What Book Am I? After 500 the answer is: Number 500.

You're Ulysses!

by James Joyce

Most people are convinced that you don't make any sense, but compared
to what else you could say, what you're saying now makes tons of sense. What people do
understand about you is your vulgarity, which has convinced people that you are at once
brilliant and repugnant. Meanwhile you are content to wander around aimlessly, taking in
the sights and sounds of the city. What you see is vast, almost limitless, and brings you
additional fame. When no one is looking, you dream of being a Greek folk hero.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

In one of those serendipitous experiences that can only happen in cyber space, I was randomly clicking on people who had posted on one of my favorite author's blogs and they had a link to discover which book I am. As corny and stupid as these quizes are, I took it anyway and there I was Book 500. Yep, that is me. More on me tomorrow.

Zen in the Art of Writing, Ray Bradbury

This is book 499 of the first 500 and I'm about to embark on the second 500 for the New Year.

I've read Bradbury's short stories, The Martian Chronicles, and Farhenheit 451 and as always, I'm interested to see what a famous author has to say about the experience of writing. Some other interesting books have been penned by Susie Bright, Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul, Milan Kundera and Stephen King.

The essays in this collection tend to be repetitive with many of the same ideas propounded over and over again: word association, childhood memories, and writing a short story a week. Maybe this is what Bradbury had in mind when he said Zen in the writing -- constant, meditative, mind numbing repitition. Along with the essays on writings, he throws in some poetry, which I found lacking, wishing he'd stuck with prose.

The strongest essay in the book is the title piece, in which Bradbury discloses that he knows almost nothing about Zen Buddhism, but found some parallels in the art of writing and the practice of Zen. To fully flush out the Zen/writing connection, the books of Natalie Goldberg are excellent, particularly Writing Down the Bones.

The strength of Bradbury's essay though isn't on the comparison of writing to Zen, but on the observation that the writer yearning for commercial success and the writer yearning for acceptance in literary circles are still both yearning and that desire affects their ability to create art. I've always struggled and felt torn in my own writing between my desire for a literary masterpiece and a commercial success. Bradbury suggests that you forget about either and focus on the craft and in creating something that is uniquely you and if your talent and your work ethic are sufficient, then you may just achieve both. Bradbury, himself, has done this on occasion with his work, transcending pop science fiction culture into literary realms, which gives his argument validity.

So, here are the writing books in the last 500 that relate to this post:

103 The Martian Chronicles, Ray Bradbury
16 Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg
56 Long, Quiet Highway, Natalie Goldberg
258 Thunder and Lightning, Natalie Goldberg
464 The Great Failure, Natalie Goldberg
215 Reading and Writing, V.S. Naipaul
241 On Writing, Stephen King
497 How to Write a Dirty Story, Susie Bright
284 The Art of the Novel, Milan Kundera

The Meaning of Everything by Simon Winchester

The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester.

Book 498.

I've read three other books that proclaim to be about Everything -- Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything and Ken Wilber's A Theory of Everything and A Brief History of Everything. Bryson's book is a breezy scientific non-fiction book and Wilber's are based on his Integral Philosophy. However, the book that conjured the same feelings in me as Winchester's was What Should I Do With My Life? by Po Bronson, because Winchester's characters handling the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary were all forced to make the decision on whether to devote a lifetime to putting the dictionary together -- or not.

I was most intrigued with the desire of numerous volunteers and editors to devote themselves to a cause that was at times seemingly impossible to acheive. I couldn't help but wonder if I could devote myself to such an endeavor, even though I would probably never see the project's conclusion. I'm grateful to those who did and I just felt grateful I only had to read about it. The irony of the title, The Meaning of Everything, is that the dictionary became everything to the people who were sucked into participating.

My favorite character has to be the skulling, young lady afficianado, lawyer, scholar Fredrick James Furnivall. He nearly kills the dictionary, but he is out rowing on the Thames at the age of 80+ and somehow seems to have more a grasp of the meaning of everything, than those obsessed with the meaning of words.

