Obscure books you think should be read - and why

[UncleDuke]

>>Black Rednecks and White Liberals<< by Thomas Sowell //2005//

challenges the long-prevailing assumptions about blacks, about Jews, about Germans, about slavery, and about education.

a powerful book. by the way, Sowell is black.

[bbusybookworm]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

Throwing my hat in the ring, too, for the Feynman book(s). "Surely You're Joking" was just one of them. You should definitely read his biography, Genius, by James Gleick.

Oh I agree, The other Feynman books are great, but none of the others are so bone jarring hilarious. It is also quiet accessable, as it requies no prior knowledge or intrest in science or feynman.

Thats why I usually recommand statying with this, and then moving on to his other books.

[alia]

I love Chasing the Mountain of Light: Across India on the Trail of the Koh-i-noor Diamond. Mystery and adventure and intrigue all rolled into one. I do read non-fiction, but I generally don't devour it the way I do fiction... however, this true story had me entranced. Sadly, I don't think it's available as an eBook in ANY format... I checked BooksOnBoard, Amazon, etc... I can only find the dead tree version. But it's definitely worth reading.

[Taylor514ce]

Alia, you'd like Diamond, by Matthew Hart, subtitled "The History of a Cold-Blooded Love Affair". ISBN 0-452-28370-1. Ebook status unknown.

[zelda_pinwheel]

curse you, ralph sir edward ! and all the rest of ye ! my reading list was already probably too long to reasonably fit inside one lifetime, and now look what you've done.

i really think i will have to quit my job, and do nothing else, but read. (oh, the torture )

on that note, i'm going to bed (to read...) now.

[Greg Anos]

Fear, destruction, and chaos. My job here is done......

Seriously, I'm glad to see the responses. They are mind and taste and world-view stretching suggestions. Like Zelda_Pinwheel, I don't when I'll get to them, but I'll give it a go. Keep them coming...(hello, ABE.COM)

This one is not too obscure, but it's a great "playing games in your head" fantasy book. Silverlock, by John Myers Myers. It's a fantasy about reading. Imagine this thread as a book (and a very entertaining one, at that).

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Fear, destruction, and chaos. My job here is done......

Seriously, I'm glad to see the responses. They are mind and taste and world-view stretching suggestions. Like Zelda_Pinwheel, I don't when I'll get to them, but I'll give it a go. Keep them coming...(hello, ABE.COM)

This one is not too obscure, but it's a great "playing games in your head" fantasy book. Silverlock, by John Myers Myers. It's a fantasy about reading. Imagine this thread as a book (and a very entertaining one, at that).

Yes, Silverlock is a wonderful book. I actually have the First Edition.

Silverlock has been compared to the witty fantasies of James Branch Cabell.

If you can find this book, I heartily recommend it.

[Greg Anos]

Silverlock is available at NESFA press (in hardcover) with a built-in 100+ page concordance....

[hapax legomenon]

Anything by Dino Buzzati. I recommend Restless Nights. Also, Siren collection is also good.

Borgesian fiction reminiscient of Calvino, with a little fantasy thrown in.

[pilotbob]

Obscure book you should read:

_Developing Visual FoxPro Applications with Visual Fox Express_

Why you should read it...

Because I wrote it.

BOb

[RWood]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Boscure book you should read:

_Developing Visual FoxPro Application with Visual Fox Express_

Why you should read it...

Because I wrote it.

BOb

So you are that BOb. I have one client that has it as they still use FoxPro. (The last serious development I did in Fox was in FoxBASE+) I remember reading part of that book about a year ago.

[alia]

Originally Posted by Taylor514ce

Alia, you'd like Diamond, by Matthew Hart, subtitled "The History of a Cold-Blooded Love Affair". ISBN 0-452-28370-1. Ebook status unknown.

Thanks for the recommendation, Taylor! I'll definitely check it out.

[tompe]

Is Will Cuppy obscure? His The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody should be read because it is so funny and it is claimed that the historical details are correct. It is very dry humour.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by RWood

So you are that BOb. I have one client that has it as they still use FoxPro. (The last serious development I did in Fox was in FoxBASE+) I remember reading part of that book about a year ago.

i never read that book, but i did have a temp job just after university filling information into a foxpro database. that was a reeeeeally boring job. but it might not have been foxpro's fault. and i won't hold you accountable, Bob, either.

[Patricia]

Originally Posted by tompe

Is Will Cuppy obscure? His The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody should be read because it is so funny and it is claimed that the historical details are correct. It is very dry humour.

Well, his How to be a Hermit has already been posted in our Book Uploads section.