robert Lopez
N--FREEDOM, Jonathan Franzen
N-!-SKIPPY DIES, Paul Murray
N--MAILMAN, J. Robert Lennon
N--SUPER SAD TRUE LOVE STORY, Gary Shteyngart
N--THE FROZEN RABBI, Steve Stern
N--THE ASK, Sam Lipsyte
SS--WHAT HE'S POISED TO DO, Ben Greenman
NF--KRAKATOA, Simon Winchester
NF--CHANGING MY MIND, Zadie Smith
N-!-DAY OF THE LOCUST, Nathanael West
NF-REALITY HUNGER, David Shields
N-36 ARGUMENTS FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD, Rebecca Goldstein
N-THE MANY DEATHS OF THE FIREFLY BROTHERS, Thomas Mullen
SS-CHILDHOOD AND OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS, Stuart Dybek

GREAT '09 BOOKS
N-AWAIT YOUR REPLY, Dan Chaon.
N-JULIET, NAKED, Nick Hornby.
P-TIME AND MATERIALS, Robert Hass.
SS-WAR DANCES, Sherman Alexie.
N-A GENEROSITY, Richard Powers.
N-GIVE + TAKE, Stona Fitch.
NF-THE BIG BURN, Tim Egan.
N-HOMER AND LANGLEY, E. L. Doctorow.
N-THAT OLD CAPE MAGIC, Richard Russo.
N-FAMILY MAN, Elinor Lipman.
N-TWISTED TREE, Kent Meyers.
N-BORDER SONGS, Jim Lynch.
NF-CREATIONISTS, E.L. Doctorow.
SS-THE LITTLEST HITLER, Ryan Boudinot.
SS-!-JESUS' SON, Denis Johnson.
N--NOBODY MOVE, Denis Johnson.
N--TREE OF SMOKE, Denis Johnson.
P--THE TANGLED LINE, Tod Marshall.
N--BILLY BATHGATE, E.L. Doctorow.
N--THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD, Ron Hansen.
SS--THE RED CONVERTIBLE, Louise Erdrich.
SS--DRIFT AND SWERVE, Samuel Ligon.
NF--HIDING MAN, Tracy Daugherty.
N--THE RUSSIAN DEBUTANTE'S HANDBOOK, Gary Shteyngart.
N--REMAINDER, Tom McCarthy.

GREAT '08 READS
N--THE END, Salvatore Scibona
N--HOME, Marilynn Robinson
N-!-SHADOW COUNTRY, Peter Matthiessen
N--THE LAZARUS PROJECT, Aleksandar Hemon
N--TELEX FROM CUBA, Rachel Kushner
SS-!-OUR STORY BEGINS, Tobias Wolff
SS--OLIVE KITTERIDGE, Elizabeth Strout
SS-!-UNACCUSTOMED EARTH, Jhumpa Lahiri
N--LUSH LIFE, Richard Price
N--A MERCY, Toni Morrison
N--THE PLAGUE OF DOVES, Louise Erdrich
N--PEACE, Richard Bausch
SS--A BETTER ANGEL, Chris Adrian
SS--THE NIGHTENGALES OF TROY, Alice Fulton
SS--ALL THE SAD YOUNG LITERARY MEN, Keith Gessen
SS--TWO MARRIAGES, Phillip Lopate (novellas)
SS--ONE MORE YEAR, Sana Krasikov
SS--DANGEROUS LAUGHTER, Steven Millhauser
SS--FINE JUST THE WAY IT IS, Annie Proulx
N--INDIGNATION, Philip Roth
N--THE SOUL THIEF, Charles Baxter
N--HOW THE DEAD DREAM, Lydia Millet
N--NETHERLAND, Joseph O'Neill
N--THE HOUR I FIRST BELIEVED, Wally Lamb
N--A PERSON OF INTEREST, Susan Choi
N--PERSONAL DAYS, Ed Park
N--ATMOSPHERIC DISTURBANCES, Rivka Galchen
P--THE RADIUM WATCH DIAL PAINTERS, Dan Butterworth
N--GONE TOMORROW, P.F. Kluge
N--TESTIMONY, Anita Shreeve
N--THE GOD OF WAR, Marissa Silver
N--A COUNTRY CALLED HOME, Kim Barnes
N--SONG YET SUNG, James McBride
N--THE STORY OF A MARRIAGE, Andrew Sean Greer
N--THE ENGLISH MAJOR, Jim Harrison
N--THE 19TH WIFE, David Ebershoff
N--SONGS FOR THE MISSING, Stewart O'Nan
N--GOLDENGROVE, Francine Prose
N--COVENTRY, Joseph Bathanti
N--VACATION, Deb Olin Unferth
N--MORE THAN IT HURTS YOU, Darin Strauss
N--THE GIVEN DAY, Dennis Lehane
N--EXILES, Ron Hansen
N--CITY OF THIEVES, David Benioff
N--GO WITH ME, Castle Freeman Jr.
N--MUDBOUND, Hillary Jordan
N--THE END OF THE JEWS, Adam Mansbach
N--DEAR AMERICAN AIRLINES, Jonathan Miles
N--HARRY, REVISITED, Mark Sarvas
N--THE GOOD THIEF, Hannah Tinti
N--CRUST, Lawrence Shainberg
N--THE CONDITION, Jennifer Haigh
N--MONSTER, 1959, David Maine
N--MAN IN THE DARK, Paul Auster
N--CITY OF REFUGE, Tom Piazza
N--GUERNICA, Dave Boling

