What is your all time FAVORITE book?

[mt tom]

read LET'S ROLL! by LISA BEAMER this will tear your heart and make you proud that your an american

[Mr. Mojo]

My favorite non-fiction by RAW is The New Inquisition.

[BigBobber]

Don't get me started. The Patrick O'Brian sea stories are all fabulous.

[Richard Kimball]

The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test is good, but I personally prefer The Right Stuff, also by Tom Wolf, as is A Man in Full, and Bonfire of the Vanities, also noted on this thread.

The Caine Mutiny is one of my personal favorites, along with LOTR. Anything by Herman Wouk is brilliant, but Caine Mutiny and Winds of War are his best. I also liked Marjorie Morningstar by him, but it's not for everybody. For a meandering, philosophical book, I'll still pull out my old dog-eared copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. The Bible never gets old. Francis Schaeffer's "The God Who is There" is a brilliant book on Christianity in a post-modern world.

For heavier reading, The Bell Curve is a good, but long read. Robert Bork's The Tempting of America should be read by every thinking person, IMHO. Starship Troopers is a little long on philosophy and short on action for my tastes, but was certainly a worthy read.

For trash reading, Hollywood Babylon is a blast. Moe Howard's autobiography, Moe Howard and the Three Stooges, is short and poorly written, but I love it because it's Moe actually writing it, not a professional writer pretending to be Moe Howard. If you've ever gotten into comic books, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns is IMHO, the best comic book ever written. Raymond Chandler writes great old detective books, I can read any of the Philip Marlowe stories over and over.

I find most sports books to be a total waste, but When Pride Still Mattered, a biography of Vince Lombardi is a good read, as is Instant Replay by Jerry Kramer, an accounting of the Packers '67 Super Bowl season (kind of strange choices for a Cowboys fan.) As you may have guessed, I have weird taste.

[dasboot]

"It Takes a Village"

[Mr. Mojo]

LOL

[Capitalism2003]

Anyone read "The Savage Nation?" I just remembered it...saw Mike Savage on TV a few nights ago demolishing some lib...pretty funny.

[CFC__VRWC]

While we're talking sea stories, how about The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy.

[Indy Pendance]

"Reagan's War" by Peter Schweizer. It's about Ronald Reagan's fourty year struggle and final triumph over communism. Very parallel to what's happening in the Middle East today. Almost eerie.

[CharacterCounts]

Humorless one-dimensional heroes giving long-winded speeches?

Just because it took over 1,000 pages to say what most writers could have said in 100 doesn't necessarily make the book bad.

[Capitalism2003]

"Humorless one-dimensional heroes giving long-winded speeches?"

"Just because it took over 1,000 pages to say what most writers could have said in 100 doesn't necessarily make the book bad."

It's called drama people....DRAMA! Buy Atlas Shrugged! :)

[Richard Kimball]

You nailed that one. With all the Rander's at FR, I'm amazed you haven't been nailed to the wall yet. I tried to read it, but had pretty much the same opinion as you.

BTW, books everyone SHOULD have read as a kid, and are still great (I got to read them over again to mine):

Little House series
The Jungle Books
Old Yeller (can I admit I still get misty at the end?)
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

[PJ-Comix]

Just because it took over 1,000 pages to say what most writers could have said in 100 doesn't necessarily make the book bad.

Maybe but if John Galt was my dinner guest I would be screaming at him, "GET TO THE FRIGGIN' POINT ALREADY!!!"

[dasboot]

hehehe

"The Virtue of Selfishness" Rand

"Brave New World Revisited" Huxley (quick read)

And also on the "know thine enemy" list:

"Walden II" Skinner

[xp38]

I agree about the Gulag Archipelago but it is not light reading. I read in the 70s when it was released and knew then I was reading one of the masterworks of the 20th century. Very heavy slogging for my young mind but very worthwhile. I don't think I would call it my all time favorite book. It was like reading of the Bizarro planet. The clapping incident impressed me a great deal.

[PJ-Comix]

BTW, books everyone SHOULD have read as a kid...

Maybe I was a weird kid but I when a kid I mixed my Hardy Boys with "Travels of Xenophon," "Sirens of Titan," and Sherlock Holmes.

[Richard Kimball]

Nyuk, nyuk,nyuk! In the same vein, how about "I know why the caged bird sings"?

[CharacterCounts]

It's called drama people..

It's called trying to stay awake!

Stephen Crane only took about 300 pages to write "The Red Badge of Courage." That's drama.

[PJ-Comix]

The clapping incident impressed me a great deal.

Just be sure you're NOT the first one to stop clapping!

[Capitalism2003]

Ok, so maybe Rand does take her time in disecting the philosophy of the left...but she does it so well..obliterates each argument so perfectly...I really didn't mind the length. ;)