Don't get me wrong, the obsession to know everything and to know words is strong for me and made Winchester's book a pleasant read and one I would recommend to any word buff.

The dictionary is the star of Winchester's book. I know that I want my own OED now, so if any of you want to buy me one. . .

Winchester has mined the history of the Oxford English Dictionary for a book before in The Profeesor and the Madman. It has been some time since I read The Professor and the Madman, but as I recall it was similar, just a more detailed account than the short account he gives in Chapter 7 of The Meaning of Everything.

What Should I Do With My Life? by Po Bronson Book 155

Ken Wilber's A Theory of Everything Book 11

Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything Book 244

The Profeesor and the Madman by Simon Winchester Book 159

The Contents of My Back Pack

I haul a lot of books around with me. At any given moment I am midstream of 60 or 70 books, but if I get torn too off course, I'll go back and start anew.

So, here are the books I'm currently reading, many of which I'm sure will end up in the next block of 500 and may even end up in the last three, although I've already decided which book is going to be number 500 -- Ulysses by James Joyce. I'm currently through 16 episodes and have two more to go.

I've read raves about the book and I've had a life long struggle connecting to Joyce. I read A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man in college and all I remember is how much I hated the book. I probably ought to go back and read that book again. I enjoyed The Dubliners, but Joyce has always felt inaccessible. Finnegan's Wake looms on the horizon, but I think I've had just about enough Joyce for now. Joyce is maddening because you know that he has crammed so much detail, minutae, trivia, mythology, literary references, literary styles and historical details into this non-narrative novel that most of the time I had that awful feeling of "I just don't get it." No one likes to be made to feel stupid, and Ulysses makes me feel that way at times. On a couple of rare occasions, I get that feeling that comes only with great literature -- a feeling of connection, depth and genius being conveyed to me through the words. I've felt like this about Ulysses a couple of times in the previous sixteen episodes and I have a hunch that my lack of feeling was due more to my unpreparedness and lack of knowledge, rather than any defects in Joyce.

Although it does raise a valuable question: If you communicate your genius beyond the ability of the audience to understand, is that desirable? effective? useful? What is the point if no one gets it? Joyce did something right, judging by the books staying power, but he didn't make his art suited for a mass market audience. I'll do more on Joyce and Ulysses later.

Some more books in my backpack:

The Meaning of Everything, Simon Winchester
Best American Erotica 2002, Susie Bright, editor
Story of O, Pauline Reage
Orpheus Emerges, Jack Kerouac
Chronicles of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
James Joyce's Ulysses, A Study, Stuart Gilbert
Letters to a Young Contrarian, Christopher Hitchens
Elements of Style, Strunk and White
Kangaroo Notebook, Kobo Abe
Severance, Robert Olen Butler
Move On's 50 Ways to Love Your Country, MoveOn.org
Why Orwell Matters, Christopher Hitchens
Mythic Worlds, Modern Words, Joseph Campbell

Well, if I finish all of those, I'll be ten books into the next fifty.

3 Books and 4 Plays

I have three books to read to reach 500 since July of 2000. I have four plays to attend before I reach 100 theater performances since the start of the decade. I want to use this blog to embark on the next 500 books and the next 100 plays.

For the next 500 books and 100 plays, I intend to review the books I read, provide my thoughts and experiences while reading them and discuss how the books impact my writing, my career and my life.

