Reading for Pleasure

[Angeline]

Do you have books that you read over and over, that you return to because the reading makes you feel good or satisfied or completed? Maybe you have a whole bunch of books like that. Name a book you love and explain why you love reading it. It might be poetry, a novel, non-fiction, Manga, whatever works for you. Be sure to name the title and author so people can check it out if they want.

I like being introduced to new potential reading and knowing what books others value. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Angeline]

Forty+ views and no responses. Maybe y'all will think of something over the weekend. Hope springs eternal.

I'm currently rereading two novels by Chaim Potok, My Name is Asher Lev and its sequel, The Gift of Asher Lev. I've read them at least a dozen times since first discovering them in my late 20s.

The stories take place in a few settings, but mainly in the Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn. Most of the characters are Hasidic and the books revolve around the struggle between faith and tradition on one side and the pursuit of an artist's life on the other.

I'm certainly not Hasidic. My Jewish upbringing was pretty spotty: my family was assimilated and mostly non-observant. Still I find the cultural references and even the way the characters speak, their idioms and mannerisms familiar and comforting. I think Potok writes with warmth and looks for acceptance, even as his characters struggle with it. And the focus on art and creativity and what it does to our relationships and the choices we make fascinate me. At this point, reading these novels is like spending time with a good friend.

 

[29wordsforsnow]

the two on top of my to-reread list

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

A kind of fantasy novel. In a sort of post-apocalyptical world a society is divided into castes by their ability of color perception with those unable to see any color (grey only) being on the lowest social level. At first it seems to be a coming-of-ahe/subtle love story but soon some mystery elements start to shine through just to make way for social critique and questioning a degenerating system of social structure by birth right where dogmas and corruption stopped any progress of individual development. Fforde built an interesting world far from any dwarves/elves/aliens-mainstream fantasy. Published in 2009 it hasn't lost any of its reflecting shades of our current state of the world - sharing power is not any leader's main scope to work on with the most priority. Beside the amazing play with language and words, there is also a very mixed (un)happy open end that asks for more to come. Due to a small number of sold copies Fforde's publisher hasn't been really keen to let him work on part 2 - but my personal best news for today, I've just found a site citing Fforde work started and part 2 will be published in 2022. Hooray.

Set this House in Order by Matt Ruff

You might know this author from TV screen: 'Lovecraft Country' is a more recent novel by Ruff. In ' Set this House in Order' the reader also faces a society struggling, but inside one body's mind. It's about a person - or better a collective - with a multiple personality trying to keep a kind of balance between the aspects inhabiting the mental house. Certainly also very off mainstream, but extremely captivating as Ruff understood to describe the challenge of the internal struggle in a ver sensitive way. From my personal view, his best work, and it got more relevance when I read a post on a different forum asking people if they had any memories about aspects lost to them - a real life multiple personality who referenced this book for readers to get some insight into a multi-faceted mind. That's what I love most about Ruff a very detailed research into the matter of the stories he tells.

But currently it's 'Early Riser' and 'Sewer, Gas and Electric' by the same authors.

 

[Angeline]

Thank you, dear Snow, for sharing these two novels you love. They both sound so interesting. I just finished a book by Isabel Wilkerson about caste in America. She makes a compelling argument that caste (as in skin tone, from light to dark) is a more significant predictor than race for opportunity and potential for success. I like the twist you noted in Shades of Grey (thank heavens for no "Fifty" lol), that the lowest caste are those who don't see color.

And that's great news about Ruff's sequel.

 

[Tzara]

Do you have books that you read over and over, that you return to because the reading makes you feel good or satisfied or completed? Maybe you have a whole bunch of books like that. Name a book you love and explain why you love reading it. It might be poetry, a novel, non-fiction, Manga, whatever works for you. Be sure to name the title and author so people can check it out if they want.

I like being introduced to new potential reading and knowing what books others value. Thanks for sharing!

Most of the things I read over and over again are pretty common or standard works--Shakespeare's plays (Macbeth more than King John or Henry VIII), Sherlock Holmes (I used to read the complete tales every year), Jane Austen (especially Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice), the novels of Raymond Chandler (his first four and, especially, The Long Goodbye).

I'm not sure any of that is either new to you or of particular value.

I just finished re-reading Hemingway's Men Without Women, which I greatly enjoyed but also found at times to be almost a self-parody.

I'll think about this and try to come up with some other suggestions.

