One of Ours by Willa Cather
Brilliant and profound, One of Ours is the American novel about that episode of madness known as the First World War that will ring through the centuries. It has been a few years now that I’ve been working through Cather’s oeuvre (so far: The Professor’s House, O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, Death Comes for the Archbishop); my main wonder is why I didn’t start sooner. (For those whose children attend high schools which faculty have seen fit to remove Cather from the English class syllabi, I point to Jonathan Leer’s Radical Hope, listed below.)
Willa Cather Living by Edith Lewis
An exquisite memoir that has been wildly underestimated.
The Hidden Teachings of Rumi, and Lenses of Perception by Doug Marman
These two books spoke to me, as a novelist, very directly.
Child of the Sun by Lonn Taylor
Historian Lonn Taylor’s last book, a beautiful and moving memoir of his childhood in the Philippines.
P.S. You can listen in to my interview with Taylor about Far West Texas here.
The Kingdom of Speech by Tom Wolfe
The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health by Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr.
Uncomfortable reading, and alas, more than amply documented.
TechBondAge: Slavery of the Human Spirit by James Tunney
“We are relinquishing our sovereignty on the basis of our convenience”—a meditation on that by the Irish artist, barrister, and mystic.
Radical Hope: Ethics in the Face of Cultural Devastation by Jonathan Lear
The lessons of Plenty Coups.
Born to be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life and Mysterious Genius of Edward Gorey by Mark Dery
This prompted me to waste a ridiculous amount of time looking at vintage raccoon coats on Etsy. And to read E.F. Benson’s Mapp and Lucia novels.
Hidden Nature: The Startling Insights of Viktor Schauberger by Alick Bartholomew
By Jupiter! Schauberger’s concepts about water flows fixed my email.
The City of Hermes: Articles and Essays on Occultism and The King in Orange by John Michael Greer
It was during and after writing my own work, Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution, that I came to appreciate how rare and excellent a scholar of the history of metaphysical religion and of the occult we have in John Michael Greer.
The Secret Art: A Brief History of Radionic Technology for the Creative Individual by Duncan Laurie
This one is waaaay out, but I would recommend it for, as the title says, creative individuals. I’ve added it to my list of recommended works on creative process.
Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
A great American novel by an Irishman.
The Complete Mapp and Lucia, Volume I., by E.F. Benson
The first three novels, Queen Lucia, Miss Mapp , and Lucia in London. Light stuff, but wickedly funny and ah, the language!
Guarded by Dragons: Encounters with Rare Books and Rare People by Rick Gekoski
This is by no means a complete list. Stay curious!
P.S. Be sure to have a look at the many outstanding works by those authors featured in my fourth-Monday-of-the-month Q & A.
I welcome your courteous comments which, should you feel so moved, you can email to me here.