First 50 Plays: 11/18/2000 to 5/1/2003

1. Hysteria SLAC November 18, 2000
2. Rent Capital Theater November 15, 17, 2000
3. Closer Berkley Repertory Theater
4. Taming of the Shrew Ballet West
5. King Lear Egyptian
6. Oedipus Egyptian
7. Ride Down St. Morgan SLAC
8. The Beauty Queen of Leenane SLAC
9. Two-Headed SLAC
10. The Joy of Going Somewhere Definite SLAC
11. White People SLAC September, 2000
12. Les Miserables Imperial Theater (Broadway) December 16, 2000
13. A Perfect Ganesh Plan B February 3, 2001
14. These are Women – Claire Bloom Kingsbury Hall February 8, 2001
15. Shylock Browning Arts Center February 9, 2001
16. Two Sisters and a Piano SLAC February 10, 2001
17. Present Laughter PTC March 24, 2001
18. David Sedaris Kingsbury Hall April 12, 2001
19. Freedomland SLAC April 21, 2001
20. Six Perfections –Dalai Lama Huntsman Center May 5, 2001
21. The Memory of Water SLAC September 28, 2001
22. Antigone Babcock/Outdoors September 30, 2001
23. From Morn to Midnight Babcock October, 2001
24. Noises Off Broadway December 29, 2001
25. Cabaret Broadway December 30, 2001
26. La Boheme Metropolitan Opera December 31, 2001
27. The Beard of Avon SLAC December 9, 2001
28. Dinner with Friends PTC January 18, 2002
29. Cabbies, Cowboys and the Tree SLAC January 25, 2002
30. The Vagina Monologues Rose Wagner March 15, 2002
31. Seeing the Elephant SLAC April 5, 2002
32. Local Play – forgot title March 8, 200 Eccles Arts Center
33. A Village Fable Egyptian Park City May 30, 2002
34. My Left Breast Plan B June 16, 2002
35. Saturday's Voyeur 2002 SLAC June 21 and September 4, 2002
36. Children of Eden Egyptian Ogden August 17, 2002
37. Going to St. Ives SLAC September 27, 2002
38. Proof PTC September 30, 2002
39. The Food Chain Pygmalion October 4, 2002
40. War of the Worlds Plan B November 2, 2002
41. The Mystery of Irma Vep Egyptian Park City November 2, 2002
42. The Mousetrap PTC November 8, 2002
43. Big Love SLAC November 15, 2002
44. Peter Pan PTC December 28, 2002
45. Henry Rollins Kingsbury Hall January 14, 2003
46. Lobby Hero SLAC February 7, 2003
47. Wait SLAC April 11, 2003
48. David Sedaris Ogden Egyptian April 17, 2003
49. Miss Saigon Capital Theater April 27, 2003
50. Bash Weber State May 1, 2003

Ninth Fifty: 10/13/05 to 7/12/06

1. Oracle Night Auster October 13, 2005
2. Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas Thompson October 17, 2005
3. Gilgamesh Mitchell October 25, 2005
4. On Beauty Smith October 29, 2005
5. Chasing Rumi Housden October 31, 2005
6. The Pleasure of My Company Martin November 4, 2005
7. The Call of the Wild London November 8, 2005
8. Sexual Perversity in Chicago Mamet November 11, 2005
9. The Duck Variations Mamet November 11, 2005
10. Dark Nights of the Soul Moore November 13, 2005
11. Fury Rushdie November 25, 2005
12. Wicked Macguire December 6, 2005
13. Four Quartets Eliot December 1, 2005
14. Malloy Beckett December 9, 2005
15. Son of a Witch Macguire December 14, 2005
16. Malone Dies Beckett December 16, 2005
17. A Man Without A Country Vonnegut December 17, 2005
18. Memoirs of a Geisha Golden December 23, 2005
19. The Unnamable Beckett December 30, 2005
20. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Baum December 30, 2005
21. Haunted Palahniuk January 20, 2006
22. Possession Byatt January 22, 2006
23. The Book of Illusions Auster January 25, 2006
24. The Brooklyn Follies Auster January 28, 2006
25. Mind Wide Open Johnson January 31, 2006
26. Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot Restak January 31, 2006
27. Notes from the Underground Dostoevsky February 3, 2006
28. Seven Up Evanovich February 6, 2006
29. The Rum Diary Thompson February 9, 2006
30. The Corrections Franzen February 24, 2006
31. The Alienist Carr February 28, 2006
32. Death In Venice Mann March 3, 2006
33. Indecision Kunkel March 18, 2006
34. Decoding the Universe Seife March 18, 2006
35. Silas Marner Eliot March 21, 2006
36. The Wisdom of Crowds Surowiecki March 24, 2006
37. Wives and Sisters Collins March 29, 2006
38. The Brief History of the Dead Brockmeier April 1, 2006
39. Failed States Chomsky April 23, 2006
40. The World is Flat Friedman May 20, 2006
41. Everyman Roth May 20, 2006
42. Best American Erotica 2005 Bright May 21, 2006
43. Jpod Coupland May 23, 2006
44. Book of Longing Cohen June 11, 2006
45. Kafka on the Shore Murakami June 19, 2006
46. Fear of Flying Jong June 25, 2006
47. Welcome to the Monkey House Vonnegut July 1, 2006
48. Solomon vs. Lord Levine July 2, 2006
49. The Deep Blue Alibi Levine July 6, 2006
50. John Adams McCulloch July 12, 2006

