Book advice: if you were a college instructor...

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connor wrote:I took a shit in Paul Auster's bathroom. It was atrocious. The shit, I mean. The bathroom however was classy.


I couldn't imagine it being anything else. The bathroom, I mean. Being classy. I see black marble, lush, shiny chrome and towels so thick you could loose a nickel in them. If I were a writer of Auster's magnitude, I would build such a bathroom and proceed to never leave it.

Salut, connor! Taking a shit in other people's places is always a tacky affair, and you chose fucking Paul Auster's shack to do it in. That's just awesome.

He lives near Prospect Park, am I right?

Book advice: if you were a college instructor...

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19th - I don't like pre-20th century fiction, by and large. Dry dry dry. But I'll heartily second the nomination of Huck Finn. It might be the greatest American novel.

20th - Absalom, Absalom!. They'd hate me for it, but with some careful coaching, some of them would get it and it can be life-changing.

21st - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. Chabon's other works are merely fine, but this one was lightning out of a clear sky. Brilliant, eloquent to the point of song, and deeply moving.
You had me at Sex Traction Aunts Getting Vodka-Rogered On Glass Furniture

Book advice: if you were a college instructor...

30
My own picks would be Melville's Pierre for the 19th century and William Gaddis's The Recognitions for the 20th. But both of these books would be a bitch to teach, I think.

That's why something like Lolita is a good choice. It's a great book, it is extremely perceptive about (mid) 20th-century America, and you have a pretty good shot at holding your students' attention with it.

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