 

[Angeline]

Tzara thank you for sharing what you love to read. You are, unsurprisingly to me, a literary-scholar of a reader. Is Macbeth your favorite Shakespeare, then? I think mine is Julius Caesar, probably because it's the only one I taught. It was exciting to watch kids (well a few, anyway) get excited about Shakespeare. I loved to see them (these were tenth graders) break the language code and realize what treasure his work is.

I was very lucky to have an excellent Shakespeare teacher in college. Have you heard of Penelope Scambly Schott? She's a West Coast poet now.

Also I named my dog Shakespeare. I'm a philistine....

Help me understand why I should love Jane Austen. I've tried over and over with her and can't get there. I love reading above most things. My undergraduate degree is in English Lit. What's wrong with me?

Looking forward to any other reading suggestions you have.

 

[Stillrandy]

My 're-reading' usually falls into one of these categories:

• Anything C.S. Lewis (especially the Narnia stories).
• The original Sherlock Holmes stories.
• The fiction series by Bernard Cornwell known as "Sharpe's Rifles"
• The 1930's European Noir series by Alan Furst, known by the first one: "Night Soldiers"

All old friends...

 

[todski28]

Most of what I read is probably low brow pathetic compared to Shakespeare or actual literary classics,

I have read most of David Gemmels books multiple times, similarly themed, flawed hero sagas, full of all the toxic masculinity one could hope to read.

really enjoyed Legened
The first Chronicles of Druss the Legend

The Sword Of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind I've read the first 10 books multiple Times the last 5 i haven't read yet, didnt know they existed until just now, so i think i should get toreading

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's nest
Notes From The Underground are two classics I really enjoy

 

[Angeline]

My 're-reading' usually falls into one of these categories:

• Anything C.S. Lewis (especially the Narnia stories).
• The original Sherlock Holmes stories.
• The fiction series by Bernard Cornwell known as "Sharpe's Rifles"
• The 1930's European Noir series by Alan Furst, known by the first one: "Night Soldiers"

All old friends...

Hi and welcome to the poetry forum. Thanks for sharing books you love. I'm a C.S. Lewis fan too. I loved the Narnia books when I was an adolescent, but my favorite is The Screwtape Letters. I don't care about his religious themes, but the characters and relationships in that book especially are very insightful about human behavior imo. It's kind of a guidebook for how not to screw up a relationship: just don't do what his characters do! I also enjoyed The Great Divorce.

Stick around if you've a mind to write with us.

 

[TudorRose86]

I'm something of a notorious reader, though I am in a slump at the moment. Don't you hate that? You pick something up and it just doesn't hold your interest.

I may reread Gone With The Wind or Little Women. Two favorites. I also enjoy the Sherlock Holmes books, Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens...the classics are always a win. Harry Potter as well.

I enjoy Historical Fiction novels, which I know some find dry. But Margaret George, Jean Plaidy, Kate Quinn, Stephanie Thornton, Stephanie Dray...they're amongst my favorites. I could go on. I'm sure my name gives away that I enjoy history.

I also enjoy YA/NA novels, which are far more enjoyable than the YA books when I was an actual 'young adult'. (Is 34 an old adult? lol) Leigh Bardugo, Sarah J. Maas are two of my favorites. The author who wrote the Hunger Games.

 

[Angeline]

Most of what I read is probably low brow pathetic compared to Shakespeare or actual literary classics,

I have read most of David Gemmels books multiple times, similarly themed, flawed hero sagas, full of all the toxic masculinity one could hope to read.

really enjoyed Legened
The first Chronicles of Druss the Legend

The Sword Of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind I've read the first 10 books multiple Times the last 5 i haven't read yet, didnt know they existed until just now, so i think i should get toreading

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's nest
Notes From The Underground are two classics I really enjoy

Hey I understand low-brow. I'll read anything if I'm looking to entertain myself. I'll read instructions and the back of cereal boxes. I am not joking. Often I'll read as much to see how the author structures a line, sentence, paragraph, chapter as I do for content. And I'm in awe of good storytellers.

I'm not familiar with most of the authors you listed, so I'ma check them out.

 

[TudorRose86]

Hey I understand low-brow. I'll read anything if I'm looking to entertain myself. I'll read instructions and the back of cereal boxes. I am not joking. Often I'll read as much to see how the author structures a line, sentence, paragraph, chapter as I do for content. And I'm in awe of good storytellers.

