1. Howards End
Sometimes the classics are required reading for a reason. Although I only knew Forster for his science fiction short story before tackling this novel, I highly recommend it for its sophisticated portrait of English social relations.
2. A Morning at the Office (Mittelholzer)
Mittelholzer's realist novel accomplishes for Trinidad's social system what Forster did for England.
3. The End of the Affair
Graham Greene resonates with me like few writers. Greene's tale of love and loss is profoundly moving and drew on the author's own affair with a married woman.
4. Neuromancer
Science fiction with literary ambition by one of the genre's great writers. Although the Rastafarians used in the novel's heist were criticized by some, Gibson's vision of the future is horrifyingly accurate in some ways.
5. Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth
A serious book on Billie Holiday by one of the greats in jazz writing. Although more of a musical biography rather than a narrative of her life, Szwed takes Holiday's singing seriously as music and art. Published in honor of the centennial of her birth, too.
6. 4 Lives in the Bebop Business (Spellman)
A classic in jazz. Spellman's chapters on Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman should be required for anyone wishing to learn more about the social milieu in which avant-garde jazz developed in the 1960s.
7. Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said (PKD)
A totalitarian society envisioned by Philip K. Dick in the 1970s. Hints of his later Christian and religious themes are present, but it's also perhaps his best novel of the 1970s.
8. The Heart of the Matter
Perhaps my favorite Graham Greene novel, this World War II tale of love and guilt takes place in Sierra Leone.
9. The Left Hand of Darkness
Science fiction classic for anyone interested in gender. You can tell LeGuin’s father was an anthropologist...
10. The Quiet American
The one in which Graham Greene predicted the Vietnam War.
11. The Power and the Glory
Possibly Graham Greene's most beautiful work, this tale of a fallen priest in Mexico almost made me want to return to the Catholic Church. Almost...
12. Camp Concentration
Disch was one of the more literary practitioners of science fiction and this classic tale is both harrowing and suspenseful.
13. The Transmigration of Timothy Archer
In terms of its prose, this is by far Philip K. Dick's best novel and his only work with a fully developed woman protagonist.
14. Middle Passage (VS Naipaul)
Although much of Naipaul's rants and screeds about the 'Third World' are misleading or dishonest, I find his first travel book, commissioned by Eric Williams, to be his best since it describes his 'native' region, the West Indies.
15. The Lathe of Heaven
LeGuin's most phildickian novel. Highly recommend the first film adaptation, too.
16. Black No More (George Schuyler)
For fans of satire and the Harlem Renaissance. Schuyler is a personal hero of mine.
17. An Island Is A World (Selvon)
An early masterpiece from Sam Selvon. Very autobiographical and true to its title.
18. My Bones and My Flute (Mittelholzer)
Ghost story that is suspenseful, engaging, and frightening by one of the best writers to ever come out of Guyana.
19. Letters Between a Father and Son (Naipaul)
Intensely personal correspondence between Naipaul and his father and Naipaul and his sister, Kamla. Reading these letters will soften any criticism of Naipaul as a writer or person.
20. Dr. Futurity (PKD)
Time travel, colonialism, mixed-race people, and more from this adventurous and fun PKD novel.
Sometimes the classics are required reading for a reason. Although I only knew Forster for his science fiction short story before tackling this novel, I highly recommend it for its sophisticated portrait of English social relations.
2. A Morning at the Office (Mittelholzer)
Mittelholzer's realist novel accomplishes for Trinidad's social system what Forster did for England.
3. The End of the Affair
Graham Greene resonates with me like few writers. Greene's tale of love and loss is profoundly moving and drew on the author's own affair with a married woman.
4. Neuromancer
Science fiction with literary ambition by one of the genre's great writers. Although the Rastafarians used in the novel's heist were criticized by some, Gibson's vision of the future is horrifyingly accurate in some ways.
5. Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth
A serious book on Billie Holiday by one of the greats in jazz writing. Although more of a musical biography rather than a narrative of her life, Szwed takes Holiday's singing seriously as music and art. Published in honor of the centennial of her birth, too.
6. 4 Lives in the Bebop Business (Spellman)
A classic in jazz. Spellman's chapters on Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman should be required for anyone wishing to learn more about the social milieu in which avant-garde jazz developed in the 1960s.
7. Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said (PKD)
A totalitarian society envisioned by Philip K. Dick in the 1970s. Hints of his later Christian and religious themes are present, but it's also perhaps his best novel of the 1970s.
8. The Heart of the Matter
Perhaps my favorite Graham Greene novel, this World War II tale of love and guilt takes place in Sierra Leone.
9. The Left Hand of Darkness
Science fiction classic for anyone interested in gender. You can tell LeGuin’s father was an anthropologist...
10. The Quiet American
The one in which Graham Greene predicted the Vietnam War.
11. The Power and the Glory
Possibly Graham Greene's most beautiful work, this tale of a fallen priest in Mexico almost made me want to return to the Catholic Church. Almost...
12. Camp Concentration
Disch was one of the more literary practitioners of science fiction and this classic tale is both harrowing and suspenseful.
13. The Transmigration of Timothy Archer
In terms of its prose, this is by far Philip K. Dick's best novel and his only work with a fully developed woman protagonist.
14. Middle Passage (VS Naipaul)
Although much of Naipaul's rants and screeds about the 'Third World' are misleading or dishonest, I find his first travel book, commissioned by Eric Williams, to be his best since it describes his 'native' region, the West Indies.
15. The Lathe of Heaven
LeGuin's most phildickian novel. Highly recommend the first film adaptation, too.
16. Black No More (George Schuyler)
For fans of satire and the Harlem Renaissance. Schuyler is a personal hero of mine.
17. An Island Is A World (Selvon)
An early masterpiece from Sam Selvon. Very autobiographical and true to its title.
18. My Bones and My Flute (Mittelholzer)
Ghost story that is suspenseful, engaging, and frightening by one of the best writers to ever come out of Guyana.
19. Letters Between a Father and Son (Naipaul)
Intensely personal correspondence between Naipaul and his father and Naipaul and his sister, Kamla. Reading these letters will soften any criticism of Naipaul as a writer or person.
20. Dr. Futurity (PKD)
Time travel, colonialism, mixed-race people, and more from this adventurous and fun PKD novel.
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