Eighth 50: 3/27/05 to 10/10/05

1. Tuesdays with Morrie Albom March 28, 2005
2. Credit After Bankruptcy Snyder March 30, 2005
3. Blind Huber Flynn April 3, 2005
4. Do You Make These 38 Mistakes With Your Credit? Snyder April 3, 2005
5. Bounce Back From Bankruptcy Ryan April 4, 2005
6. Ravelstein Bellow April 7, 2005
7. Sexwise Bright April 10, 2005
8. A Friend of the Earth Boyle April 17, 2005
9. Cosmopolis DeLillo April 19, 2005
10. Three Zola April 22, 2005
11. Blink Gladwell April 24, 2005
12. E-Myth Revisited Gerber April 28, 2005
13. From Bauhaus to Our House Wolfe April 30, 2005
14. Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time Durant April 30, 2005
15. Wichita Vortex Sutra Ginsberg April 30, 2005
16. Fear Less de Becker May 6, 2005
17. Reasons to Live Hempel May 7, 2005
18. The Crisis of Islam Lewis May 9, 2005
19. Snakes and Earrings Kanehara May 23, 2005
20. On Bullshit Frankfurt May 29, 2005
21. The Tipping Point Gladwell May 29, 2005
22. Of Mice and Men Steinbeck May 30, 2005
23. For Whom the Bell Tolls Hemingway May 31, 2005
24. Ex Libris Fadiman June 1, 2005
25. Blog: Understanding the InformationReformation Hewitt June 2, 2005
26. How Digital Is Your Business? Slywotzky June 9, 2005
27. Freakonomics Levitt June 10, 2005
28. The Fairy Tales of Hermann Hesse Hesse June 11, 2005
29. A Long Way Down Hornby June 25, 2005
30. Holy Smoke! Campion June 29, 2005
31. Good Faith Smiley July 15, 2005
32. Killing Time Carr July 8, 2005
33. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Rowling s July 20, 2005
34. Basket Case Hiaasen July 21, 2005
35. The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana Eco July 28, 2005
36. Never Let Me Go Ishiguro July 31, 2005
37. Submission Blau August 4, 2005
38. Two Trains Running Vachss August 5, 2005
39. The Trial Kafka August 17, 2005
40. Magic Street Card August 21, 2005
41. When We Were Orphans Ishiguro August 25, 2005
42. Lunar Park Ellis August 28, 2005
43. Less Than Zero Ellis September 5, 2005
44. Until I Find You Irving September 12, 2005
45. The Imaginary Girlfriend Irving September 14, 2005
46. Three Kinds of Asking For It Bright September 14, 2005
47. The Actual Bellow September 24, 2005
48. Shalimar the Clown Rushdie October 1, 2005
49. Wild Ducks Flying Backward Robbins October 3, 2005
50. Tooth and Claw Boyle October 10, 2005