I'm not familiar with most of the authors you listed, so I'ma check them out.

Lol, I do that too. If there's words, I'll read it.

 

[LadyGreyFortress]

I have several but one I will mention is "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" by John Berendt. I adore the wide variety of Southern eccentrics that pepper the book. It reminds me of one of the more gracious things about the living in the South. I usually reread before homecoming at the church aka a family reunion.

To quote Dixie Carter, “This is the South and we’re proud of our crazy people. We don’t hide them up in the attic, we bring them right down to the living room to show them off," Makes my cousin that drives around with a billy goat in the back of his pick-up seem almost too tame to mention.

 

[technowhimsey]

A bookworm responds

I've always been a voracious reader. As a child, I read the Collier's Encyclopedia and the dictionary. Etymology always fascinated me. I've read all of Jane Austen's novels and Charlotte Bronte's only novel. Any time I find myself wanting to tweak a female character, I read some passages written by one of these ladies. I've all the Sherlock Holmes stories and HG Wells. For fantasy, the Lord of the Rings tops my list; read it at least three times. But my real guilty pleasure is Robert Howard's Conan stories; read them all at least four times. For action, he cannot be beaten. Then there's the hardboiled detective stories of Hammett and Chandler. All the stories at least three times each. But the best such stories are the Rex Stout Nero Wolfe books. He combines the smart-ass hardboiled (the assistant Archie Goodwin) with the Sherlockian "great man" (Wolfe). Stout was a lover of words. And for historical fiction, I highly recommend Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Chronicles. There are fourteen of them. I got hooked and read them all in one week. I'm letting them "settle" for another few months before started again. The hero, Uthred is so practical, fearless, and such a smart-ass. I kept laughing so hard my wife sent me out of the room.

 

[Piscator]

Just finished Susanna Clarke's Piranisi but still trying to figure it out.

Halfway through The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and finding it still is relevant today,

 

[Angeline]

Lol, I do that too. If there's words, I'll read it.

Yup. Can't help myself.

Damn. I missed quoting your original comment, but wanted to say I share your love of Dickens. My favorites are Bleak House and Nicholas Nickleby. I also tend to gravitate towards modern authors that remind me of him, like John Irving and TC Boyle.

I reread Little Women occasionally, too. It's such beautiful writing, very evocative imo. How do you feel about the films of it? I love the one with Winona Ryder as Jo because the cinematography is gorgeous! Also I love Christian Bale.

I have several but one I will mention is "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" by John Berendt. I adore the wide variety of Southern eccentrics that pepper the book. It reminds me of one of the more gracious things about the living in the South. I usually reread before homecoming at the church aka a family reunion.

To quote Dixie Carter, “This is the South and we’re proud of our crazy people. We don’t hide them up in the attic, we bring them right down to the living room to show them off," Makes my cousin that drives around with a billy goat in the back of his pick-up seem almost too tame to mention.

I lived in Asheville NC for years though I'm not from the South. I adore Appalachian culture especially, but Southern Gothic and its many eccentricities too. And being a big jazz fan I love New Orleans. One of my favorite nonfiction writers, Paul Theroux, recently published a travelogue, Deep South that I really enjoyed.

I've always been a voracious reader. As a child, I read the Collier's Encyclopedia and the dictionary. Etymology always fascinated me. I've read all of Jane Austen's novels and Charlotte Bronte's only novel. Any time I find myself wanting to tweak a female character, I read some passages written by one of these ladies. I've all the Sherlock Holmes stories and HG Wells. For fantasy, the Lord of the Rings tops my list; read it at least three times. But my real guilty pleasure is Robert Howard's Conan stories; read them all at least four times. For action, he cannot be beaten. Then there's the hardboiled detective stories of Hammett and Chandler. All the stories at least three times each. But the best such stories are the Rex Stout Nero Wolfe books. He combines the smart-ass hardboiled (the assistant Archie Goodwin) with the Sherlockian "great man" (Wolfe). Stout was a lover of words. And for historical fiction, I highly recommend Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Chronicles. There are fourteen of them. I got hooked and read them all in one week. I'm letting them "settle" for another few months before started again. The hero, Uthred is so practical, fearless, and such a smart-ass. I kept laughing so hard my wife sent me out of the room.

Welcome! You're a prolific reader. Thank you for all the recommendations. I'm going to check out the Saxon Chronicles.

Just finished Susanna Clarke's Piranisi but still trying to figure it out.

