enjoy exploring.
Five, just about anyone might find it interesting to see what a guy like me prefers to read and watch at the movies. I am known as a horror writer. A lot of readers probably think that my tastes are limited to weird, hardcore, gruesome material. Some editors and critics and writers probably assume that I read nothing at all. I think the lists will surprise nearly everyone except for a few close friends.
Each list is arranged alphabetically; it would’ve been impossible to arrange the names or titles in order of preference.
I didn’t set out to come up with a certain number of names or titles for any list. I named my favorites first, then counted. So you can be sure that I didn’t include or exclude anything in order to round out the number.
The lists are extremely subjective. I pulled most of the names and tides off the top of my head, though I did sometimes scan my shelves to make sure I wasn’t leaving out anyone important. I undoubtedly did leave out certain names and titles simply because I failed to think of them. But many others were omitted on purpose. After all, a list doesn’t mean much if it includes everything.
Some readers may feel that my choices were influenced by factors such as friendship.
They may also suspect I omitted certain names or titles because of personal feelings about the author or a distaste for their material.
Guilty as charged. They’re my lists.
My 15 All-Time Favorite Books
THINKING OF ALL THE BOOKS I’VE READ SO FAR, THE FIFTEEN LISTED below stand out as having made such strong impressions on me that they inspired me and changed my life.
1. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain
2. The Carpetbaggers - Harold Robbins
3. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
4. For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway
5. Last Summer - Evan Hunter
6. Lonesome Dove - Lany McMurtry
7. Look Homeward, Angel - Thomas Wolfe
8. The Moon and Sixpence - W. Somerset Maugham
9. A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway
10. The Night of the Hunter - Davis Grubb
11. The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
12. Soldier in the Rain - William Goldman
13. The Temple of Gold - William Goldman
14. The Travels of Jamie MacPheeters - Robert Lewis Taylor
15. True Grit - Charles Portis
On Being A Horror Writer
HORROR WRITERS FIND OUT HOW IT FEELS TO BE THE TARGET OF bigotry. We are the second class citizens of the literary world.
Hell, we aren’t even citizens of that world. We are aliens, trespassers, interlopers.
Geeks, freaks.
Purveyors of trash.
Kids love us. So do a handful of real horror readers.
But most respectable people “literary” authors, editors, teachers, librarians, scholars, politicians, preachers, parents generally consider horror writers to be a stain on the floor.
I’ve had plenty of opportunities to observe the discrimination.
People ask me what I do for a living.
I say, “Oh, I write novels.”
Their eyes light up. I’m suddenly on a pedestal. I’m an author! An artist! An intellectual!
They are so impressed. “Really?” they blurt. “What sort of things do you write?”
“Oh, scary stuff. Horror.”
More often than not, their eyes go dead.
I’m no longer a light of culture and art I’m a trash man.
They force a polite smile and say, “Oh, how nice. I just love Stephen King.”
But they don’t love me. They’ve never heard of me.
And they don’t want to.
Because I’ve identified myself as a writer of “horror,” most people automatically assume that I’m a worthless hack who couldn’t possibly write anything they might want to read.
With the exceptions of such best-selling authors as Dean Koontz, Stephen King and Anne Rice, we are “untouchables.”
We are horror writers.
We are dog poop on the shoes of literature.
Our families and friends are embarrassed by us. “Why don’t you write something nice?” they say.
General readers go out of their way to avoid buying any book
Five, just about anyone might find it interesting to see what a guy like me prefers to read and watch at the movies. I am known as a horror writer. A lot of readers probably think that my tastes are limited to weird, hardcore, gruesome material. Some editors and critics and writers probably assume that I read nothing at all. I think the lists will surprise nearly everyone except for a few close friends.
Each list is arranged alphabetically; it would’ve been impossible to arrange the names or titles in order of preference.
I didn’t set out to come up with a certain number of names or titles for any list. I named my favorites first, then counted. So you can be sure that I didn’t include or exclude anything in order to round out the number.
The lists are extremely subjective. I pulled most of the names and tides off the top of my head, though I did sometimes scan my shelves to make sure I wasn’t leaving out anyone important. I undoubtedly did leave out certain names and titles simply because I failed to think of them. But many others were omitted on purpose. After all, a list doesn’t mean much if it includes everything.
Some readers may feel that my choices were influenced by factors such as friendship.
They may also suspect I omitted certain names or titles because of personal feelings about the author or a distaste for their material.
Guilty as charged. They’re my lists.
My 15 All-Time Favorite Books
THINKING OF ALL THE BOOKS I’VE READ SO FAR, THE FIFTEEN LISTED below stand out as having made such strong impressions on me that they inspired me and changed my life.
1. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain
2. The Carpetbaggers - Harold Robbins
3. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
4. For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway
5. Last Summer - Evan Hunter
6. Lonesome Dove - Lany McMurtry
7. Look Homeward, Angel - Thomas Wolfe
8. The Moon and Sixpence - W. Somerset Maugham
9. A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway
10. The Night of the Hunter - Davis Grubb
11. The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
12. Soldier in the Rain - William Goldman
13. The Temple of Gold - William Goldman
14. The Travels of Jamie MacPheeters - Robert Lewis Taylor
15. True Grit - Charles Portis
On Being A Horror Writer
HORROR WRITERS FIND OUT HOW IT FEELS TO BE THE TARGET OF bigotry. We are the second class citizens of the literary world.
Hell, we aren’t even citizens of that world. We are aliens, trespassers, interlopers.
Geeks, freaks.
Purveyors of trash.
Kids love us. So do a handful of real horror readers.
But most respectable people “literary” authors, editors, teachers, librarians, scholars, politicians, preachers, parents generally consider horror writers to be a stain on the floor.
I’ve had plenty of opportunities to observe the discrimination.
People ask me what I do for a living.
I say, “Oh, I write novels.”
Their eyes light up. I’m suddenly on a pedestal. I’m an author! An artist! An intellectual!
They are so impressed. “Really?” they blurt. “What sort of things do you write?”
“Oh, scary stuff. Horror.”
More often than not, their eyes go dead.
I’m no longer a light of culture and art I’m a trash man.
They force a polite smile and say, “Oh, how nice. I just love Stephen King.”
But they don’t love me. They’ve never heard of me.
And they don’t want to.
Because I’ve identified myself as a writer of “horror,” most people automatically assume that I’m a worthless hack who couldn’t possibly write anything they might want to read.
With the exceptions of such best-selling authors as Dean Koontz, Stephen King and Anne Rice, we are “untouchables.”
We are horror writers.
We are dog poop on the shoes of literature.
Our families and friends are embarrassed by us. “Why don’t you write something nice?” they say.
General readers go out of their way to avoid buying any book
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