Seventh 50: 9/25/04 -- 3/27/05

1. Angels in America Kushner September 28, 2004
2. The Cossacks Tolstoy September 29, 2004
3. The Art of the Novel Kundera October 1, 2004
4. Choke Palahniuk October 5, 2004
5. Vanity Fair Thackeray October 23, 2004
6. Angles and Other Stories Card October 25, 2004
7. The Inner Circle Boyle November 1, 2004
8. The Falls Oates November 4, 2004
9. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Haddon November 5, 2004
10. The Rule of Four Caldwell November 9, 2004
11. After the Plague Boyle November 15, 2004
12. I am Charlotte Simmons Wolfe November 22, 2004
13. White Noise DeLillo November 27, 2004
14. Magic Seeds Naipaul December 2, 2004
15. Skin City Sheehan December 5, 2004
16. Invisible Monsters Palahniuk December 7, 2004
17. Crime and Punishment Dostoevsky December 12, 2004
18. Villages Updike December 15, 2004
19. State of Fear Crichton December 18, 2004
20. The Painted Word Wolfe December 19, 2004
21. The Breast Roth December 19, 2004
22. The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios Martel December 20, 2004
23. The Lover Duras December 21, 2004
24. Mao II DeLillo December 24, 2004
25. Holidays on Ice Sedaris December 24, 2004
26. Libra DeLillo December 29, 2004
27. A Farewell to Arms Hemmingway January 6, 2005
28. The Devil In The White City Larson January 8, 2005
29. Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates Robbins January 16, 2005
30. Maps In a Mirror Card January 18, 2005
31. Travels With Charley Steinbeck January 19, 2005
32. Villa Incognito Robbins January 21, 2005
33. Half Asleep In Frog Pajamas Robbins January 26, 2005
34. The Autobiography of Ben Franklin Franklin February 1, 2005
35. The Four Agreements Ruiz February 7, 2005
36. Even Cowgirls Get The Blues Robbins February 11, 2005
37. The Cider House Rules Irving February 20, 2005
38. In The Miso Soup Murakami February 21, 2005
39. Start Late, Finish Rich Bach February 25, 2005
40. Guide to Becoming Rich Kiyosaki February 27, 2005
41. Poor People Dostoevsky March 2, 2005
42. She Comes First Kerner March 4, 2005
43. After the Quake Murakami March 6, 2005
44. The Cluetrain Manifesto Levine March 9, 2005
45. The Automatic Millionaire Bach March 11, 2005
46. Shadow of the Giant Card March 17, 2005
47. Seek My Face Updike March 18, 2005
48. The Art of Profitability Slywotzky March 21, 2005
49. Think & Grow Rich Hill March 25, 2005
50. Leaving The Saints Beck March 27, 2005

Sixth Fifty: 4/19/04 to 9/25/04

1. The Gambler Dostoevsky April 19, 2004
2. The Death of Ivan Ilych Tolstoy April 20, 2004
3. Angels & Demons Brown April 24, 2004
4. Ivanhoe Scott May 1, 2004
5. Breakfast of Champions Vonnegut May 9, 2004
6. Work Less, Make More White May 11, 2004
7. Strega Vachss May 12, 2004
8. Down In The Zero Vachss May 18, 2004
9. Hey Nostradamus! Coupland May 27, 2004
10. In a Sunburned Country Bryson May 28, 2004
11. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Kesey May 31, 2004
12. Sons and Lovers Lawrence June 5, 2004
13. Digital Fortress Brown June 13, 2004
14. Linked Barabasi June 13, 2004
15. Status Anxiety de Botton June 15, 2004
16. Medea Euripides June 18, 2004
17. Deception Point Brown June 21, 2004
18. Stranger Than Fiction Palahniuk June 24, 2004
19. Fathers and Sons Toscano June 25, 2004
20. Born Bad Vachss July 1, 2004
21. Transformation Johnson July 2, 2004
22. The Castle Kafka July 2, 2004
23. The Art of Travel de Botton July 4, 2004
24. Fugitives and Refugees Palahniuk July 5, 2004
25. The Enemy of the People Ibsen July 5, 2004
26. Arms and the Man Shaw July 5, 2004
27. The Tempest Shakespeare July 7, 2004
28. The Imaginary Invalid Moliere July 8, 2004
29. I, Robot Asimov July 10, 2004
30. Beyond Belief Pagels July 12, 2004
31. Camille Dumas July 14, 2004
32. Uncle Vanya Chekov July 16, 2004
33. The Iliad Homer July 28, 2004
34. Unbearable Lightness of Being Kundera August 1, 2004
35. The Malady of Death Duras August 8, 2004
36. Hegemony or Survival Chomsky August 11, 2004
37. The Matisse Stories Byatt August 13, 2004
38. Thunder and Lightning Goldberg August 17, 2004
39. Identity Kundera August 19, 2004
40. Like Water for Chocolate Esquivel August 20, 2004
41. Nickel and Dimed Ehrenreich August 23, 2004
42. An Open Book Card August 24, 2004
43. The Roominghouse Madrigals Bukowski August 30, 2004
44. The Magic Skin Balzac August 26, 2004
45. Polaroids From The Dead Coupland September 2, 2004
46. Nostromo Conrad September 7, 2004
47. 26 Nights: A Sexual Adventure Penthouse September 13, 2004
48. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions Abbott September 15, 2004
49. Art, Arts and the Great Ideas Adler September 18, 2004
50. A Bend In The River Naipaul September 25, 2004