GREAT '07 READS
N--THE BEAUTIFUL MISCELLANEOUS,Dominic Smith
SS--DISTURBANCE-LOVING SPECIES, Peter Chilson
SS--THE MOTHER GARDEN, Robin Romm
SS--HUMAN RESOURCES, Josh Goldfarb
N--THE LAST TOWN ON EARTH, Thomas Mullen
SS--THE GATEWAY, T.M. McNalley
SS--YES, YES, CHERRY, Mary Otis
N-!-SACRED GAMES by Vikram Chandra
NF-!-THIS BOY'S LIFE, Tobias Wolff
N--VERONICA, Mary Gaitskill
SS--OUR FORMER LIVES IN ART, Jennifer Davis
SS--NO ONE BELONGS HERE MORE THAN YOU, Miranda July
N--THE PINBALL THEORY OF APOCALYPSE, Jonathan Selwood
N--A PUSH AND A SHOVE, Chrisotpher Kelly
N--THE WATER CURE, Percival Everett.
N--LET THE NORTHERN LIGHTS ERASE YOUR NAME, Vendela Vida
N--THE BABY LOTTERY, Kathryn Trueblood
SS--THE MIDDLEMAN AND OTHER STORIES, Bharati Mukherjee
N-!-REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, Richard Yates
NF--A SUPPOSEDLY FUN THING I'LL NEVER DO AGAIN, David Foster Wallace
N--ABSURDISTAN, Gary Shteyngart
N-!-THEN WE CAME TO THE END, Joshua Ferris
N--HOMELAND, Sam Lipsyte
NF--IMPERIAL LIFE IN THE EMERALD CITY, Rajiv Chandrasekaran
N--BRIDGE OF SIGHS, Richard Russo
N--HOLDER OF THE WORLD, Bharati Mukherjee
N--EAT THE DOCUMENT, Dana Spiotta
SS--PU-239 AND OTHER STORIES, Ken Kalfus
NF--KILLING YOURSELF TO LIVE, Chuck Klosterman
SS--THE KING OF LIMBO, Adrianne Harun
N--BRIGHTON ROCK, Graham Greene
SS--SHORT SHORTS, An Anthology of the Shortest Stories, edited by Irving Howe
NF--THE ART AND CRAFT OF THE SHORT STORY, Rick DeMarinis
N--BELOVED, Toni Morrison
N-!-BLINDNESS, Jose Saramago
NF--MYSTERY AND MANNERS, Flannery O'Connor
P--BOOK OF SKELETONS, Rachel Vigier
NF--LIVING BY FICTION, Annie Dillard
N--KOCKROACH, Tyler Knox
P--DELIGHTS & SHADOWS, Ted Kooser
N--YOU DON'T LOVE ME YET, Jonathan Lethem
NF--THE COLONY, John Tayman
F--THE INTERLOPER, Antoine Wilson
NF--THE WORST HARD TIME, Timothy Egan
N--THE BEAUTIFUL THINGS THAT HEAVEN BEARS, Dinaw Mengestu
N--FALLING MAN, Don DeLillo
N--FLIGHT, Sherman Alexie
NF-!-THE DISAPPOINTMENT ARTIST, Jonathan Lethem
NF--MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY, Kurt Vonnegut
SS--DEAD BOYS, Richard Lange
N--HOUSE OF MEETINGS, Martin Amis
N--THE YIDDISH POLICEMEN'S UNION, Michael Chabon
NF--THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE, Robert Evans

GREAT '06 READS
NF--20 JULY, Constantine FitzGibbon
N-!-BLACK SWAN GREEN, David Mitchell
NF--READING LIKE A WRITER, Francine Prose
N-!-THE ECHO MAKER, Richard Powers
N--A DISORDER PECULIAR TO THE COUNTRY, Ken Kalfus
N--THE FLANDERS PANEL, Aturo Perez-Reverte
N--LOST CITY RADIO, Daniel Alarcon
N--NOBODY'S ANGEL, Tom McGuane
NF--HOUSEKEEPING VS. THE DIRT, Nick Hornby
SS--PASTORALIA, George Saunders
SS-!-THE TURNING, Tim Winton
N--SATURDAY, Ian McEwan
N--THE NEW YORK TRILOGY, Paul Auster
N--THE LAY OF THE LAND, Richard Ford
SS--THE DOG OF THE MARRIAGE, Amy Hempel
SS--TUMBLE HOME, Amy Hempel
N--THE DRAMATIST, Ken Bruen
SS-!-I SAILED WITH MAGELLAN, Stuart Dybek
N--THE BROOKLYN FOLLIES, Paul Auster
N--ON THE ROAD, Jack Kerouac
NF--LUCKIEST MAN, Jonathan Eig
N--TISHOMINGO BLUES, Elmore Leonard
N-!-THE KNOWN WORLD, Edward P. Jones
N--CONCRETE ISLAND, J.G. Ballard
N--LUNAR PARK, Bret Easton Ellis
N--THE LAST DAYS OF IL DUCE, Domenic Stansberry
NF--ORPHANS, Charles d'Ambrosio
N--THE SEA, John Banville
N--THE LINCOLN LAWYER, Michael Connelly
N--DRAMA CITY, George Pelecanos
N--THE CONSTANT GARDNER, John LeCarre
N--SPECIMEN DAYS, Michael Cunningham
N--THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA, Philip Roth
SS-!-JESUS' SON, Denis Johnson
N--NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, Cormac McCarthy
SS--THE BRIGADIER AND THE GOLF WIDOW, John Cheever
NF--BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE, Dee Brown
NF--DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY, Erik Larson
SS--THE EARLY STORIES, John Updike
SS--LOST IN THE CITY, Edward P. Jones

