Pete Townshend's Reading List

The musician and author thinks Ozzy Osbourne wrote the best rock memoir. “It made me think I should chuck my memoir manuscript away and throw a party during which I jump out of the window but don’t quite kill myself.”

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By the Book: Pete Townshend (2012)

NYT By the Book column (2012-11-29).

Source: www.nytimes.com

Wolves Eat Dogs

Martin Cruz Smith · Buy on Amazon

"Martin Cruz Smith, who wrote “Gorky Park,” has created a Russian detective, Arkady Renko, and I am now reading “Wolves Eat Dogs,” partly set in Chernobyl. I’m learning a lot about how radiation doesn’t always kill people."

Hemingway’s Boat

Paul Hendrickson · Buy on Amazon

"I also have “Hemingway’s Boat,” by Paul Hendrickson — he seemed to use the sea as an inspirational tool, a retreat and an escape very much as I do."

Discourses

Meher Baba · Buy on Amazon

"I also have a copy of “Discourses,” by Meher Baba; this is a throwback, relatively new for me these days. I am trying to reconnect with this Indian master that I adored so much when I was a young man."

Les Misérables

Unknown · Buy on Amazon

"“Les Misérables.” Somehow I’d missed it, despite it launching a grand theater musical. I was so surprised at how readable it is, how well the characters are drawn and how gripping it is."

The Dream Lover

William Boyd · Buy on Amazon

"His set of short stories “The Dream Lover” is one of the most evocative books I’ve read — full of clear images and emotions conveyed with few words and from the very natural points of view of each narrator or leading character."

Any Human Heart

William Boyd · Buy on Amazon

"His masterpiece is “Any Human Heart.”"

The Handmaid’s Tale

Margaret Atwood · Buy on Amazon

"If I push myself I come up with a truly great modern book, but a bit of a stereotype, I’m afraid: Margaret Atwood — “The Handmaid’s Tale.”"

The Alienist

Caleb Carr · Buy on Amazon

"On the border of crime is the historical fantasy thriller that may have begun in earnest with “The Alienist,” by Caleb Carr."

Operation Mincemeat

Unknown · Buy on Amazon

"I also love books about the various special operations the British cooked up in the war to fool the Germans. “Operation Mincemeat,” “Operation Fortitude,” etc. Cardboard tanks, exploding sheep and harbors made of beer barrels."

Janey and Me: Growing Up With My Mother

Virginia Ironside · Buy on Amazon

"Virginia Ironside’s “Janey and Me: Growing Up With My Mother.” She had a difficult, glamorous mother like I did. Ironside is a journalist, one of the first to write about the Who in a halfway serious way back in the early ’60s."

More Dark Than Shark

Brian Eno and Russell Mills · Buy on Amazon

"I am proud of “More Dark Than Shark” by Brian Eno and the artist Russell Mills."

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