Fifth 50: 9/29/03 to 4/18/04

1. Nothing Personal Pendleton September 29, 2003
2. Mondo Utah Harris October 10, 2003
3. Best American Erotica 2003 Bright October 19, 2003
4. Survivor Palahniuk October 27, 2003
5. The Art of Happiness at Work Lama October 30, 2003
6. The Lords and The New Creatures Morrison November 2, 2003
7. Anna Karenina Tolstoy November 27, 2003
8. The Da Vinci Code Brown December 3, 2003
9. Bang! Thaler December 6, 2003
10. Slaughterhouse Five Vonnegut December 7, 2003
11. Ultimate Punishment Turow December 9, 2003
12. An Open Heart Lama December 10, 2003
13. Modest Gifts Mailer December 10, 2003
14. The Dharma Bums Kerouac December 11, 2003
15. Reading and Writing Naipaul December 13, 2003
16. Black Coffee Blues Rollins December 13, 2003
17. Canterbury Tales Chaucer December 16, 2003
18. Hedda Gabbler Ibsen December 19, 2003
19. Peer Gynt Ibsen December 25, 2003
20. Thousand Cranes Kawabata December 25, 2003
21. What Learning Leaves Mali December 25, 2003
22. The Idiot Dostoyevsky December 31, 2003
23. Smart Women Blume January 3, 2004
24. Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman! Feynman January 5, 2004
25. Nothing Left Over Lippe January 6, 2003
26. He Johnson January 14, 2004
27. Underworld DeLillo January 19, 2004
28. E=mc² Bodanis January 21, 2004
29. She Johnson January 24, 2004
30. Drop City Boyle January 29, 2004
31. Letters to a Young Poet Rilke February 1, 2004
32. The Progress Paradox Easterbrook February 4, 2004
33. House of Sand and Fog Dubus III February 7, 2004
34. Seven Money Mantras Singletary February 17, 2004
35. Women in Love D. H. Lawrence February 23, 2004
36. Ask the Girl Next Door Beland February 24, 2004
37. The Tortilla Curtain Boyle February 28, 2004
38. Women on Sex Quilliam March 14, 2004
39. The Fabric of the Cosmos Greene March 16, 2004
40. The Butcher Reyes March 16, 2004
41. On Writing King March 22, 2004
42. Fight Club Palahniuk March 23, 2004
43. Ethan Frome Wharton March 25, 2004
44. A Short History of Nearly Everything Bryson April 2, 2004
45. Swing Stories Abrams April 4, 2004
46. The Fourth Hand Irving April 7, 2004
47. Eleven Minutes Coelho April 12, 2004
48. Family Happiness Tolstoy April 15, 2004
49. The Kreutzer Sonata Tolstoy April 15, 2004
50. How Reading Changed My Life Quindlen April 18, 2004

