Here are some precognitive selections from the future history of this discussion:
Response 1: The [category of recommendations X] does not contain [specific work Y] thereby nullifying the usefulness and accuracy of all of these lists.
Response 2: How dare they omit Maldoror and Moravagine from 'Books That Are Creepy And French' while leaving The Painted Bird in 'Books That Are Creepy And American'. Kosiński was clearly influenced by both Lautréamont and Cendrars, not Houellebecq!
Response 3: What, no vegan pop-up cook books for kids? Nice try, US Council for Meat!
Response 4: 'Great Works By Suicides'? Yeah, so Wallace is on there like fifteen times, but where's A Confederacy of Dunces and Sombrero Fallout? This is fucking bullshit!
Response 5: Oh, you would put Hyperion in the 'Books Nominally About Spike-Monsters', wouldn't you, you smack-talking asshole?
Response 6: Couldn't possibly have a list of Irish literature without Joyce, could we? But for some reason Brian O'Nolan is under "You might also be drunk enough to read..."
Great post. With 3 different age groups to read to, I'm always on the lookout for good books. Sure, we've read some of the ones on these lists...but that just means I have a better assurance that we'll like the others. posted by DU at 5:39 AM on May 25, 2011
posted by orthogonality at 9:35 PM on May 24, 2011 [1 favorite]