Classics For The Rest of Us

Subject: Classics For The Rest of Us Mon Aug 17, 2009 6:04 pm

I haven't read most of the books the on the BBC's Haute Couture of Reading list that Phil posted. I have my own "classics," books that entertained me far more than Jane Austin ever could. I admit to the following as some of my all-time faves:

Private Parts by Howard Stern
The Happy Hooker by Xaviera Hollander
Sheila Levine is Dead and Living In New York by Gail Parent
Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
Shoot Low Boys, They're Riding Shetland Ponies by Lewis Grizzard

What books do you admit to liking better than Jane Austin?

Subject: Re: Classics For The Rest of Us Mon Aug 17, 2009 6:34 pm

I Hope You're Living As High On The Hog, As The Pig you Turned Out To Be.

Whisperin' Bill Anderson

Subject: Re: Classics For The Rest of Us Mon Aug 17, 2009 6:39 pm

Dear LC,
I have to admit that I am a sap for some of the old classics. There they were in my childhood, telling stories of places and people I would never meet who had not one thing in common with my life. Today, people watch movies and the graphics take them away into an imaginary place that they actually can see. An open eyed dream.

A lot of books have been written since Jane Austin.

Love,
Betty

Subject: Re: Classics For The Rest of Us Mon Aug 17, 2009 6:43 pm

It's been a long time since I've met a person who has read "The Happy Hooker." Quite a sensation when it first came out.

Malcolm

Subject: Re: Classics For The Rest of Us Mon Aug 17, 2009 7:17 pm

Cold Mountain, Cjharles Frazier
The Falling Torch, Algis Budrys
Here Be Dragons, Sharon Kay Penman
Falls the Shadow, Sharon Kay Penman
The Reckoning, Sharon Kay Penman
(aka The Welsh Trilogy)
The Virginian, Owen Wister
Shogun, James Clavell
Taipan, James Clavell
Noble House, James Clavell
The other four books of the Hitchhiker trilogy besides Hitchhiker's Guide..., Douglas Adams

Give me more time and I could add many more...

Ann

Subject: Re: Classics For The Rest of Us Mon Aug 17, 2009 8:24 pm

I like the ones listed here much more than the BBC's offering. Gotta
agree with Lewis Grizzard, LC. I think I read all of his. He was born
and raised very near my old hometown. He and the radio talk show host,
Ludlow Porch are kinfolk - cousins or step-brothers... I can't remember
which.

I Love You, Cathy Sue Laudermilk was one of my favorites.

Subject: Re: Classics For The Rest of Us Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:12 am

Malcolm wrote:: It's been a long time since I've met a person who admitted to reading "The Happy Hooker."

Fixed your post. Smile

Subject: Re: Classics For The Rest of Us Tue Aug 18, 2009 7:32 am

Anything by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain and a few of their contemporaries. Specifically Hammett's The Glass Key, The Thin Man and The Maltese Falcon and Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity and Mildred Pierce.
I agree with Ann about The Virginian.

In BBC territory I'd pick anything by P.D. James, Bill James and Conan Doyle.

OK, The Happy Hooker should be on everbody's list but I missed out on Private Parts.