Fourth 50: Feb. 18, 2003 through Sep. 28, 2003

1. Leonard Cohen - Kill Your Idols Shepard March 8, 2003
2. Herzog Bellow March 10, 2003
3. The Nudist on the Late Shift Bronson March 14, 2003
4. Hamlet: Poem Unlimited Bloom, Harold March 25, 2003
5. What Should I Do With My Life? Bronson March 27, 2003
6. Shadows on the Hudson Singer April 1, 2003
7. The Poet and the Murderer Worral April 7, 2003
8. Gulf War and Black Oates April 8, 2003
9. The Professor and the Madman Winchester March, 2003
10. The Man Who Died Lawrence April 20, 2003
11. The Body Artist DeLillo April 20, 2003
12. The Joy of Pi Blatner April 25, 2003
13. Soul Stories Zukav April 23, 2003
14. The House of the Dead Dostoyevsky April 29, 2003
15. A Beautiful Mind Nasar May 8, 2003
16. Holes Sachar May 8, 2003
17. Why Are We At War? Mailer May 9, 2003
18. First Meetings: Four from the Enderverse Card May 12, 2003
19. God's Equation Aczel May 15, 2003
20. The Doors of Perception Huxley May 16, 2003
21. A Working Girl Can't Win Garrison May 18, 2003
22. Mozart's Brain and the Fighter Pilot Restak May 21, 2003
23. Reefer Madness Schlosser May 23, 2003
24. Going Down Belle May 25, 2003
25. Hands Around Schnitzler May 28, 2003
26. Fermat's Last Theorem Aczel May 31, 2003
27. Shanghai Baby Hui June 5, 2003
28. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Rowlings June 28, 2003
29. War and Peace Tolstoy July 6, 2003
30. The Pleasure of Finding Things Out Feynman July 7, 2003
31. Life of Pi Martel July 10, 2003
32. The Riddle of the Compass Aczel July 12, 2003
33. Anil's Ghost Ondaatje July 18, 2003
34. Under the Banner of Heaven Krakeur July 20, 2003
35. How to Be Alone Franzen July 21, 2003
36. Bagombo Snuff Box Vonnegut July 26, 2003
37. Faster than the Speed of Light Magueijo July 28, 2003
38. Bash Three Latter Day Plays Labute August 2, 2003
39. Brothel Albert August 8, 2003
40. The Dream of Reason Gottielb August 10, 2003
41. Hey Nostradamus! Coupland August 12, 2003
42. Father of Lies Evenson August 16, 2003
43. Crome Yellow Huxley August 17, 2003
44. Life After God Coupland August 18, 2003
45. Threesomes Karlen August 23, 2003
46. Into Thin Air Krakeur August 26, 2003
47. Wifey Blume September 1, 2003
48. Diary: A Novel Palahniuk September 12, 2003
49. Lullaby Palahniuk September 24, 2003
50. The Hours Cunningham September 28, 2003

