Summer Reading II: VZ’s Ultimate Guide Extras
Issue #43
Staff Picks, Classics, Writers on the Rise, and more!
By Jill Russell, Maurene Goo, Amy Krynak & Laura Van Den Berg
Published: August 9th, 2010 | 4:47pm
Long, balmy summer days mean but one thing for book junkies: an excuse to catch up on the all the reading you’re normally too swamped to get to. So hide your laptop, tuck away your iPhone, and head to your local library. Let our recommendations—including new titles, classic reads, essential authors, and writers you’ve probably never heard of—help you sift through the shelves.
STAFF PICKS
The Leisure Seeker by Michael Zadoorian
“John and Ella are aging. He has Alzheimer’s, she has cancer. And they are taking charge of their destiny, driving their old Leisure Seeker RV from Detroit to Disneyland, exploring the haunts of old Route 66. Unexpectedly funny and real with a good cry waiting at the end, I couldn’t put this book down.” – Maya Mackowiak Elson, Create Editor
Nine Stories
“I’m a huge fan of short stories. I appreciate little ditties you can finish while waiting for the bus or right before falling asleep at night. This volume began my love affair with abbreviated prose and reminds me of summer reading in high school, back when poring over Salinger and wearing all black in July made you cool.” – Denise Gibson, Art Director
Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
“I avoided Prep and its chick-lit-lookin’ cover (I know, I shouldn’t judge) until an abandoned copy fell into my hands. The New England boarding school setting couldn’t be further removed from my upbringing; that the story still resonated with me speaks volumes. If a more spot-on portrait of a plain American girl exists, I have yet to read it.” – Jill Russell, Editor in Chief
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
“My pavement wanderlust is often fulfilled through re-reads of On the Road. Forget fireworks—there’s nothing more patriotic than Sal, Dean Moriarty, and friends traversing the open road. The tale makes the feigned spontaneity of a boho life seem like the true American Dream.” – Selena Fragassi, Music Editor
10 ESSENTIAL AUTHORS
Bookshelf looking bare? Every woman should get to know these writers—our favorites, old and new. To inspire you further, we picked one must-read title from each.
1. Richard Yates
The power of Yates’ pen strikes much more poignantly than movie adaptations of his works that come to mind (ahem, Revolutionary Road). A chronicler of what’s hidden beneath the surface of ordinary domestic life, he artfully balances the quiet horrors of self-deception and unfulfilled potential. Read: The Easter Parade
2. Alice Hoffman
Flawed but compelling protagonists? Check. Touches of supernatural what-ifs? Check. Hoffman consistently toys with her signature realism-meets-mystical style, leading offbeat characters to navigate paths of uncertainty and coincidence as they meet, or alter, fate. Read: The Third Angel
3. Jonathan Safran Foer
Though many authors have tried and failed with the kitchen-sink approach, Foer makes it work. He pushes the limits of his form: flashbacks, stream of consciousness, visuals in type, and on and on. The result? Multidimensional novels with some of modern literature’s most notable personalities. Read: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
4. Alice Munro
The undisputed queen of short stories, Munro jumps to task with no-holds-barred examinations of people stumbling toward something—be it happiness, the idea of love, or attempted redemption. She gracefully describes woeful moments where expectation meets reality. Read: Runaway
5. Hunter S. Thompson
When you don’t like the rules, make up your own. Or so says Thompson, madcap scribe extraordinaire. The godfather of Gonzo left a mixed bag of writings in his dizzying wake. You’d be unwise to overlook his twists on traditional wisdom. Read: The Rum Diary
6. Joyce Carol Oates
Against richly layered settings and plots, disaster often looms large in any given Oates tale. Amid recoveries, windfalls, and downfalls, her works always seem to embrace both the good and the reprehensible. And consider this: the 71-year-old has published some 50 novels and 30 short-story collections. Read: Wonderland
7. John Steinbeck
Though his work epitomizes the notion of “classic,” Steinbeck’s subtle novels aren’t stuffy. These epics unfold as memorable heroes test family ties, consider matters of love and loyalty, and endure mishaps on the road to self-discovery. Read: East of Eden
8. Jodi Picoult
Picoult spins compulsively readable stories—and her perpetual chart-topping proves her commercial appeal. Underneath the plot twists, finely drawn suspense, and varying points of view, it’s her devotion to the delicate nature of relationships that draws you in. Read: Perfect Match
9. Chuck Klosterman
Klosterman is America’s most wry and charming pop culture commentator. Despite a specialization in miscellany, his collective musings offer clever contemplations of phenomena past and present. Meaning? You may learn something new even if you don’t want to. Read: Chuck Klosterman IV
10. Mary Karr
Karr’s memoirs unselfconsciously and colorfully recall her own troubled past. Something about her frank tone and seamless prose makes the scenes magnetic. And against odds, Karr evokes universal themes of growing up and coming to terms with one’s place in the world. Read: Cherry
10 CLASSICS TO REVIVE
Save these oldies-but-goodies for the beach or a rainy summer afternoon.