Halfway through The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and finding it still is relevant today,

Thanks P'tor. I just read the wiki on Piranesi. I struggle with the fantasy genre but maybe I'll give this a try. I really like Neil Gaiman and it sounds like something he'd write.

 

[29wordsforsnow]

I really like Neil Gaiman...

An author that should be on everyone's shelf. Loved The Graveyard Book, Coraline and the collaborations with several illustrators. Some time ago I found his account on tumblr where he also answers from readers...

 

[Angeline]

An author that should be on everyone's shelf. Loved The Graveyard Book, Coraline and the collaborations with several illustrators. Some time ago I found his account on tumblr where he also answers from readers...

I also really liked American Gods. I understand it was made into a popular TV series, but I never saw it. The book was excellent.

 

[Tzara]

Tzara thank you for sharing what you love to read. You are, unsurprisingly to me, a literary-scholar of a reader. Is Macbeth your favorite Shakespeare, then? I think mine is Julius Caesar, probably because it's the only one I taught. It was exciting to watch kids (well a few, anyway) get excited about Shakespeare. I loved to see them (these were tenth graders) break the language code and realize what treasure his work is.

Macbeth is my favorite of the tragedies; probably Much Ado About Nothing is my favorite of the comedies, as the exchanges between Beatrice and Benedict remind me of my own (very happy) marriage.

Help me understand why I should love Jane Austen. I've tried over and over with her and can't get there. I love reading above most things. My undergraduate degree is in English Lit. What's wrong with me?

There's nothing wrong with you. You just don't care for Jane Austen.

it's not like that's a crime, even for an English Literature major.

I like Austen because, well, for one thing I'm a sucker for romance. But...

With Pride and Prejudice it's Lizzie's wit. Persuasion is more complicated. It's something about how two people who want to be together keep fucking up their being together. Anne Elliot does it first, by submitting (there is no other, better word) to Lady Russell's objections to her marrying Wentworth. Wentworth screws it up by, still feeling hurt by Anne's rejection, accidentally commiting himself to Louisa. And working that out is Literature.

Looking forward to any other reading suggestions you have.

Have you read Donna Tartt's The Secret History?

That is, in my (humble) opinion, a really, really great read. It's set at a college unsurprisingly similar to Bennington College (where Tartt was a student along with classmates Brett Easton Ellis and Jonathan Lethem), where a group of Classics students find themselves in a complicated situation. I think it's a fabulous book.

You might also like Tartt's other novels, The Little Friend and The Goldfinch, which won the Pulitzer Prize.

I'm preparing some more, and weirder, suggestions to post later. As you might have expected.

 

[Angeline]

Macbeth is my favorite of the tragedies; probably Much Ado About Nothing is my favorite of the comedies, as the exchanges between Beatrice and Benedict remind me of my own (very happy) marriage.

There's nothing wrong with you. You just don't care for Jane Austen.

it's not like that's a crime, even for an English Literature major.

I like Austen because, well, for one thing I'm a sucker for romance. But...

With Pride and Prejudice it's Lizzie's wit. Persuasion is more complicated. It's something about how two people who want to be together keep fucking up their being together. Anne Elliot does it first, by submitting (there is no other, better word) to Lady Russell's objections to her marrying Wentworth. Wentworth screws it up by, still feeling hurt by Anne's rejection, accidentally commiting himself to Louisa. And working that out is Literature.

Have you read Donna Tartt's The Secret History?

That is, in my (humble) opinion, a really, really great read. It's set at a college unsurprisingly similar to Bennington College (where Tartt was a student along with classmates Brett Easton Ellis and Jonathan Lethem), where a group of Classics students find themselves in a complicated situation. I think it's a fabulous book.

You might also like Tartt's other novels, The Little Friend and The Goldfinch, which won the Pulitzer Prize.

I'm preparing some more, and weirder, suggestions to post later. As you might have expected.

My favorite Shakespearean comedy is As You Like It because Rosalind is such a strong female character (even though she would have been played by a man in Shakespeare's time ). Jaques' AlI the world's a stage" speech is magical to me. I also love Twelfth Night because it's such a delightful farce.

Oh and I adore The Tempest .

I occasionally sneak references to the plays (mostly...sometimes sonnets) into my poems just because. I have no idea if anyone catches them.

