Please, make it The Name of the Rose. Foucault's Pendulum is full of Eco showing off. As I said previously, GEB is art. If you don't dig the style, it makes for a very tough trip. There is a lot of plain old style in there. Also, he wrote it 35 years ago, and the book also carries a reputation. It's funny, I recall that when I bought my copy at a small bookstore in Portland, the cashier said something like: "Ah GEB, the book everyone buys, but no one reads". I remember being offended and replying "I am reading it." Maybe that's part of why I did. I was also 22 years old. I wonder how it would read now. The Gadfly is a nice quick read. minimum_wage I think you'd dig it. EDIT: I was at a rented cabin in August with that Kinkade over the mantel.
It's in the cart. Prolly next up. Yay fiction! Been too long. I actually kinda dig Kinkade's schtick, at least when he turns it down to 2 or 3. There was a guy with a gallery on the Plaza in Santa Fe named Dale Terbush who was kind of like Thomas Kinkade and Albert Bierstadt's love child. I always dug his shit.
My cousin is an artist and said that Thomas Kinkade inspired her to paint WalMarts. Here is one such inspired painting: 
Not finding any more "Walmart" ones. Here's a Bed Bath and Beyond: And her very controversial (at the time of release) Nascar Jesus: But my favorite is "McPressionism" They're from a series she calls "Brandscapes" She's now a "moreganic" farmer. Her farm is called Garden Fort -Little plug for her current endeavor. -She's easily one of my favorite humans.
I think she may have sold them already. This was probably 5 years ago that she did them. She's also one hell of a violinist, but she's put all that aside and is fully dedicated to farming. Her and her soon to be husband bought an old farm house and have re established its old farm. They're pretty bad ass. -See link (edit) in previous comment.
kleinbl00, This sentence alone was worth reading your review of a book I know nothing about: As for recommendations, I always suggest that people read A Prayer for Owen Meany, for fiction and for non-fiction, as an audio engineer, I think you'd dig Geoff Emerick's Here, There and Everywhere. -It has WAY less to do with the Beatles than it does with audio recording in the age of the Beatles. Pretty cool.EDIT: I was at a rented cabin in August with that Kinkade over the mantel.
Ha. I'm sorry to read that. Could there be a more busy looking "peaceful" cabin? How many things are in that sky? In that water? So busy, so awful. My neighbor growing up used to make me look at his mom's "Kinkaid" and tell me how expensive it was. "look at all that detail..." -He now manages a restaurant in Ann Arbor :)When he chose to flirt somewhat uncomfortably with my special placement teacher in 8th grade, it was the subject of their flirtation. So there's that.
I gotta swim through this list first. Or at least, the ones I haven't read that I think are in some way applicable to my life. I owe mk 9 books alone.