Yesterday, we pored over Slate staffers’ wonderful, diverse, and irreverent list of books they recommend students read before starting college in the fall. Their picks ranged from Saul Bellow to Joseph Mitchell to Zadie Smith… and an essential tome on how to brew your own beer. After adding some of their suggestions to our own to-read list, we got to thinking about the authors that you really need to read before you set off for college, that halfway house to adulthood — the writers whose work is too wide-eyed, precocious, idealistic, dramatic, drug-fueled, or otherwise youthful to fully appreciate once you’re holding down a 9-to-5 and paying rent. They aren’t necessarily “childish” writers but simply legends you might hate if you’ve never looked at them with a teenager’s eyes. We suggest that those of you with only a month left until you move into the dorms get started now.
One of the things we love most about Mad Men (and we’re big fans, so it’s hard to pick) is that the show is chock full of significant period details. And few things say more about a character or era than books. From its first season, the impeccably literate series has showcased everything from popular novels of the early ’60s to classic literature. After the jump, we’ve compiled an extensive list of books featured in, based on, or that inspired Mad Men, broken down by season. Happy — or, more realistically, dramatic and depressing but still valuable and gripping — reading!
With summer comes sunshine, idle afternoons, and book lists meant to fill up sunny, idle afternoons with reading. We decided to make a one-stop location — a list of lists, if you will— to help navigate your page-turning adventures this season. Expect a radiant dose of business, politics, education, and pure pleasure to accompany your beach blanket and sunscreen. Leave a comment with a link — or just a few suggestions — if you’ve a summer reading list you’d like to share.
This summer, infinitesummer.org is challenging readers to take on David Foster Wallace’s gargantuan opus Infinite Jest. The project got us thinking about other ways to theme-itize our summer reading.
Memorial Day marks the de facto start of summer, but since it also marks a lot of rad TV marathons (which reminds us: SoapNET, thank you so much for Donnarama), it’s understandable that you may not have had a chance to pick up your big fat beach book yet. (We spent the weekend finally finishing up Richard Price’s much-buzzed about Lush Life, a crime mystery which was good, but ended with a bit of a whimper. And definitely not a beachy read.) To get you started, here’s a summary of what the Internet’s literati are recommending. Read More »