GREAT '05 READS
SS--THE STORIES OF JOHN CHEEVER
NF--CHRONICLES (VOL. 1), Bob Dylan
NF--THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING, Joan Didion
N--SHOPGIRL, Steve Martin
N-!-GILEAD, Marilynne Robinson
N--THE DIAGNOSIS, Alan Lightman
NF--A MOVEABLE FEAST, Ernest Hemingway
N--PLEASE DON'T COME BACK FROM THE MOON, Dean Bakopoulos
NF-!-JOE GOULD'S SECRET, Joseph Mitchell.
N--THE HIGHEST TIDE, Jim Lynch
N-!-JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE NIGHT, Celine
N--HENDERSON THE RAIN KING, Saul Bellow
NF--RAYMOND CARVER, AN ORAL BIOGRAPHY, Sam Halpert
N--THE HONEYMOONERS, Chuck Kinder
N-!-CLOUD ATLAS, David Mitchell
N--HARRY POTTER II and III, J.K. Rowling
N--A LONG WAY DOWN, Nick Hornby
N--TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG, Peter Carey
N--THE MUSIC OF CHANCE, Paul Auster
NF--JOE DIMAGGIO, Richard Ben Cramer
N-!-THE HOURS, Michael Cunningham
N-!-RABBIT, RUN, John Updike
NF--THE BELIEVER (magazine) and THE POLYSYLLABIC SPREE, Nick Hornby
N--HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE, J.K. Rowling
N--BEING DEAD, Jim Crace
N-!-TIME'S ARROW, Martin Amis
N--THE CONFESSIONS OF MAX TIVOLI, Andrew Sean Greer
N-!-HERZOG, Saul Bellow
N-!-THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH, Saul Bellow
NF--THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM, Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind
NF--CONSPIRACY OF FOOLS, Kurt Eichenwald
P--FIRST HAND, Linda Bierds
N-!-MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN, Salman Rushdie
NF--STEP ACROSS THIS LINE, Salman Rushdie
N--MEMOIR FROM ANT-PROOF CASE, Mark Helprin
N--SAFE IN HEAVEN DEAD, Sam Ligon
N--THE WILT ALTERNATIVE, Tom Sharpe
N--THE BLITZ, Ken Bruen
P-!-MAKING CERTAIN IT GOES ON, collected poems of Richard Hugo
NF--HIGH BROW LOW BROW, Lawrence Levine
NF--102 MINUTES, by Kevin Flynn and Jim Dwyer.

GREAT '04 READS
NF--DISNEYWAR, James Stewart
N--RABBIT REDUX, John Updike
P--LIGHT'S LADDER, Christopher Howell
P--MEMOIR OF THE HAWK, James Tate
N--A CHANGED MAN, Francine Prose
NF--AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF HUMANITY, Theodore Zeldin
N-!-FOOL'S CROW, James Welch
P--RIDING THE EARTHBOY 20, James Welch
N--THE HEARTSONG OF CHARGING ELK, James Welch
SS--THE GARDEN OF NORTH AMERICAN MARTYRS, Tobias Wolff
N--HOUSE OF LEAVES, Mark Danielewski
N--BLUE ANGEL, Francine Prose
N--WILT, Tom Sharpe
N--BILLY PHELAN'S GREATEST GAME, William Kennedy
N-!-IRONWEED, William Kennedy
N-!-THE UNIVERSAL BASEBALL ASSOCIATION, J. HENRY WAUGH PROPRIETOR, Robert Coover
N--THE FLAMING CORSAGE, William Kennedy
N--ROSCOE, William Kennedy
NF--LIVING TO TELL THE TALE, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
N--FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, Jonathan Lethem
N--GUN WITH OCCASIONAL MUSIC, Jonathan Lethem
N-!-ERASURE, Percival Everett
N-!-THREE FARMERS ON THEIR WAY TO A DANCE, Richard Powers
N-!-MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN, Jonathan Lethem