Additions for loooooonglist
Please excuse the community post; I seem to have mislaid other contact details.
1. Jeffrey Eugenides, MiddlecatMiddlesex.
Some people inherit houses; others painting or highly insured violin bows. Still others get Japanese tansu or a famous name. I got a recessive gene on fifth chromosome and some very rare family jewels indeed.
As Cat Cal recounts the experiences of the Stephanides clan in their new land--from the Depression to Nixon--he unfurls his own symbiotic odyssey to a new sex. Cal's narrative voice is arch, humorous and self aware, continually drawing attention to its authorial sleights of hand, but never exasperating. This is big, brainy novel--The Oracle of Delphi puts in an unlikely appearance in the middle of a teenage tryst--but one full of compassion. [As long as the Oracle of Larry Ellison isn't involved -- pungoose].Eugenides' astonishingly rich story persistently engages the heart as well as the mind. --Travis Elborough (review from amazon).
Caveats: Long (500 pages?).
2. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Cat Swan. Nicholas Taleb's (non-fiction) attempt at describing randomness, and how humans tend to misunderstand it badly. Hilarity Ensues. Fascinating, arguably charming, discursive. Obnoxious, if you're an economist. Changes the way you look at the world. Does get accused of arrogance, but most of those to whom NNT is obnoxious (a) aren't best known for humility, (b) deserve it. I'd not have posted it, except for the fairly high-powered discussion of complexity science that happened last time I was at bibliogoth, which make me think bibliogoth might take on something vaguely heavyweight (though no mathematics is needed to read & understand the book).
Caveats: Despite mention of dark-coloured avians, less Gothic than it sounds (unless you view a respect and awe for randomness as Gothic in spirit, which, possibly, makes a great deal of sense). Said Black Swan doesn't appear, doesn't say "nevermore", and fails to perch on a pallid bust of Leibnitz (though it would make sense if it did, apart from swans' notorious bulk and inability to perch on small objects). Non-fiction. Somewhat anvilicious. Will Self likes it.
1. Jeffrey Eugenides, MiddlecatMiddlesex.
Some people inherit houses; others painting or highly insured violin bows. Still others get Japanese tansu or a famous name. I got a recessive gene on fifth chromosome and some very rare family jewels indeed.
As Cat Cal recounts the experiences of the Stephanides clan in their new land--from the Depression to Nixon--he unfurls his own symbiotic odyssey to a new sex. Cal's narrative voice is arch, humorous and self aware, continually drawing attention to its authorial sleights of hand, but never exasperating. This is big, brainy novel--The Oracle of Delphi puts in an unlikely appearance in the middle of a teenage tryst--but one full of compassion. [As long as the Oracle of Larry Ellison isn't involved -- pungoose].Eugenides' astonishingly rich story persistently engages the heart as well as the mind. --Travis Elborough (review from amazon).
Caveats: Long (500 pages?).
2. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Cat Swan. Nicholas Taleb's (non-fiction) attempt at describing randomness, and how humans tend to misunderstand it badly. Hilarity Ensues. Fascinating, arguably charming, discursive. Obnoxious, if you're an economist. Changes the way you look at the world. Does get accused of arrogance, but most of those to whom NNT is obnoxious (a) aren't best known for humility, (b) deserve it. I'd not have posted it, except for the fairly high-powered discussion of complexity science that happened last time I was at bibliogoth, which make me think bibliogoth might take on something vaguely heavyweight (though no mathematics is needed to read & understand the book).
Caveats: Despite mention of dark-coloured avians, less Gothic than it sounds (unless you view a respect and awe for randomness as Gothic in spirit, which, possibly, makes a great deal of sense). Said Black Swan doesn't appear, doesn't say "nevermore", and fails to perch on a pallid bust of Leibnitz (though it would make sense if it did, apart from swans' notorious bulk and inability to perch on small objects). Non-fiction. Somewhat anvilicious. Will Self likes it.