I'm super-duper late on this. But here are a few books I can read over and over again... Lolita, Vladmir Nabokov. So lyrical, funny as hell, and masterfully written. This man influenced me heavily. (The writing part, not the pedophile part.) Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy. Another master at work, and (in my opinion) this is his masterpiece. Some of the most on-point dialogue you'll ever read comes from this man's head. Jarringly violent and told with this sort of neo-biblical voice that only few can pull off. An impressive work that I come back to every now and again. As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner. Another massive influence on me. Honestly, it's hard to pick just one of his novels. I had never read anything like it before. Faulkner's plotting and pacing has always impressed me. I love how he jumps into the mind's of all of these different characters, and each one feels fresh and different. A book packed with meaning and dark humor, one of my all-time favorites.
Thanks 1hun - Now the money question: Are the books that you love and the ones that influenced you most and ones you keep going back to -- are they the same ones that are piled up by your bedside? Strangely, the books by my bedside are not the ones I'm reading or ones by my favourite authors --except the Paul Auster book. He is one of my favourite authors, but the one by my bed is one of PA's books that starts with a man sitting alone in a room.
That's a good question, lil. I'd say it's a mixed bag--certain authors and books influenced me at different points in my life, for a bunch of different reasons. So I guess my list bedside books would be different depending on when you asked me. For example, when I was in high school I read this book called The Last Domino by little-known author Adam Meyer. It's one of my favorite books and I remember at the time how great of a story I thought it was. I read it three times, I e-mailed the author and asked him for writing tips. I haven't picked it up in a few years now but it inspired me a lot. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is another favorite book of mine that (again) I read in high school. Now, I have a much broader view of literature as a whole--I read (a lot) more than I did in high school and other books have had time to impact me.