The Book of Mormon is the best, but that goes with the Bible so I'd have to say the Lord of the Rings series.

5 CD's and a book that you'd want for ever on a Desert Island.

Moby Play, Dave Matthews Live at Folsom Field, 40 Licks, Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and Dylans 2 CD Discology.

Book: Tom Jones, Henry Fielding, long enough that I could probably read it over and over, funny and dramatic, a little of everything, it would be that or a compendium of Asterix

i'll groove with andrew's cd picks - i want a nice asphalt 10 mi loop on that isalnd tho, at least. :)

i read for entertainment. the two most fun i can think of right off are neal stephenson's "cryptimicron" (sp?), and the overblown four book space opera "hyperion" and sequels. ....maybe not even literature by mosts standards, but there you go. :)

Non Fiction:

"Annals of the Former World" by John McPhee. I'm a science nut, and this is the best science book for a lay audience I've ever read. A journey through the history of the Earth, set in a 20-year series of drives across the continent on US 80. Remarkable book.

Fiction:

"All the Pretty Horses" by Cormac McCarthy (actually the whole "border trilogy"). My firstborn is named Cole after the hero of this book, John Grady Cole. This book is written in English, but it seems like another language in McCarthy's hands.

Julian:

Yes, I've read McPhee's book as well. Wonderful read.

Another great science "tome" (literally!) is Ernst Mayr's The Growth of Biological Thought. He is the Agassiz Professor of Zoology (Emeritus) at Harvard. The book traces the development of the research and theories in evolutionary biology from about the 16th century forward. Great book!

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

CD: Kind of Blue, Miles Davis

Book: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig

"Flight of the Wild Gander" by Joseph Campbell.

Cd's: Bob Dylans Greatest, Tom Petty Wildlfowers, Dave Matthews Red Rocks, Neil Young Decade (both albums).

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Want: 58cm Cervelo Soloist. PM me if you have one to sell

Vintage Cervelo: A Resource

CD: Radiohead "OK Computer"

Book: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Most interesting and weird book I've ever read with something like 150 pages of just footnotes.

Robert,

did you really read it in french? did you know that Flaubert was considered by french students, one of the most boring classics? :-) sorry...
In middle and high school in France, we are required to read A LOT...and I can't think of one student I know who actually liked Gustave...

I think Stendahl is excellent, but Montesquieu and Voltaire are really fantastic to read, along with Montaigne (in case you really read french, forget Montaigne...it is "old" french and really hard to read...)

Anyway, except philosophes of siecle des lumieres, my favorite books are the integral of
Asterix by Gosciny and Uderzo

CD: Jimi Hendrix, Led Zep

Blackhawk Down.

If Shakespeare's Collected Works is a cheat, then I"ll take Joyce's Ulysses.

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TonyG

What is Enoch Root?

A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander - completely changed the way I viewed architecture and building

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn - completely changed my view of the world

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I just this minute finished "Hawaii" by James Michner. It is awesome. It really is one of the best things I've ever read.

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

Francois: Well, you wouldn't like Age of Innocence either I suppose. I took a lot of French in school and had a French speaking father so, by college, yes, we were reading such classics as Le Rouge et Noir and Madame Bovery in French. I believe I read Sisyphus in French as well, but not sure. I have all but lost most of my proficiency in French, though I'm getting some back these days because my 15 year old daughter loves French class. We've taken to watching a few French movies as well. :)

As for Gustave, well, high school kids wouldn't find him that interesting I suppose. The ideas in the book are really more, well, adult. Flaubert's use of language is probably the single biggest reason why he's read in high school. Remember, what you read in high school, I was reading in college. :)

I've only read Montaigne in translation and don't remember a word.

Voltaire (Aroute) I've read in the original, and I'm glad to hear you enjoy him. Of course, Voltaire's ideas had a profound influence on the French Revolution and the American Revolution so he is a staple in many college French literature classes.

I've never heard of the Integral of Asterix, but will take a peek at the headnotes.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

Ulysses is an impossible book of course. But really one of my favorites as well. It might be a good desert island book, except for the collected works of Wil S.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

Actually, I read Flaubert at 13 (middle school in France...really early for this).
Voltaire is actually arouet.

As for Asterix, it is actually...a "bande dessinee"
(comics). However, it is really for adults. To get most of the jokes, you need a rather good grasp of the language, a broad general knowledge. I read my firs twhen I was 6 or so, really first level, and discover
new details all the time...

not sure how the puns etc...are translated though. that could lose a lot.

The Neal Stephenson book is "Cryptonomicon". Fantastic book. Literature by anyone's standards I'd think.

Robert-

I was stoked to see that your 2nd pick was "The Age of Innocence"! When I saw the thread topic, Wharton's 1921 Pulitzer Prize winning novel was the first to come to mind.

I figured most folks had never heard of it and, specifically, guys would think it a 'chick book'. I guess I am a sexist. :)

Pat Conroy also blows me away. After reading one of his (especially later) works, I feel unworthy to even pen a Christmas card.

sg

Best sports book: Seabiscuit.

Best nonfiction: Killer Angels.

Best fiction (most enjoyed): Razor's Edge.

Francois: So much for my failing memory (Arouet, with a CAPITAL A, you Gallic Pig! :) ) Ugh, I'm sure I've forgotten much more than I remember. I hope when you are 60 you still remember middle school. :) I THINK I went.... :)

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

SurferGirl: I've read ALL of Edith Wharton's books. Hudson River Bracketed is also pretty good, though not of the same high quality as AOI. Ethan Fromme is a very hard read for me-it's so dark-but is probably her best work. Edith Wharton is WAY under-appreciated by the general public. She is the only writer I know who can string 10 subordinate clauses together and still not lose the point but gain steam! If you are a fan of simple prose, a la, say Hemingway, then Edith Wharton is not for you. But, if you like a rich explication of emotional nuance and a depth of portraiture almost unmatched in literature, then you really needn't look much further. I suspect John Fowles must have read a lot of Edith Wharton. The French Lieutenant's Woman is very reminscent of AOI.

I have a degree in English Lit so I've read quite a bit of this stuff. :) Since this is way off topic, I'll restrain myself....

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

I don't know if it's the best book I ever read, but it's one of the best and funniest running books I've ever read.

"And Then the Vulture Eats You" edited by John L. Parker.

A collection of hilarious stories about ultra runners and their exploits.

http://www.amazon.com/.../002-6529323-6348045

ISG:

"What manner of beast lurks in the sweaty ethers out there beyond the 26.2 mile post? What manner of rare enkephalin does your brain secrete in reward or dismay? And now that we've had any number of great grandmoms happily finish marathons, where, finally, are the real limits to what the human animal can persuade itself to endure on foot?"

Enkephalin: an opiate like substance produced by the brain! What you learn on Slowtwitch! This book definitely made my list. I may read it next! :) Thanks.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

1. The One True Story of the World (out of print and hard to find)



2. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?