1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
You can almost feel the oppressive southern humidity of Maycomb, Alabama in this coming-of-age story about race and injustice set in Depression-era America. A high school lit staple, everyone should revisit it as an adult. It's an essential read, year-round.
2. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Was there ever a more repulsive and compelling protagonist in the history of literature than Ignatius Reilly? This cult classic is sure to inject some bizarre into a lazy summer day as you follow the travails of a delusional Ignatius in Toole’s lovingly rendered hometown of New Orleans.
3. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Austen’s first published novel, S&S is perfect for those craving a bit of old-fashioned summer romance in the form of polite gentlemen. Join the Dashwood sisters as they charm the eligible men of the English countryside in pursuit of love, life, and happiness.
4. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Dinosaur DNA frozen in fossils? Pure geek genius. In between all the swooning and seriousness of your classic classics, squeeze in some tattered paperback fun. Tromp through a beast-swarmed island and quicken your pulse without moving from your hammock.
5. Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
Forget the slew of chick lit drivel that it spawned. Fielding’s breakthrough touches a self-deprecating funny bone in women everywhere. As the thought of bikini shopping makes you want to hurl yourself off a cliff, Bridget will put life into painfully funny perspective.
6. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Get swept up by beautiful flappers sippin’ champagne. Arguably the Great American Novel, Fitzgerald’s words will enwrap you in a warm, heady blanket of broken dreams and lost love.
7. Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl
Dahl’s most overlooked children’s novel, this story of a boy and his father, who concoct inventive ways to poach pheasants, sets itself apart with surprising tenderness.
8. Lolita by Vladimir Nabakov
“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Le-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.” The single best opening paragraph in the history of anything. Read it.
9. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montogomery
Take an indulgent trip down memory lane—and recall the simpler times when the words “bosom friend” didn’t make you snicker.
10. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Nothing’s better for a good sulk than a moody gothic love story. In high school this novel may have been a bit of a drag, but on a second visit you’ll marvel at how wickedly strange it is.
6 WRITERS ON THE RISE
To identify up-and-coming writers to watch, we invited Laura van den Berg, Emerging Writer Lecturer at Gettysburg College, to give us her picks. Her first book, What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us
1. Tiphanie Yanique, author of How to Escape from a Leper Colony (Graywolf, 2010)
Yanique’s stories are nothing short of stunning: rich with texture of emotion, landscape, and surprises. The Boston Globe recently named Yanique one of the “16 up-and-comers who might make it big in 2010.” I say they have good taste.
2. Kevin Wilson, author of Tunneling to the Center of the Earth (Ecco, 2009)
Wilson’s stories are funny, heartbreaking, and wonderfully strange. Fans of George Saunders will fall in love with Wilson’s quirky characters and expertly crafted tales.
3. Josh Weil, author of The New Valley (Grove, 2009)
A National Book Foundation “5 Under 35” honoree and the recipient of the Sue Kaufman prize, Weil’s debut collection of novellas, which explores the hill country between West Virginia and Virginia, made a well-deserved splash.
4. Jessica Anthony, author of The Convalescent (McSweeney’s, 2009)
Anthony’s story of Rovar Pfliegman, who sells meat out of a bus in Virginia, is pure genius. I can’t wait to see what this fiercely intelligent author will write next.
5. Caitlin Horrocks, author of This Is Not Your City (Sarabande, 2011)
The recipient of the 2010 Plimpton Prize from The Paris Review, Horrocks is sure to make an impact on the lit world. Her debut story collection is due out next year.
6. Ethan Rutherford, author of the story “The Peripatetic Coffin,” first published in American Short Fiction and anthologized in Best American Short Stories 2009
“The Peripatetic Coffin” is a masterful story, demonstrating a remarkable confidence of voice and vision and the promise of great things to come.
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