I love to write. In fact that's all I really want to do these days. But the funny thing is, I no longer like to read anything written by anyone else. I read the news just to keep up, but even then I always find fault with the writing, and that's annoying. Typos, split infinitives, dangling participles and just plain wrong words bum the heck out of me. New fiction is the worst, with convoluted stories about epic adventures usually involving Chinese families dating back centuries are a particular turn-off, as are those hip, breezy comedies set in Manhattan about modern love triangles or a crumbling 25-year marriage that's falling apart in the Connecticut suburbs.
No wonder it's a dying art; young people have no more ideas because they're all too busy tweeting and texting their friends. And don't get me started on those so-called "beach books." So I just write, and read the same books over and over again, the ones that are flawless and never disappoint. Here's my personal list, alphabetical by author, for the best books ever written:
The Sweet Hereafter (Russell Banks)
Mildred Pierce (James M. Cain)
Mrs. Bridge (Evan S. Connell)
Mr. Bridge (Evan S. Connell)
The Hours (Michael Cunningham)
White Noise (Don DeLillo)
An American Tragedy (Theodore Dreiser)
Being There (Jerzy Kosinski)
Into Thin Air (Jon Krakauer)
Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer (Steven Millhauser)
Too Late the Phalarope (Alan Paton)
Maus (Art Spiegelmann)
Ethan Frome (Edith Wharton)
The Bonfire of the Vanities (Tom Wolfe)
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