Sorry, I forgot about replying about him…
I thought of him since, like Palahniuk and Bukowski he’s american, and he’s a somehow pulp-ish novelist. He writes books very different from each other (from hard-boiled to psycho-noir, to western, to science fiction) with a dry humour I love. He is famous for the series of Hap and Leo. These books are maybe the lightests he wrote, with a strong comedic line. They’re about a couple of detectives. One is eterosexual, democratic and white. The other is black, gay and republican.
They often quarrel about politics, especially while they’re hard beating up some bad guy.
No, that would be too hard! the game is for me, to find one book for every year!
Google turned up 2 books with fantastic short stories. One of which looks like something I would enjoy, the other one seems a bit too grim, based on the description. Not such a big fan of short stories, but I think I’ll bite .
Whoa, that’s true. I didn’t even know it was listed there and now I wonder who rated it I’m thinking of translating to English some of the short stories I wrote, but I usually write a lot of puns, and adapting them would be a nightmare.
I´m trying to compile a list, mostly for myself of must-read genre fiction books. I´ve included Sci-Fi Fantasy and Horror, tried to be as chronological (starting in the 19th century) as possible and only included one per author which really wasn´t easy in some cases. There are many “read before you die lists” but I haven´t seen one soley focusing on genre literature so far, so I just gave it a try. I´ll add to it later but also take suggestions and corrections.
Epic Of Gilgamesh
Song Of The Nibelungs
Beowulf
Arabian Nights
Homer - The Odyssey
Thomas Moore - Utopia
Geoffery Chaucer - Canterbury Tales
Wolfram von Eschenbach - Parzifal
Ludovico Ariosto - Orlando Furioso
John Milton - Paradise Lost
William Shakespeare - Midsummernight´s Dream
Johnathan Swift - Gullivers Travels
Lewis Carrol - Alice In Wonderland & Alice Through The Looking Glass
Mary Shelley - Frankenstein
Gaston Leroux - Phantom Of The Opera
Victor Hugo - The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Jules Verne - Journey to the Center of the Earth
Edgar Allen Poe - The Fall Of The House Of Usher
Oscar Wilde - The Picture Of Dorian Gray
Henry James - The Turn Of The Screw
Robert Louis Steven - Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Frank L. Baum - The Wizard Of Oz
Fritz Leiber - The Big Time
H.G. Wells - The Time Machine
Ambroce Bierce - At Occurence At Owl Creek Bridge
Bram Stoker - Dracula
Franz Kafka - The Metamorphosis / In The Penal Colony
E.R. Eddison - The Worm Ourobous
H.P. Lovecraft - Shadow Over Innsmouth
Edgar Rice Burroghs - A Princess Of Mars
Robert E. Howard - Conan The Barbarian
JRR Tolkien - Lord Of The Rings
C.S. Lewis - The Chronicles Of Narnja
Shirley Jackson - The Haunting Of Hill House
Ray Bradbury - Something Wicked This Way Comes
Richard Matheson - I Am Legend
Charles Beaumont - Short Stories
Piere Boulle - Planet Of The Apes
Ira Levin - The Stepford Wives
Stefan Wul - Fantastic Planet
Michael Moorcock - Elric Of Melniboné
Harlan Ellison - A Boy And This Dog
James Graham Ballard - High-Rise
Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse 5
John R Delany - Dhalgren
Robert Bloch - Psycho
Frank Herbert - Dune
Stanislaw Lem - Solaris
Joe Haldeman - The Forever War
Arkadi & Boris Strugazki - Hard To Be A God
Isaac Asimov - Foundation Trilogy
Arthur C. Clarke - Childhood´s End
Jean Pierre Andrevon - Machine Men Against Gandahar
Robert A Heinlein - Stranger In A Strange Land
Aldous Huxley - Strange New World
George Orwell - 1984
Phillip K. Dick - Ubik
Gene Wolfe - The Book Of The New Sun
William Goldman - The Princess Bride
Piers Anthony - On A Pale Horse
Peter Straub - Ghost Story
Orson Scott Card - Ender´s Game
Roger Zelzany - Chronicles Of Amber
Craig Harrison - The Quiet Earth
Stephen King - IT
William Gibson - Neuromancer
Bruce Sterling - Schismatrix
Clive Barker - Books Of Blood
Iain M. Banks - Consider Phlebas
Dan Simmons - Hyperion Cantus
Robert Harris - Fatherland
Tad Williams - Otherland
Terry Pratchett - Mort
Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker´s Guide Through The Galaxy
Anne Rice - Interview With The Vampire
Marion Zimmer Bradley - Mists of Avalon
Neal Stephenson - Snowcrash
Haruki Murakami - Hardboiled Wonderland
Joanne K Rowling - Harry Potter series
Ursula K. Le Guin - Earthsee
Michael Chrichton - Sphere
Andrzej Sapkowski - The Witcher
Wolfgang Hohlbein - Der Greif
Robert Jordan - The Wheel Of Time
George RR Martin - A Song Of Ice And Fire series
Neil Gaiman - American Gods
Phillip Pullman - His Dark Materials
I just read It. Not one of my favorite Kings tbh. According to myself, Lisey’s Story is King’s best. But most of my ratings don’t seem to have made it to LT.
A few things missing from your list: The Boys From Brazil, something by Jack Vance, Slaughterhouse Five, Planet of the Apes, something by Kafka, Beloved (Toni Morrison).
Fritz Leiber, E. R. Eddison, Stanislaw Lem, Isaak Asimov, Gene Wolfe, Dan Simmons, Roger Zelazny, Tad Williams, Piers Anthony, Ursula K. Le Guin, Robert Jordan, Andrzej Sapkowski … for a start .
Update: Philip K. Dick, William Goldman
Nice list, otherwise. While I do know about 95% of the authors and 75% of the books, I must admit I only read about 15% of those listed.
the game is for me, to find one book for every year!
let us know what you come up with.
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