Tales of Wonder and Roaches – Books Recommended by Stan Slap
Our library at home has about 5,000 books. People always ask me if I have a favorite. I’m not sure how to answer that without listing a few hundred titles but here are a couple that I can recommend which provide a wide style range and the joy of getting your brain tweaked the way only superb writing can do.
This is the book that the English language was invented for. Stunning, magical, gorgeous, touching, surprising, lyrical and very funny. Detailed descriptions of a world that seems achingly familiar and yet doesn’t actually exist. All is questioned and, in the end, all is answered. Probably the best-written book I’ve ever read. If you’ve already read it, read it again — and check out The Waterboys’ song, Beverly Penn.
The Roaches Have No King
by Daniel Weiss
Toss the Kafka; this is the finest cockroach book ever written. A synopsis: Told from the roach perspective about a group who lives in a New York apartment with a guy and his girlfriend. They worship her because the couple argues all the time and she throws food. The couple finally splits and the worried roaches are at first panicked to lose their Goddess and then overjoyed as the depressed guy spends his days sulking amidst uneaten pizza and Chinese food. Disaster strikes when he falls in love and the new girl moves in — a neat freak. She’s a brunette and the rest of the book is the campaign mounted by the desperate roach nation to drag a single hair from the gorgeous blonde who lives down the hall and place it strategically on the guy’s bed.
CURRENTLY BEING DEVOURED:
My Stroke of Insight
by Jill Taylor
First-person narrative of experiencing one’s brain reassembling itself. I know the feeling but I always have parts left over.
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
by David Wroblewski
Guy’s dog talks to him. My dog recommended it.
The Long Goodbye
by Raymond Chandler
Honor in a dirty world. Philip Marlowe for president.
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Tags: culture, jill taylor, New York Times Best Seller, top 5 books
I discovered your blog site on google and checked a few of your early posts. Continue to keep up the very good blogging about managers. I just added your RSS feed to my MSN News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you later on Mr. Slap.