Best Non-Fiction you've ever read?
The People's History of the United States of America - Howard Zinn
this is my favorite. I read it once a year.
"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotisms." Albert Einstein
Rum Diary- Hunter S Thompson
Junkie- William S. Burroughs
History of the Peloponnesian War- Thucydides
life's pretty straight without vidalia :You_Rock_
The Cuckoos Egg by Clifford Stoll
Dance of Days by Mark Anderson
[i]The Cool of the Wild[/i] by Howard Tomb. It's out of print, tho.
[SIZE=1][QUOTE=ehquestionmark]Wow. This little thread got CRAZY. People telling me to abuse my girlfriend, people showing an alarming lack of respect for women as a whole, people questioning my masculinity in some kind of bizarre machoistic pissing-contest. Hell, I even got called stuffy. [/QUOTE]
[URL=http://confessionalpoe.blogspot.com]Grand Mental Station[/URL]
[URL=http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/community/showthread.php?t=15714&highlight=interview+insomnomaniac]Insomnomaniac: the found interview[/URL][/SIZE]
the long hard road out of hell by marilyn manson. one of the few non fiction books ive read
his grandfather was one sick fuck...it was funny too esp. the lists in the book.
probably the electric kool-aid acid test by tom wolfe
Doyle Brunson's [I]Super System[/I]
I haven't read much, I'm overwhelmed with fiction as it is. But Stiff: Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, and Cemetery Stories where both really good and entertaining.
feeble, if you liked long hard road you should check out Dissecting Marilyn Manson by Gavin Baddeley.
[SIZE=1][QUOTE=ehquestionmark]Wow. This little thread got CRAZY. People telling me to abuse my girlfriend, people showing an alarming lack of respect for women as a whole, people questioning my masculinity in some kind of bizarre machoistic pissing-contest. Hell, I even got called stuffy. [/QUOTE]
[URL=http://confessionalpoe.blogspot.com]Grand Mental Station[/URL]
[URL=http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/community/showthread.php?t=15714&highlight=interview+insomnomaniac]Insomnomaniac: the found interview[/URL][/SIZE]
Black Hawk Down - Mark Bowden (I've got Killing Pablo by him but havent read it yet.
Perfect Storm- Sebastian Junger
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/Lazlosdead/completeLazloSig.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by jastek [/i]
[B]Any beat-generation stuff...
Kerouac (On The Road, Dharma Bums)
Kesey (Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test) [/B][/QUOTE]
ken kesey didnt write that book but it was about him and his band of merry pranksters
Psychotic Reactions and Carbuerator Dung - Lester Bangs. A good collection of essays & articles about pop music (mostly of the 70's.) A fun read that is also very often thought-provoking. Best when going off on something he hates.
Psychotic Reactions and Carbuerator Dung - Lester Bangs. A good collection of essays & articles about pop music (mostly of the 70's.) A fun read that is also very often thought-provoking. Best when going off on something he hates.
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by mercymissesyou [/i]
[B]Ages ago I read a biography of Francis Farmer called Shadowland. Her story really stuck with me... [/B][/QUOTE]
Oh yeah, The needle going up under her eyelid.
Yes, Lester Bangs, very good...
Excellent pages about John Lennon.
I loved Kinski Uncut, he was such a wacky bastard. There's this one part where he sets aside a passage to say how he went out looking for sunflowers and he was so happy when he found one and he carried it with him, but then people laughed at him and he got upset and threw it away. I've also read the book Party Monster was based on and I thought it was hilarious, has anyone seen the moogie? Is it any good?
Jack Henry Abbott- In The Belly of the Beast(with introduction by Norman Mailer). makes Shawshank Redemption look like a sit-com, as far as prison stories. uber-intense book.
Marjorie Wallace- Silent Twins. it's about this pair of twins that couldn't find any place for themselves in the world, so they retreated into their own fantasy world with eachother and ended up in a mental hospital.
Augusten Burroughs- Running With Scissors. truth really is stranger than fiction.
Mara Leveritt- Devils Knot. Free the west memphis three!
I know the title is "best non-fiction you've ever read," which implies that you pick just one. sorry. there's too many to pick just one.
[QUOTE]FUNK IT WET; 6 DAYS[/QUOTE] -the prophesy in Maddie's orange juice squirts.
Dead Reckoning. It was recommended in Maxim like two years ago, when I wasn't really finding stuff I wanted to read. It is about the different things that go into evidence discovery at a crime scene. It is written by Michael Baden. It was really interesting to learn about some of the things that M.E.s have to go through to get evidence.
