photo credit: Jerry Downs
I am happily mining Omnivoracious’s selections for Indiana this week — my pick was Kurt Vonnegut. Not surprisingly, Omnivoracious has included him as well. Here are the rest of their picks, plus commentary:
photo credit: Jerry Downs
- Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut: You won’t get much argument from me that the book to pick from Indiana’s best-known home-grown writer (who no doubt should be on the quarter above) is Slaughterhouse-Five, but Breakfast of Champions is the one of his major books that returns to the midwest: to Midland City, home of that unhinged Pontiac dealer, Dwayne Hoover.
- The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington: If you take 100 people who have seen Citizen Kane, probably 10 of them have seen The Magnificent Ambersons (even though it’s better! Really!). Of those 10, probably one (okay, one if you’re lucky) has read Tarkington’s original novel, and I’m not that one. But still–I’d like to.
- Sexual Behavior in the American Male and Sexual Behavior in the American Female by Alfred Kinsey: I’ll leave it to someone else to measure the percentage of the world we live in that can be accounted to Kinsey’s taboo-obliterating studies, but as he passes from observer to observed, readers might substitute (or at least supplement) with James H. Jones’s evenhandedly revelatory recent biography, Kinsey, or T.C. Boyle’s Kinsey novel, The Inner Circle.
- Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture by Robert S. Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd: What was once “Modern” is now vital history about middle America (specifically, Muncie, Ind.) in the ’20s. Meanwhile, can I suggest a new nickname that, I admit, carries none of the mystery or spirit of the current Hoosier one: Indiana, The Studied State?
- Brave Men by Ernie Pyle: His front-line reporting of the lives of infantrymen–in this collection, those fighting in Europe in 1943 and 1944–made him the best-known World War II correspondent by the time of his death near Okinawa in 1945.
- Which Side Are You On?: Trying to Be for Labor When It’s Flat on Its Back by Thomas Geoghegan: One of my favorite books: a one-of-a-kind memoir–funny, romantic, stylish, self-mocking but dead serious–of a Chicago labor lawyer whose biggest case is fighting for steelworker pensions in nearby Gary, Indiana: “Some people think Chicago is a tough town, but compared with Indiana … well, it’s like Burlington, Vermont. And if there is trouble in Chicago, it’s Indiana where they dump the body.”
- The Dillinger Days by John Toland: A fellow omnivore with a bit of a thing for the gangsters was first hooked by this fast-paced 1963 classic.
- Raintree County by Ross Lockridge: What is it about Raintree County, Lockridge’s only novel before he took his life at age 33, that makes nearly every person who reviews it type the words “Great American Novel” (see the review quotes and customer reviews on the Amazon page)? Is it the 1088 pages? This would seem a perfect candidate to be a New York Review Books rediscovered classic if Chicago Review Press hadn’t stepped in with their own 2007 edition.
- A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel: Kimmel’s bestselling memoir of her small-town childhood is the only representative I have on the list from the new century, but please suggest your own ideas for the best people writing about Indiana today.
- The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody by Will Cuppy: Funny just doesn’t last: What mid-century humorist could still have four books in print? Cuppy does, thanks to David R. Godine, and though I’m tempted to include How to Attract the Wombat (if only for the beauty of his pointlessly dyspeptic chapter title, “Birds That Can’t Even Fly”), I’ll go with his most popular book, a cut-’em-down-to-size tour through history’s most infamous personalities.
- A Season on the Brink by John Feinstein: I’m not sure die-hard IU fans will approve, but if John Feinstein is the Bob Woodward (for better or worse) of sports journalism, this open-access account of a year with the shortest fuse in intercollegiate athletics, Bob Knight, was his All the President’s Men.
–Tom
photo credit: Jerry Downs
Curious about what states we’ve done so far and which ones are on deck?
Photo by marxchivistFirst, from Melanie Jones:
Alabama: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (check out my To Kill A Mockingbird Sample Kit!) Michigan: The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides Alaska: The Man Who Swam With Beavers by Nancy Lord Arizona: The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver North Dakota: Peace Like a River by Leif Enger Vermont: The Secret History by Donna Tartt Hawaii: Heads by Harry by Lois-ann Yamanaka Georgia: Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones Massachusettes: Mystic River by Dennis Lehane Oregon: Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey
And I happily borrowed the collective wisdom of Omnivoracious for
- Delaware: Marisa de los Santos (and W.D. Snodgrass, Robert Montgomery Bird, Jonathan Kellerman… they are choosing an author for every electoral vote…)
- New York: Check out the list of literary greats — wow…
And I went out on my own for…
Florida: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Nora Zeale Hurston Minnesota: In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O’Brien Wisconsin: When Madeline Was Young by Jane Hamilton Louisiana: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells (Jones’ pick) and The Awakening by Kate Chopin (my pick) Colorado: Plainsong by Kent Haruf Maryland: Anything by Anne Tyler Georgia: Awakening by Kate Chopin Ohio: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Arkansas: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Virginia: John Grisham Idaho: Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson North Carolina: Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons Tennesee: Run by Ann Patchett New Jersey: Anything by Janet Ivanovich Texas: Anything by Elmer Kelton Connecticut: The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx Montana: The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie Utah: Edward Abbey South Carolina: Pat Conroy Iowa: Wallace Stegner Pennsylvania: John Updike and James Michener Missouri: Mark Twain New Hampshire: Robert Frost Kentucky: Robert Penn Warren California: John Steinbeck
Wondering where your state is? Coming soon… In the meantime, weigh in on future picks!
Curious about what states we’ve done so far and which ones are on deck?
Photo by marxchivistFirst, from Melanie Jones:
Alabama: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (check out my To Kill A Mockingbird Sample Kit!) Michigan: The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides Alaska: The Man Who Swam With Beavers by Nancy Lord Arizona: The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver North Dakota: Peace Like a River by Leif Enger Vermont: The Secret History by Donna Tartt Hawaii: Heads by Harry by Lois-ann Yamanaka Georgia: Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones Massachusettes: Mystic River by Dennis Lehane Oregon: Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey
And I happily borrowed the collective wisdom of Omnivoracious for
- Delaware: Marisa de los Santos (and W.D. Snodgrass, Robert Montgomery Bird, Jonathan Kellerman… they are choosing an author for every electoral vote…)
- New York: Too many to list… Check out the post!
And I went out on my own for…
Florida: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Nora Zeale Hurston Minnesota: In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O’Brien Wisconsin: When Madeline Was Young by Jane Hamilton Louisiana: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells (Jones’ pick) and The Awakening by Kate Chopin (my pick) Colorado: Plainsong by Kent Haruf Maryland: Anything by Anne Tyler Georgia: Awakening by Kate Chopin Ohio: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Arkansas: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Virginia: John Grisham Idaho: Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson North Carolina: Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons Tennesee: Run by Ann Patchett New Jersey: Anything by Janet Ivanovich Texas: Anything by Elmer Kelton Connecticut: The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx Montana: The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie Utah: Edward Abbey South Carolina: Pat Conroy Iowa: Wallace Stegner Pennsylvania: John Updike and James Michener Missouri: Mark Twain New Hampshire: Robert Frost Kentucky: Robert Penn Warren California: John Steinbeck
Wondering where your state is? Coming soon… In the meantime, weigh in on future picks!
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