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Mississippi Bundrening Modern Library #35 1930, William Faulkner At some point in my life, I got it into my head that Faulkner was unreadable. I don’t know how that thought got there, for I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by him before and it’s not like I hang out with a bunch of anti-Faulkner misanthropes. … [Read more...]

How Sista Got Her Groove Back Modern Library # 33 1900, Theodore Dreiser First, a mildly entertaining personal story about this book. Back in 2005, before our kids and other such grown-up nonsense, my wife Hoang and I used to go on fun little vacations. One such trip took us to South Beach. And yes, it surely … [Read more...]

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss Modern Library # 31 1946, George Orwell I know... "Animal Farm?! The little novella about talking animals that we all read in 7th grade?" Yes, that's right. Even if I had read it prior - and I hadn't - the rules of the Top 100 game that Hoang and I are playing dictate … [Read more...]

But Not a Very Good Book Modern Library # 30 1915, Ford Madox Ford The coolest thing about "The Good Soldier" is the author's name: Ford Madox Ford. Totally out-Jolie-Pitted Jolie-Pitt a full century earlier. That being said, that means that the book itself wasn't all that cool. Admittedly, I read about 4 … [Read more...]

Don't Be a Dicole* Modern Library # 28 1934, F. Scott Fitzgerald *Dicole: Pronoun, the cutesy made up name used in the novel for the "perfect" married couple, Dick and Nicole Diver Yes, it's true... F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote a Top 100 novel other than "The Great Gatsby," and the main characters really do … [Read more...]

This Burg Could Use Some Wine Modern Library # 24 1919, Sherwood Anderson Winesburg, Ohio contains a map of the town on the first page. For that, I already liked the book before I read a word of it. But once I got my head around how this book works, I liked the rest of it as well. This book could be another … [Read more...]

Ju-Ju Be Dead Modern Library # 22 1934, John O’Hara After suffering through the worst book I’ve ever read (To the Lighthouse), I was determined to immediately pick up another, vastly different and hopefully much better book with which to purge my brain of anything Virginia Woolfy. I was also under the gun (as it … [Read more...]

Raining on My Parade Modern Library # 21 1959, Saul Bellow The worst thing about this terrible book? Saul Bellow has another book on this Top 100 list. Ugh. After struggling through "Henderson" for a few months (and this, after a false start a few years ago), I'm still wondering how I could have missed the … [Read more...]

To The Lighthouse… To Climb Up and Hurl Myself Off the Top Modern Library # 15 1925, Virginia Woolf Where to begin reviewing the book I wanted to rate a 0, but Hoang didn’t allow it due to the fact that our 1-10 rating scale doesn’t allow for 0’s. How to fairly critique a book that I hated so much it took me … [Read more...]

War IS Peace, Man Modern Library # 13 1949, George Orwell Since you’ve all read 1984, I don’t really see much of a point discussing the book. Okay, okay, I will in a minute. But I have a story of my own to tell you first. In 1984 I turned 12. In 1985 I entered 7th grade. My English teacher was Mrs. Cundiff … [Read more...]