I don't fucking beleive you have a Gir avatar. that is the coolest thing i have ever seen. you put a smile on my face.
[QUOTE]FUNK IT WET; 6 DAYS[/QUOTE] -the prophesy in Maddie's orange juice squirts.
.JPG "mugwump's picture")
junkie by william s. burroughs because of its style and bare honesty
and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter s. thompson cuz I laughed my ass off on every page, and it made a great point: the american dream is dead.
What?
Bringing Down the House - by Ben Mezrich
It's the story of how a bunch of MIT students take Vegas for millions, thanks to the game of blackjack. Doesn't sound that exciting, but it is. I'd love for it to be turned into a movie.
Happy Isles of Oceania - by Paul Theroux
That takes second place.
"You shouldn't drink, then go on the internet, Dan..."
~Brian C. Jennings
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by jastek [/i]
[B]I guess biography-wise, I liked Monster (about a Los Angeles Crip named Monster Cody). I don't read that much non-fiction all the way through, unless it's a biography of some type. Textbook stuff, I usually start but never finish. Crazy Wisdom was pretty good--about Eastern Religions and Philosophies.
On another note--I was listening to NPR a couple of week's ago, and they were interviewing a guy who had just written a book about Ferdinand Magellan and the first expedition to successfully circumscribe the globe by sailing. Does anyone know the name of this book, or who wrote it? [/B][/QUOTE]
is this it?
[url]http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=2YFWN5Y688&sourceid=00399898567021378580&bfdate=12%2D13%2D2003+00%3A19%3A38&isbn=0066211735&itm=1[/url]
Over The Edge Of The World
Laurence Bergreen
October 2003
hope that helps
I really loved "Zero" by Charles Seife. ...maybe that's just the math geek in me talking though :-/
I liked "Fast Food Nation" too.
I definately need to read more non-fiction!
I recently finished Jim Goad's "Shit Magnet"....one of the best non-fiction works I've ever read!
[img]http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/fan/cw/allstars/milehighmanciniBronze.gif[/img]
"This ain't goodbye, just [I]au revoir[/I]....motherfucker."
ooh, i'm reading "Redneck Manifesto" right now. it's quite good so far.
[SIZE=1][QUOTE=ehquestionmark]Wow. This little thread got CRAZY. People telling me to abuse my girlfriend, people showing an alarming lack of respect for women as a whole, people questioning my masculinity in some kind of bizarre machoistic pissing-contest. Hell, I even got called stuffy. [/QUOTE]
[URL=http://confessionalpoe.blogspot.com]Grand Mental Station[/URL]
[URL=http://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/community/showthread.php?t=15714&highlight=interview+insomnomaniac]Insomnomaniac: the found interview[/URL][/SIZE]
CHE: A Revolutionary Life. It's the only book that made me cry.
"Scar Tissue" - Anthony Kiedis
"Mr Nice" - Howard Marks
Come Be My Light - Brian Kolodiejchuk (Mother Theresa's journals). Brian's part of the book is okay, the biographical info, but it's rather tedious at times. Mother Theresa's own words, however, are amazing. They are often very dark and interestingly conflicted for someone so devout.
The End Of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason - Sam Harris
| adj | facebook | an american atheist| warmed and bound |
This book was near perfect. Its also my favorite, along with "The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East" by Robert Fisk.
In Cold Blood - Truman Capote - there's a reason it changed the genre forever
Alive! The Story of the Andes Survivors - Piers Paul Read - only an outsider could do that story justice
Communist Manifesto - Marx - even if you disagree with his philosophy the words on the page are pure poetry even in translation.
Worst non-fiction I've ever read:
Disco Bloodbath - James St. James - how do you take something as interesting as a Special K-related drug murder in clubland New York and make it boring?? AND he lived through it!! Not an easy feat but with terrible writing, I suppose nothing is impossible.
"I thought I had mono once for an entire year. Turns out I was just really bored."
Wayne Campbell
For anyone that likes poker, or just want a hell of a good non-fiction read, check out Positively Fifth Street by James McManus.
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
I like all of Jon Krakauer's books, especially Into Thin Air which I've read 3-4 times.
Pretty much everything by Oliver Sacks. I'd recommend starting with either An Anthropologist from Mars or The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.
The Ethics of What We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter by Peter Singer and Jim Mason
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James
Currently reading What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell.
His other books are really good too. Blink, Tipping Point, and Outliers.
I love non-fiction. And lately I've been reading all non-fiction.
Before starting What the Dog Saw I finished Predictably Irrational. That book was great.
