Francine Prose's Reading List
The author, whose recent books include “The Turning” and “Reading Like a Writer,” enjoys skimming writers’ memoirs for gossip about people she knows.
Open in WellRead Daily app →By the Book: Francine Prose (2013)
NYT By the Book column (2013-01-03).
Source: www.nytimes.com
Peter Nadas · Buy on Amazon
"A year after reading it, I’m still urging people to read Peter Nadas’s dense, filthy, brilliant 1,100-page novel, “Parallel Stories.”"
Jo Ann Beard · Buy on Amazon
"I’ve told lots of people to read Mavis Gallant’s stories; Jo Ann Beard’s “In Zanesville”; “A Chronology,” a collection of Diane Arbus’s writings; and Mark Strand’s recent book of prose poems, “Almost Invisible.”"
Mark Strand · Buy on Amazon
"Mark Strand’s recent book of prose poems, “Almost Invisible.”"
Gabriel Garcia Marquez · 1967 · Buy on Amazon
"“One Hundred Years of Solitude” convinced me to drop out of Harvard graduate school. The novel reminded me of everything my Ph.D. program was trying to make me forget. Thank you, Gabriel García Márquez."
Gabriel García Márquez · Buy on Amazon
"“One Hundred Years of Solitude” convinced me to drop out of Harvard graduate school. The novel reminded me of everything my Ph.D. program was trying to make me forget. Thank you, Gabriel García Márquez."
Larry Siems · Buy on Amazon
"“The Torture Report: What the Documents Say About America’s Post-9/11 Torture Program,” by Larry Siems, head of PEN American Center’s Freedom to Write Program."
Anton Chekhov · Buy on Amazon
"I’d suggest he read “The Complete Stories of Anton Chekhov.” Chekhov helps you imagine what it’s like to be someone else, a useful skill for a political leader."
Elizabeth Gaskell · Buy on Amazon
"Though some books I love — Mrs. Gaskell’s “Life of Charlotte Brontë,” Kosztolanyi’s “Skylark” — are almost unbearably sad."
Hunter S. Thompson · Buy on Amazon
"Books make me laugh out loud so rarely I remember the ones that have: Hunter Thompson’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”"
Jess Walter · Buy on Amazon
"Here’s a funny bit from Jess Walter’s novel “Beautiful Ruins,” another book I have been telling friends to read."
P. L. Travers · Buy on Amazon
"“Mary Poppins.” “The Borrowers.” “The Martian Chronicles.” “Little Women.” The fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. I lived inside those books."
Ray Bradbury · Buy on Amazon
"“The Martian Chronicles.” especially the melancholy exile Earthlings on Mars."
James Marshall · Buy on Amazon
"James Marshall, William Steig and Maurice Sendak are gods of the picture book. Parents, check out Marshall’s “The Stupids” and Steig’s “The Amazing Bone.”"
Jonathan Dee · Buy on Amazon
"Jonathan Dee’s “A Thousand Pardons,” which I just received in galleys. Maybe I’ll read it next."