Speaking of delightful, have you seen Looking for Richard, Al Pacino's glorious exploration of Shakespeare's relevance in modern culture, interspersed with scenes from Richard III? You probably have, but if anyone reading this hasn't it's great fun! There's a scene where Al is walking around Central Park, trying to drum up interest in a performance at Shakespeare in the Park. He's basically accosting people: "Hey! You like Shakespeare?" Cracks me up every time.

I have read all three Donna Tartt novels. She is a wonderful writer. I've read The Goldfinch, my favorite, a bunch of times, five or six thus far. She's another modern writer who feels kind of Dickensian to me, mostly in the scope and city settings. I love her characters: Boris in Goldfinch especially.

I look forward to hearing your weird reading suggestions. Thank you (all of you actually) for sharing what you read. I love hearing it.

PS I keep forgetting to mention two other writers I love and read over and over: Kurt Vonnegut (just brilliant) and Larry McMurtry ( Lonesome Dove is masterful writing set in the American West).

 

[Tzara]

I know the OP asked for comments on books one has read and enjoyed multiple times, but that seems to by definition leave out recently published books one liked. So here's some recently published (as in the last two years or so) books I really liked.

• The Glass Hotel, by Emily St. John Mandel. There are a lot of characters in this book--a young woman bartender named after Edna St. Vincent Millay, her wannabe musician brother, a financial superstar, a shipping executive, and several others. The book twines all of these lives together in various settings--a luxury hotel in the wilderness of northern Vancouver Island, the financial district of New York City, life on international cargo boats. It's kind of a mystery, but more like a novel of how characters' lives intersect. Mandel has been nominated for the National Book Award and the Giller Prize (yep, Piscator, she's Canadian), and Barack Obama named this book as one of his favorites for 2020.
  
• In the Dreamhouse: A Memoir, by Carmen Maria Machado. This is kind of an unusual recommendation for me, because the subject isn't the type of thing I would usually be interested in: It's a memoir, largely told in second person, of a domestically abusive relationship the author suffered through with her female partner. It is worth reading simply on that level, but what really grabbed me was how it is written, in short segments crafted in various styles and tropes: "Dream House as Not a Metaphor," "Dream House as Time Travel," "Dream House as Famous Last Words." Machado graduated from the Iowa Writers Workshop, so perhaps this is all academic "style," but it really worked for me.
  
• Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson. I used to be a partner in a bookstore that specialized in mystery and crime fiction (largely because we didn't have enough money to fund a general bookstore and we all "sort of liked" mystery fiction). Mystery is still the genre I turn to for the reading equivalent of comfort food. Swanson's book was especially interesting to me as it is based on eight classic mystery plots, as the title suggests. The protagonist runs a mystery bookstore and is hauled in to a series of murders by an FBI agent. Things get complicated.
  
• The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. This one is kind of a mash-up of Groundhog Day, the old Patrick McGoohan TV series The Prisoner, and an English country house murder mystery. Complicated, and the characterization isn't always that well done, but fun, in a creepy kind of way. (Note: the UK title is The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. The extra half was apparently added to avoid confusion with another book published in the US at about the same time.)
  
  I mean, what is "half a death," anyway?

 

[JonathanBair]

Do you have books that you read over and over, that you return to because the reading makes you feel good or satisfied or completed? Maybe you have a whole bunch of books like that. Name a book you love and explain why you love reading it. It might be poetry, a novel, non-fiction, Manga, whatever works for you. Be sure to name the title and author so people can check it out if they want.

I like being introduced to new potential reading and knowing what books others value. Thanks for sharing!

New here to the group.... But I am re-reading "The Door to December
by Dean Koontz"

 

[Angeline]

I know the OP asked for comments on books one has read and enjoyed multiple times, but that seems to by definition leave out recently published books one liked. So here's some recently published (as in the last two years or so) books I really liked.

• The Glass Hotel, by Emily St. John Mandel. There are a lot of characters in this book--a young woman bartender named after Edna St. Vincent Millay, her wannabe musician brother, a financial superstar, a shipping executive, and several others. The book twines all of these lives together in various settings--a luxury hotel in the wilderness of northern Vancouver Island, the financial district of New York City, life on international cargo boats. It's kind of a mystery, but more like a novel of how characters' lives intersect. Mandel has been nominated for the National Book Award and the Giller Prize (yep, Piscator, she's Canadian), and Barack Obama named this book as one of his favorites for 2020.
  
