Kurt Cobain's Reading List

Notable reader profiled on radicalreads.com. 19 favorite books recommended in their radicalreads feature.

Favorite books (2021)

Favorite books recommended by Kurt Cobain, as compiled by radicalreads.com. Source article: https://radicalreads.com/kurt-cobain-favorite-books/.

Source: radicalreads.com

The Inferno

Dante Alighieri (also rec’d by David Bowie ) · Buy on Amazon

Three Novels: Malloy, Malone Dies, The Unnameable

Samuel Beckett · Buy on Amazon

Junky

William S. Burroughs · Buy on Amazon

Naked Lunch

William S. Burroughs (also rec’d by Anthony Bourdain , Bob Dylan & Jim Morrison ) · Buy on Amazon

Queer

William S. Burroughs · Buy on Amazon

Ham on Rye

Charles Bukowski · 1982 · Buy on Amazon

Post Office

Charles Bukowski · Buy on Amazon

Geek Love

Katherine Dunn · Buy on Amazon

The Outsiders

S.E. Hinton · Buy on Amazon

The Dharma Bums

Jack Kerouac (also rec’d by Jim Morrison ) · Buy on Amazon

On The Road

Jack Kerouac (also rec’d by Bob Dylan, David Bowie , John Lennon & Jim Morrison ) · Buy on Amazon

Collected Essays

Camille Paglia · Buy on Amazon

"I really like Camille Paglia a lot; it’s really entertaining, even though I don’t necessarily agree with what she says."

The Catcher in the Rye

J.D. Salinger (also rec’d by Kurt Cobain , Liz Phair & Philip Roth ) · Buy on Amazon

Hamlet

William Shakespeare · Buy on Amazon

SCUM Manifesto

Valerie Solanas (also rec’d by Nick Cave ) · Buy on Amazon

"[Solanas] was a militant feminist who, in my opinion, had some incredible ideas. Everybody called her insane because the ideas are pretty violent. [The book] pretty much says women should rule the earth, and I agree with it."

Perfume

Patrick Süskind · Buy on Amazon

"I’ve read Perfume , by Patrick Süskind, about ten times in my life and I can’t stop reading it. It’s like something that’s just stationary in my pocket all the time, it just doesn’t leave me."

Selected Works

Elinor Wylie · Buy on Amazon

Suggest an update?