Reading

Summary: I remember thinking that I needed to start learning more of the business world, so I drifted a bit away from fiction. Not too many new discoveries, but writers like TC Boyle continued to put out solid books. Reading List 2005 Radio On - Sarah Vowell Take the Cannoli - Sarah Vowell Sock - Penn Jillette The Partly Cloudy Patriot - Sarah Vowell Searching for Bobby Fischer - Fred Waitzkin How We Are Hungry - David Eggers Hoot - Carl Hiaasen The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon Will You Please Be Quiet, Please - Raymond Carver The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks The Coen Brothers - Ronald Borgan The Mischievous Art of Jim Flora - Irwin Chusid After the Plague - T.C. Boyle Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer Blink - Malcolm Gladwell Transmission - Hari Kunzru Never a City So Real: A Walk in Chicago - Alex Katlowitz Weirdos in the Workplace - John Putzier The Purple Cow - Seth Godin Wall Street Meat - Andy Kessler Running Money - Andy Kessler Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott Free Prize Inside - Seth Godin New High Intensity Training - Ellington Darden Never Eat Alone - Frank Farrazzi The Automatic Millionaire - David Bach Assassination Vacation - Sarah Vowell Freakonomics - Levitt & Dubner First, Break All the Rules - Buckingham and Coffman White Noise - Don DeLillo A Season on the Mat - Nolan Zavoral Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J. K. Rowling All of Us - Raymond Carver Why Do Me Have Nipples - Mark Leyner My Friend Leonard - James Frey A Love Supreme - Ashley Kahn Chasin’ the Train - J. C. Thomas Aloft - Chang-Rae Lee Ascension - Eric Nisenson Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman

Summary: I left the old job and moved up near Chicago. I was an IT department of one, trying to upgrade and entire office by myself. I’m surprised that I had enough time to read the books that I did. I didn’t run across many new authors this year, but did manage to read more Richard Yates. Reading List 2004 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J. K. Rowling Syrup - Maxx Barry The Puttermesser Papers - Cynthia Ozick Kingdom of Fear - Hunter S. Thompson Summer Rain - Jon Konrath Eats, Shoots, and Leaves - Lynne Truss How to Talk Dirty and Influence People - Lenny Bruce Wilco: Learning How to Die - Greg Kot Hacker Cracker - Ejoui Nuwhere Stranger Than Fiction - Chuck Palahnuick Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women - Ricky Jay The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald How to Own a Continent - Ryan Russell Acts of the Apostles - John F. X. Sundman Across the Nightingale Floor - Lian Hearn Crypto - Stephen Levy Teeth - Hugh Gallagher Skinny Dip - Carl Hiaasen Grass for his Pillow - Lian Hearn Brilliance of the Moon - Lian Hearn Zero-Day Exploit - Rob Shein Collected Short Stories - Richard Yates Getting Things Done - David Allen Oblivion: Stories - David Foster Wallace If the River Was Whiskey - T. C. Boyle A Good School - Richard Yates The Inner Circle - T. C. Boyle A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin Going Corporate - Brad Embree MASH - Richard Hooker Tom Waits: Wild Years - Jay S. Jacobs Budding Prospects - T. C. Boyle The Wilco Book - Wilco Mind Wide Open - Stephen Johnson Rain Fall - Barry Eisler

Summary: 2003 was the year I finally got back into Literature. There were even several short trips to Indianapolis to load up on used books. The end of my work days were usually spent at a bookstore, either studying or reading. I remember being in school and thinking just how happy I would be to make enough money to afford coffee and a book whenever I wanted. Reading List 2003 ...

Summary: I finally wised up, left Florida and went back to my old gig. It was a big transition year, and I finally decided that I was going to do the IT thing and give up on academia. I had a lot of insights into the college gig thing and was incredibly disappointed. Reading List 2002 The Two Towers - J.R.R. Tolkien A Cook’s Tour - Anthony Bourdain The Nudist on the Late Shift - Po Bronson Vision Quest - Terry Davis Fletch - Gregory McDonald The Deep Blue Goodbye - John D. McDonald Grand Opening - Jon Hassler Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates Fight Club - Chuck Pahlanuick Ball Four - Jim Bouton Choke - Chuck Pahlanuick Mohawk - Richard Russo The Whore’s Child - Richard Russo Nightmare in Pink - John D. McDonald Hollywood Nocturnes - James Ellroy October Sky - Homer H. Hickman Jr. Native Tongue - Carl Hiaasen Roadkill - Kinky Friedman Pastoralia - George Saunders Skin Tight - Carl Hiassen Lullabye - Chuck Pahalnuk Porno - Irvine Welsch Wise Guy - Nicholas Pileggi Demonology - Rick Moody My Dark Places - James Ellroy L.A. Confidential - James Ellroy How to Ruin Your Life - Ben Stein