• In the Dreamhouse: A Memoir, by Carmen Maria Machado. This is kind of an unusual recommendation for me, because the subject isn't the type of thing I would usually be interested in: It's a memoir, largely told in second person, of a domestically abusive relationship the author suffered through with her female partner. It is worth reading simply on that level, but what really grabbed me was how it is written, in short segments crafted in various styles and tropes: "Dream House as Not a Metaphor," "Dream House as Time Travel," "Dream House as Famous Last Words." Machado graduated from the Iowa Writers Workshop, so perhaps this is all academic "style," but it really worked for me.
  
• Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson. I used to be a partner in a bookstore that specialized in mystery and crime fiction (largely because we didn't have enough money to fund a general bookstore and we all "sort of liked" mystery fiction). Mystery is still the genre I turn to for the reading equivalent of comfort food. Swanson's book was especially interesting to me as it is based on eight classic mystery plots, as the title suggests. The protagonist runs a mystery bookstore and is hauled in to a series of murders by an FBI agent. Things get complicated.
  
• The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. This one is kind of a mash-up of Groundhog Day, the old Patrick McGoohan TV series The Prisoner, and an English country house murder mystery. Complicated, and the characterization isn't always that well done, but fun, in a creepy kind of way. (Note: the UK title is The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. The extra half was apparently added to avoid confusion with another book published in the US at about the same time.)
  
  I mean, what is "half a death," anyway?

OP here. So are these the weird recommendations cause they don't seem excessively weird to me. The Glass Hotel is the one that most appeals to me. I have a digital library card and am going to look for it.

Half a death sounds like a potential same title challenge. Seems like it could get an interesting range of responses.

New here to the group.... But I am re-reading "The Door to December
by Dean Koontz"

Hello and welcome to the forum. Feel free to post your poetry or join in any of the challenges here.

I read an early Dean Koontz novel a long time ago. I've forgotten the title but one of the main characters was a dog named Einstein who had been engineered (in a lab) to be a force for good.

 

[JonathanBair]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Feel free to post your poetry or join in any of the challenges here.

I read an early Dean Koontz novel a long time ago. I've forgotten the title but one of the main characters was a dog named Einstein who had been engineered (in a lab) to be a force for good.

Don't think I got to read that one.

john Saul - the guardian (the I want to say its called "the watcher") I think is another good book. If its what I am thinking of... I know John Saul is the writer of "the homing" That kind sounds like it's along the lines, only a 16yo girl or so... Something happens to her where bee's are drawn to her like a queen bee/walking hive... A very interesting read

 

[Tzara]

OP here. So are these the weird recommendations cause they don't seem excessively weird to me.

Oh, God, no. These were just some new books I'd read fairly recently that I liked.

Here's a couple keeping with your original request for books "you read over and over" that aren't exactly weird, but are probably quirky choices:

• Museum by B. H. Friedman. This book was one of the first three releases by the Fiction Collective in 1974, a non-profit organization intended to "make serious novels and story collections available in simultaneous hard and quality paper editions" and to "keep them in print permanently." The original organizers were mostly writers of what might be called "experimental fiction," though Friedman was a pretty straightforward novelist.
  
  Friedman is probably better known as an art critic and as the author of the first biography of Jackson Pollock, as well as monographs on various other artists. He was a close friend of Pollock and his wife, the artist Lee Krasner, and was quite keyed into the art world of the time.
  
  Museum is, at heart, a love story. Probably not all that good a love story at that, though I've always liked it. What distinguishes it as a novel is its portrayal of the board of trustees of a major art museum (modeled a bit, I think, after the Museum of Modern Art) and its discussion of how the institution in question goes through the process of constructing a new building is quite interesting.
  
  It is by no means a great novel, and probably isn't even a particularly good novel, but it's one I've enjoyed through the years and will likely read again (and, in fact am in the process of right now).

• The Golden Gate by Vikram Seth. I've mentioned this novel before. I first read it shortly after its publication in 1986 and read it several times since. The story is fairly conventional for its time--love affairs (both hetero- and homosexual), some happy, some thwarted, some despairing. What makes the book is that it is written entirely--including the acknowledgments, the dedication, the table of contents, and the author's note--in Onegin Stanza. It's not only a verse novel, it's a verse novel in my especial favorite verse form!
  
  Seth's employment of the form is varied, supple, funny, clever. That most people would find it precious (or worse) is probably to be expected.
  
  Anyway, I love it, which is why I mention it here.