> At 12:42 AM 8/23/2009, Sandy Harris wrote:
>
>> shag carpet bomb<shag at cleandraws.com> wrote:
>>
>> > so, i need some suggestions. tell me what to read! fiction-wise! or
>> anything
>> > else -- except badiou. i can't fathom why i'd want to read the
>> egomaniacal
>> > fusspot on vacation!
>>
>> As you might know,there's a list at:
>> http://www.deaddrop.com/ReadingList.html
>>
>> For easy but highly amusing reading, nothing I know of
>> beats the Flashman novels. Other things by Fraser are
>> good too.
>>
>
> ho lee shit! i'd forgotten all about that list! O Griffjon! Where'd
> griffjon go? He was in Austin last I knew. The names... they bring back
> memories. ha! Matt's even got some titles up there.
>
I am hesitating to make recommendations, after the Badiou Debacle, but I notice they both list PKD's *VALIS* books, so I will underline that (noting that *VALIS* is the one to start with -- I am still thinking of teaching it this term) and add *Time Out of Joint* to the PKD stuff they list. Sticking with SF, you might try Samuel Delany, if you've not read him (especially *Stars in my Pocket like Grains of Sand * or *Babel-17*). It occurs to me to wonder what you would make of Alfred Bester, either *The Demolished Man* or *The Stars My Destination* (I prefer the latter, but both are excellent; Bester is a fabulous writer).
Unfortunately, I have not been keeping up much with current fiction, so not much help there.
fwiw, ymmv, etc. etc.