Clint’s Top 40

We’re gonna milk this birthday thing for all it’s worth. Another fine top 40 list by BookPeople’s Clint Carroll. Enjoy.

These are in no particular order. And I had to leave some of my favorites out, obviously –Clint Carroll.

1) “Infinite Jest”- David Foster Wallace- The greatest novel written by one of contemporary fiction’s most talented novelists. So much there, it demands re-reading.

2) “Lets’s Take The Long Way Home”- Gail Caldwell- New this year, but destined to remain at the top of my list. Eloquent, elegaic, heartbreaking, and beautiful.

3) “Lolita”- Vladimir Nabokov- Forget the controversy, this book is a treasure trove of language and a beautiful, tragic love story.

4) “In Search Of Lost Time”- Marcel Proust- This is a reading project in progress for me. A profound meditation on art, nature, society, and love written in some of the most sublime prose ever put to paper.

5) “Blood Meridian”- Cormac McCarthy- An extremely graphic depiction of man’s violence that is nearly biblical in scope. His best.

6) “The Corrections”- Jonathan Franzen- A beautifully written portrait of at typically screwed-up American family. A reflection of all of us. Read it before you go home for Christmas.

7) “Big Bad Love”- Larry Brown- If Raymond Carver, Flannery O’Conner, & Barry Hannah magically had a child it would be Larry Brown.

8 ) “Just Kids”- Patty Smith- One of the best books of 2010, Smith paints a portait of love, art, and friendship that transcends mortality and time. National Book Award winner for nonfiction 2010!!

9) “The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter”- Carson McCullers- A Southern Gothic tale of a small town & loss of innocence. Haunting and unforgettable.

10) “The Sound and The Fury”- William Faulkner- Faulkner’s most experimental work is also, in my personal opinion, his best. A very simple story told in a complex and beautiful way.

11) “Fun Home”- Allison Bechdel- This graphic memoir is perfect. The art is intricate yet simple and Bechdel’s candor is devastating. Second only to Spiegelman’s “Maus”.

12) “Closer to The Knives”- David Wojnarowicz- This collection of essays/memoir by the late visual artist, musician, and writer is a punch in the gut you won’t soon forget even after his death of AIDS-related illness nearly twenty years earlier.

13) “Naked”- David Sedaris- Sedaris’s first collection of humurous essays is still his best. It will have you laughing aloud at the most inappropriate times, like the plane or you doctor’s waiting room.

14) “House Of Leaves”- Mark Z. Danielewski- A spooky and stylistically challenging horror/love story that will have you leaving the lights on when you go to bed.

15) “Europe Central”- William T. Vollmann- Vollmann’s most accessible & readable offering in what is shaping up to be a brilliant and prolific career.

16) “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again”- David Foster Wallace- An excellent introduction to the writings of D.F.W., these essays are erudite, informative, and absolutely hilarious.

17) “Secret Historian”- Justin Spring- Samuel Seward was a professor, homosexual libertine, tattoo artist, and chronicler of one of the most fascinating lives of the early twentieth century, his own. An astounding and important biography.

18) “Oblivion”- David Foster Wallace- Wallace’s last collection of short stories is dense, sad, and perfect. (I know, I’m a total fan-boy)

19) “Radio Free Albemuth”- Philip K. Dick- This posthumously released novel tells the same story as Dick’s critically lauded “Valis”, but with much more coherence.

20) “Middlesex”- Jeffrey Eugenides- This Pulitzer Prize winning novel has it all: epic immigrant family saga, mystery, and one of the most unusual and endearing main characters you’re going to find in contemporary fiction.

21) “Maus”- Art Spiegelman- One of the greatest graphic novels ever written, and one of the best depictions of the holocaust ever wrought. All in tiny pictures.

22) “Leaves of Grass”- Walt Whitman- Uncle Walt is, quite simply, warts and all, the greatest American Poet, PERIOD.

23) “A Portrait of The Artist as A Young Man”- James Joyce- The most accurate description of the growth of an artist from chilhood, through adolescence, and young adulthood ever published. A perfect novel.

24) “Freedom”- Jonathan Franzen- Despite the hype, Franzen’s follow up to “The Corrections” does not disappoint. Timely and compelling.

25) “Girl With Curious Hair”- David Foster Wallace-(I KNOW, IKNOW!) Wallace’s first colection of short stories is endlessly inventive and the LBJ story itself will pay for the book.

26) “Naked Lunch”- William S. Burroughs- This glorious and horrifying mess,(which can only loosely be called a novel), is profane, hilarious, disgusting, and essential.

27) “The Passage”- Justin Cronin- An amazing literary horror story. Cronin transcends the tired old tropes of apocalyptic fiction and succeeds beautifully. A complete page turner. I can’t wait for Part II!!

28) “Geek Love”- Katherine Dunn- A delightfully twisted tale of freaks, religous cults, and maternal love. Oh where art thou, Katherine Dunn?

29) “The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao”- Junot Diaz- Junot Diaz’s Pulitzer Prize winning debut novel is an amazing mash-up of family history, linguistic tour-de-force, and 80’s culture that succeeds on every level.

30) “Psychotic Reactions And Carburator Dung”- Lester Bangs- Bangs was the most hilarious, bitingly honest, and influential music critic of the late 20th century. His essays on Iggy Pop, The Velvets, and Van Morrisson are ESSENTIAL.

31) “The Rainbow Stories”- William T. Vollmann- These interrelated stories present a dark portrait of late 80’s San Francisco street life, from crack heads and prostitutes, to skinheads and serial killers, all in Vollmann’s unmistakable style.

32) “Jimmy Corrigan- The Smartest Kid On Earth”- Chris Ware- Beautifully drawn, innovative, and absolutely pathetic, this story of paternal neglect and mediocrity is unforgettable, unfortunately.

33) “Howl”- Allen Ginsberg- A cornerstone of the beat canon,  Ginsberg’s “Howl” changed American poetry and obscenity laws.

34) “Wise Blood”- Flannery O’Conner- O’Conner’s beautiful and haunting debut novel is one of intense religious belief and rejection. And it’s also funny.

35) “Cain’s Book”- Alexander Trocchi- A brytal and honest tale of of addiction and personal justification of lifestyle and personal belief. Unparalleled.

36) “Every Man Dies Alone”- Hans Fallada- Recently translated into English, Fallada’s 1942 novel is a scathing indictment of Nazi facism that reads like a contemporary thriller.

37) “My Lives: An Autobiography”- Edmund White- The first memoir by one of our great prose stylists. Painfully honest, unashamed, and elouquent. 38) “Lost in The Funhouse”- John Barth- Laberynthine, gorgeous, and highly influential, Barth’s short story collection is the definition of postmodernism.

39) “The Mysteries of Pittsburg”- Michael Chabon- I could include just about every work by Chabon (that I’ve read), on my list, but his debut is engaging, romantic, and awesome.

40) “Welcome To Utopia”- Karen Valby- Another of my picks for the best books of 2010. Karen’s portrait of the people in a small Texas town rings so true and clear, it made me cry.