Books

Here I list a random selection of books and authors that have either left a lasting impact one me or I simply find worth recommending. You can find some longer book reviews on my book review blog, Woodtick Quarterly.

Fiction

Classics

• Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy)
• Kurt Vonnegut
• Fyodor Dostoevsky
• Jack Kerouac
• Franz Kafka

Science fiction

• Stanisław Lem
• Jacek Dukaj

Strange / surreal

• Jorge Luis Borges
• Boris Vian
• Roberto Bolano
• Milorad Pavic
• Jan Potocki

Non-fiction

• David Halberstam
• every single book - a masterpiece of writing about American history and politics
• Robert Caro "The Power Broker"
• a formidable treatise on power and politics
• Ludwik Fleck "The Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact"
• philosophy of science - much better than Thomas Kuhn, and predates him
• David Maurer "The Big Con"
• book about early 20th century con-men - main inspiration for "The Sting"
• George Orwell "Homage to Catalonia"
• recollection of Orwell's involvement in Spanish Civil War; Orwell was a smart guy and quickly saw Communists for what they really were - unlike a lot of leftist intellectuals of the time...
• Keith Jonhstone "Impro"
• landmark book about theater improvisation - improv, imagination, creativity, transgression
• David Kushner "Masters of Doom"
• biography of id software, the creators of Doom
• Aleksander Wat "My Century"
• a sort of autobiography, fascinating account of pre-WWII Polish literary and cultural life

Movies

• The Wire
• The Sting
• Waking Life
• Kaiji, Akagi
• 12 Angry Men
• Jodorowsky's Dune