a thread from last yr. - some good ones in here -
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...part=1&vc=1
I stand by what I wrote then:
Readable "literate" fiction (ignore all movies made out of these):
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
Nobody's Fool - Richard Russo
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - Michael Chabon
Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry
The Power of One - Bryce Courtenay
Ragtime - EL Doctorow
The Rabbit Novels - John Updike (4 in all, each written about 10 yrs apart from 1960-1990)
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara (somewhat accurate historical fiction account of Gettysburg)
The Stand - Stephen King - unabridged version
worth the effort:
War and Peace
Grapes of Wrath
nonfiction - Barbarians at the Gate (story of RJR Nabisco LBO in 1980's)
The Great Bridge - McCullough - story of Brooklyn Bridge
The Big Test - Nicholas Lemann - story of SATs and impact on American society
anything by Kurt Eichenwald