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Candace Bushnell's Reading List

The author of "Sex and the City" and, most recently, "Killing Monica" went through an early Nietzsche and Camus phase: "For some reason, nihilism felt like the right sort of mentality for an 18- to 21-year-old."

By the Book: Candace Bushnell (2015)

NYT By the Book column (2015-06-18).

Source: www.nytimes.com

Sentimental Education

Gustave Flaubert · Buy on Amazon

"It would have to be Flaubert for Sentimental Education."

The Custom of the Country

Edith Wharton · Buy on Amazon

"Undine Spragg in Edith Wharton's Custom of the Country is certainly one of the most interesting."

Harriet the Spy

Louise Fitzhugh · Buy on Amazon

"Books were a call to action: Harriet the Spy inspired us to make our own tool kits and hide in the bushes outside the house of our elderly neighbors."

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

E. L. Konigsburg · Buy on Amazon

"My favorites were books where the kids lived in New York City: Harriet the Spy and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler."

Something Happened

Joseph Heller · Buy on Amazon

"I think it's one of the greatest American books of its time."

The Old Man and Me

Elaine Dundy · Buy on Amazon

"The Old Man and Me, by Elaine Dundy."

A Handful of Dust

Evelyn Waugh · Buy on Amazon

"A Handful of Dust, by Evelyn Waugh, was a real game-changer for me. I read it for the first time when I was 12 and remember feeling like certain aspects of life suddenly clicked into place. It was my first encounter with irony, social satire and dark humor in literature."

Blonde

Joyce Carol Oates · 2000 · Buy on Amazon

"if I'm sick for a few days, I will read Blonde, by Joyce Carol Oates. It never fails to mesmerize. I've read it at least 10 times."

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