Otto Penzler's Reading List

The mystery fiction editor and founder of the Mysterious Press says the last book that surprised him was Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn: I never saw it coming.

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By the Book: Otto Penzler (2016)

NYT By the Book column (2016-10-27).

Source: www.nytimes.com

Thrown Under the Omnibus

P. J. O'Rourke · Buy on Amazon

"Thrown Under the Omnibus, by P. J. O'Rourke, who always makes me laugh."

Blonde

Joyce Carol Oates · 2000 · Buy on Amazon

"Blonde, by Joyce Carol Oates. It's fiction, but I think it captures Marilyn Monroe with extraordinary insight and empathy."

The Complete Sherlock Holmes

Unknown · Buy on Amazon

"I know it's trite because everyone starts here — when I read The Complete Sherlock Holmes I was hooked for life."

The Woman in White

Wilkie Collins · Buy on Amazon

"The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins, as exquisite a romance as it is a crime story, sealed the deal."

Gone Girl

Gillian Flynn · Buy on Amazon

"Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn. I never saw it coming."

Red Dragon

Thomas Harris · Buy on Amazon

"Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris, in which he introduced Hannibal Lecter, who was the most chilling character ever written."

Wuthering Heights

Unknown · Buy on Amazon

"I loved romance fiction that wasn't packaged that way: Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Rebecca."

Jane Eyre

Unknown · Buy on Amazon

"I loved romance fiction that wasn't packaged that way: Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Rebecca."

Rebecca

Unknown · Buy on Amazon

"I loved romance fiction that wasn't packaged that way: Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Rebecca."

The Fountainhead

Ayn Rand · Buy on Amazon

"The hero has to be Howard Roark from The Fountainhead, who has been a source of courage for me through the years."

The Last Boy

Jane Leavy · Buy on Amazon

"The Last Boy, by Jane Leavy, a fabulous biography of my boyhood (and beyond) idol, Mickey Mantle."

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