And before that I finished Don't Believe Everything You Think.
Blood, Sweat, and Tears - Winston Churchill
This is a collection of Churchill's speeches. The guy is a genius.
The Only Possible Argument in Support of a Demonstration of the Existence of God - Immanuel Kant
The guy has a pretty decent point, and I'm an agnostic.
The Definitive Book of Handwriting Analysis: The Complete Guide to Interpreting Personalities, Detecting Forgeries, and Revealing Brain Activity Through the Science of Graphology - Dr. Mark Seifer
This book is just cool. Kind of a lost art due to email and texting, I mean, no one really writes anymore, but extremely interesting, nonetheless.
The Rebel- Albert Camus
This book discusses the motivation behind revolution...phenomenal.
"...you want to be truly unselfish? Love someone or die for someone. Those are the only good deeds you can perform without any hope of personal gain."
I still need to get that book on salt.
Everyone should read "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan
Good:
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex Mary Roach
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Mary Roach
Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea Carl Zimmer
Uranium: War, Energy and the Rock That Shaped the World Tom Zoellner
The Year of Living Biblically A. J. Jacobs
Pass:
The Know-It-All A. J. Jacobs
Think for yourself. Question Authority.
since when was literature and beat authors considered non-fiction?
i loved Bukowski's Ham On Rye but it's written as a novel. as fiction. so, technically, none of that shit counts as non-fiction.
so my vote is for Nikki Sixx and The Heroin Diaries... which i don't have in front of me, so i can't honestly say if it's written as a non-fiction memoir, or floated under fiction like the previously mentioned shit. it's really not that great of a book. but i can't recall the names of all those Irish Republican Army books i read back in high school, so i will have to go with Nikki Sixx. just because he's cool.
and because i'm that superficial.
not sure but i think the rum diary and fear and loathing are fiction altho they contain elements of non fiction.
on the road by jack Kerouac also. most of it happened to some one, but not in the context of the story...i think jack did more than change the names.
both good authors...also, does anyone else read hunter s thompson using johnny depp's impersonation of hunter from the movie? they are really very close... but yeah so the voice in my head sounds like johnny depp, but it makes for a great rythm when i read.
There is poetry in despair, and we sang with unrivaled beauty.
The Alphabet vs. the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image, by Leonard Shlain.
The Cosmic Serpent: Consciousness and the Origins of Knowledge, by Jeremy Narby.
Also, Narby's Intelligence In Nature.
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
Pretty much everything by Oliver Sacks. I'd recommend starting with either An Anthropologist from Mars or The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.
Those were the first two I read by him, and in that order. very highly recommended, fascinating works, and he's a good writer as well.
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Should be read by *every* American.
The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James
Also excellent!
Woot, Mirkah!
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Pretty sure I'm going to catch a lot of shit for this one, but...
How to Make Love Like a Porn Star - Jenna Jameson
Don't knock it till you try it, it was actually a very good read. I can't believe I forgot about this one.
"...you want to be truly unselfish? Love someone or die for someone. Those are the only good deeds you can perform without any hope of personal gain."
No one's said 1984 by George Orwell? I know it's not too complex, but come on, people. The beauty in the oppression of authoritarian socialism with the the colorless imagery in everything it is involved with overshadowing the minute relationship of two rebels who betray each other in the end was just amazing! There's no was that I was the only person who found it humorous when Winston admits he was about to smash her head in with a snow globe where she reacts by laughing as if at a yacht club lunch social. The idiocy of the masses was irriating, but it's what's necessary for hostile takeovers. It felt like a '60s film in the time setting of the '40s when I read it.
Wow. My bad. Tried to stop this from being posted. Favorite nonfiction would have to be Whoever Fights Monsters by Robert K. Ressler.
on the road by jack Kerouac also. most of it happened to some one, but not in the context of the story...i think jack did more than change the names.
precisely
You think 1984 was non-fiction?
"...you want to be truly unselfish? Love someone or die for someone. Those are the only good deeds you can perform without any hope of personal gain."
No, that's why I repost "my bad" right after it. I can't believe that not only did he die one year after that book being published but when London installed CCTV cameras all over the city did they place 33 outside his former residence. He's dead.
Don't hate.
I liked.
Anais Nin's Diary (all 3 volumes)
Moondust: In Search of the Men who fell to Earth by Andrew Wilson is incredible. I didn't give a damn about the moon (big stupid lump of rock - how I hated it) but the book was fantastic. If I remember, it almost made me cry! Howsabouthat!
Sun Tzu - The art of war