Summary: I was still in Florida, but my time was coming to an end. After a very disappointing first year at school, I attempted one more year, hoping that the teaching opportunity would help. It was good to finally get into writers such as Richard Russo and Michael Chabon. Reading List 2001 Let the Dog Drive - David Bowman The Big U - Neal Stephenson Crypto - Steven Levy Blue Angel - Francine Prose Invisible Mosters - Chuck Palahniuk Secrets and Lies - Bruce Schneider Ender’s Game - Orson Scott Card Just for Fun - Linus Tovalds and David Diamond The Risk Pool - Richard Russo Plainsong - Kent Haruf Turned On - James Parker Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut Open Sources - (editors) Chris DiBona, Sam Ockman, Mark Stone Think Unix - John Hassler Big Bad Love - Larry Brown Trailorpark - Russell Banks Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain Straight Man - Richard Russo A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving Wonderboys - Michael Chabon The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien A Season on the Brink - John Feinstein

Summary: While work was going well, I was still trying to find a school for a PhD program. I got accepted into what looked like a decent program and left work to live in Florida. My brother introduced me to ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ which was a huge influence on my thinking. Reading List 2000 Girlfriend in a Coma - Douglas Coupland The Imaginary Girlfriend - John Irving Catch 22 - Joseph Heller To Boulez and Beyond - Joan Peyser The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles The Crossing - Cormac McCarthy A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - David Eggers Geeks - Jon Katz House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski The Hotel New Hampshire - John Irving Sweet Swing Blues on the Road - Wynton Marsalis Glamorama - Bret Easton Ellis Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson Cities of the Plain - Corman McCarthy The Water Method Man - John Irving Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig Soundpieces 2 - Cole Gagne The Man Who Loved Only Numbers - Paul Hoffman On Writing - Stephen King Conversations with Iannis Xenakis - Balint Andras Varga The Very Persistant Gappers of Frip - George Saunders Troublemakers - John McNally The End of Alice - A. M. Homes Music for Torching - A.M. Homes Open Sky: Sonny Rollins and His World of Improvisation - Eric Nisenson Smile, You’re Travelling - Henry Rollins

Summary: 1999 was full of changes. I had finished off the masters program in a year and a half. I had committed to working at a music camp over the summer where I consumed the entire David Foster Wallace collection. I also spent some time traveling and finally had to make a career decision. Although I was accepted into a PhD program, I couldn’t come up with the funds, so into IT I went. Since I had no real experience, I spent my time preparing for certification exams and finally got my first real job. ...

Summary: After graduation, I was offered a Teaching Assistantship. Looking back at only having read 13 books over an entire year is almost embarrassing. Reading List 1998 Architects of the Web - Robert Reid My Idea of Fun - Will Self Exegesis - Astro Teller Music Since 1945 - Elliot Schwartz Anton Von Webern - Malcom Hayes The Proud Highway - Hunter S. Thompson Digerati - John Brackman The Neon Bible - John Kennedy Toole High Fidelity - Nick Hornby American Pioneers: Ives to Cage and Beyond - Alan Rich Talking Music - William Duckworth Do I Come Here Often - Henry Rollins Solipsist - Henry Rollins

Summary: 1997 was an insanely busy year. I spent most of the time preparing for my solo recital, as well as working three jobs at a time while maintaining a full course load. I was living in a great house that I never saw, and spent up to 50-60 hours a week at the recording studio. Reading List 1997 The Little Kingdom - Michael Moritz Being Digital - Nicholas Negroponte Ladies and Gentleman, Lenny Bruce - Albert Goldman Downsize This - Michael Moore Silicon Snake Oil - Clifford Stoll Takedown - Simormura and Markoff Masters of Deception - Slatalle and Quittner The Hacker Crackdown - Bruce Sterling The Fugitive Game - Jonathan Littman A Year With Swollen Appendicies - Brian Eno I Sing the Body Electric - Fred Moody Poloroids from the Dead - Douglas Coupland Tooth Imprints on a Corn Dog - Mark Leyner Elliot Carter: In Conversation with Enzo Restagno Random Acts of Sensless Violence - Jack Womack

Summary: I purchased my first computer (Apple Performa) in 1996, and my book reading declined exponentially. I started reading more about technology than fiction. Reading List 1996 The Rachel Papers - Martin Amis Trout Fishing in America - Richard Brautigan The Stranger - Albert Camus The Road Ahead - Bill Gates Mishima - John Nathan True Story - Bill Maher Spike, Mike, Slackers, and Dykes - John Pierson Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot - Al Franken The Grifters - Jim Thompson Microserfs - Douglas Coupland Insanely Great - Steve Levy Screams from the Balcony - Charles Bukowski The Tortilla Curtain - T. Coraghessan Boyle Spirit Catcher - John Fraim Neuromancer - William Gibson The Third Apple - Jean Louis Gasse Soul of a New Machine - Tracy Kidder Crash - J.G. Ballard The Last of the Savages - Jay McInerny