Staff Picks: Kim's Ten Favorite Books
 Each month, we ask one employee to tell us about their ten favorite books. This list is no holds barred -- any genre, any size -- whatever they really want to talk about. The only restriction is that the books still be in print so that we can help you find them if they sound good.This month's presenter is Kim, the man who handles all of our special orders and has worked here longer than almost anybody. |
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 From Here to Eternityby James Jones  "Norman Mailer stated that From Here to Eternity was the best novel to emerge from World War II. It probably is. James Jones went farther and deeper into the world of the military than any other writer. Joan Didion put it this way -- He was not writing about the army, but about life." |
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 The Thin Red Lineby James Jones "The sequel to From Here to Eternity. Jones takes a company of soldiers into combat for the first time and covers virtually every aspect of war, from cowardice to heroism, from poor leadership to victory. His is a view from the ground up, with little space for patriotism, good intentions, or meaning." |
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 The Monkey Wrench Gangby Edward Abbey "'Anyone who takes this book seriously will be shot, anyone who doesn't will be buried by a bulldozer.' This is the book that inspired Dave Foreman to start Earth First, and as Dick Cheney put it, 'The Monkey Wrench Gang is one of the best books I ever burned.'" |
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 Dispatchesby Michael Herr "One of the best books on Vietnam, written by Michael Herr, the correspondent for Esquire magazine. He wasn't sure why he was there, but neither was the United States. He gives a grunt's-eye view of the mostly meaningless, albeit costly, adventures of American foreign policy. We either wanted to free Vietnam from communist aggression or fit it into an ashtray." |
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 Recognitionsby William Gaddis "A neglected, overlooked novel about the world of art. Its main character is a forger who is a greater artist than the artists he steals from. Everyone else around him, from the critics who praise his forgeries, to the collectors who buy them, and all the wannabes inbetween, are all phonies." |
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 All the King's Menby Robert Penn Warren "Based loosely on the legend of Huey Long, 'The Kingfisher', All the King's Men is a penetrating look into politics. It is beautifully written, a poem really, that leaves its readers staggered by its insight and beauty." |
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 The Long Goodbyeby Raymond Chandler "The best of the Chandler mysteries, and his most ambitious work. Philip Marlowe is left with a five thousand dollar bill he can't spend, clients he can't help, and a friend presumed to be dead in Mexico. So why is he being hassled by gangsters, cops, cultists, and his own conscience? This is the story where Chandler was being described as writing like a slumming angel." |
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 Pomona Queenby Kem Nunn "Another slumming angel, Kem Nunn is the best pulp writer in America. Pomona Queen is the story of a man who travels through a dark night of the soul and comes to grips with himself. His company on this journey is one Dan Brown, a raging psychopath, and his past which is the history of the San Gabriel valley." |
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 Dogs of Winterby Kem Nunn "A masterpiece set in Northern California, about two middle-aged surfers in search of the largest cold water wave. Nunn's native talent as a writer is comparable to that of Cormac McCarthy's, but instead of the West that McCarthy describes so elegantly, Nunn writes about the leftovers of that West: surfers and artists, poverty-stricken native Americans, and the struggle to regain what has been lost." |
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 Desert Solitaireby Edward Abbey "A collection of essays covering the time the author spent as a park ranger in the desert. Abbey is a modern-day Thoreau who found a home in the wilderness, and he describes with profound joy the intricate and fragile workings of nature." |
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