Third 50: May 20, 2002 through February 18, 2003

1. Boomeritis Wilber June 15, 2002
2. Sabbath's Theater Roth June 19, 2002
3. The Martian Chronicles Bradbury June 30, 2002
4. Doing It With the Cosmos Fitzpatrick June 30, 2002
5. Primal Leadership Goleman July 3, 2002
6. The Gospel According to the Son Mailer July 5, 2002
7. Republic.com Sunstein July 6, 2002
8. A Trial By Jury Burnett July 14, 2002
9. Going Wireless Easton July 19, 2002
10. The Drunken Driver Has the Right of Way Cohen August 8, 2002
11. Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway Jeffers August 9, 2002
12. Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals Pirsig August 14, 2002
13. From Dawn to Decadence Barzun August 16, 2002
14. Dream Story Schnitzler August 17, 2002
15. Emotional Intelligence Goleman August 18, 2002
16. Operation Shylock Roth September 2, 2002
17. By the Rive Piedra I Sat Down and Wept Coelho September 5, 2002
18. Goodbye Columbus and Five Other Stories Roth September 10, 2002
19. A Farewell to Arms Hemmingway September 18, 2002
20. Execution Bossidy September 19, 2002
21. Ender's Game Card September 22, 2002
22. Speaker for the Dead Card October 3, 2002
23. Beloved Morrison October 3, 2002
24. Xeonicide Card October 13, 2002
25. Marriage of Sense and Soul Wilber October 14, 2002
26. Shadow Puppets Card October 17, 2002
27. Children of the Mind Card October 21, 2002
28. Working with Emotional Intelligence Goleman October 28, 2002
29. Ender's Shadow Card October 29, 2002
30. Shadow of the Hegemon Card November 4, 2002
31. The Western Canon Bloom November 6, 2002
32. The Closing of the American Mind Bloom, Allan November 17, 2002
33. The Rubaiyat Khayyam November 17, 2002
34. Bleak House Dickens December 2, 2002
35. Loose Woman Cisneros December 7, 2002
36. Endgame & Act Without Words Beckett December 7, 2002
37. The Kabir Book Bly December 7, 2002
38. Entanglement Aczel December 10, 2002
39. Hadji Murad Tolstoy December 15, 2002
40. Moby Dick Melville December 22, 2002
41. Bobos in Paradise Brooks December 27, 2002
42. Humboldt's Gift Bellow January 4, 2003
43. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Adams January 8, 2003
44. The Adventures of Augie March Bellow January 18, 2003
45. Mr. Sammler's Planet Bellow January 27, 2003
46. Original Self Moore February 10, 2003
47. Common Sense Paine February 7, 2003
48. Bahagavad Gita February 5, 2003
49. Into the Wild Krakeur February 17, 2003
50. A Tale of Two Cities Dickens February 18, 2003

Second Fifty: July 15, 2001 to May 20, 2002

1. The Eyes of Logres Toscano July 15, 2001
2. Dubliners Joyce July 20,2001
3. Rockaby Beckett July 24, 2001
4. What Have I Ever Lost By Dying Bly July 26, 2001
5. Gadianton (a play) Samuelson July 31, 2001
6. Long Quiet Highway Goldberg August 7, 2001
7. Empire of the Sun Ballard August 15, 2001
8. The Birth of Cool MacAdams August 29, 2001
9. Next: The Future Just Happened Lewis August 30, 2001
10. Poetry Handbook Oliver September 4, 2001
11. God Bless You Dr. Kevorkian Vonnegut September 15, 2001
12. Black Hawk Down Bowers September 23, 2001
13. No Thanks Cummings September 29, 2001
14. Mindfield Corso September 29, 2001
15. Mere Chrisianity Lewis September 29, 2001
16. Flow, The Psychology of Optimal Csikszentmihalyi September 30, 2001
17. Super-Cannes Ballard October 12, 2001
18. Tears of Eros Bataille October 28, 2001
19. Wittgenstein's Poker Edmonds November 12, 2001
20. Zen Sex Sudo November 22, 2001
21. The Human Stain Roth December, 2001
22. Crow with No Mouth Ikkyu December, 2001
23. The Subject Tonight is Love Hafiz December, 2001
24. The Turquoise Bee Sixth Dalai Lama December, 2001
25. Devil in Paradise Henry Miller January 1, 2002
26. The Red Thread of Passion David Guy January 21, 2002
27. The Agenda Michael Hammer February 17, 2002
28. How to Practice Dalai Lama March 10, 2002
29. The Power of Now Tolle March 10, 2002
30. Beasts Oates March 13, 2002
31. The Moral Animal Wright March 22, 2002
32. Birds, Beasts and Flowers Lawrence March 24, 2002
33. The Genesis of Justice Dershkowitz April 8, 2002
34. One Angel Midnight Kerouac April 11, 2002
35. One Hundred Poems from Japanese Rexroth April 12, 2002
36. Finding Flow Csikszentmihalyi April 14, 2002
37. The Energy of Slaves Cohen April 17, 2002
38. The Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck April 19, 2002
39. Ten Poems To Change Your Life Housden April 21, 2002
40. The Prophet Gibran April 22, 2002
41. All Quiet on the Western Front Remarque April 26, 2002
42. What is Meditation Osho April 27, 2002
43. Mexico City Blues Kerouac April 28, 2002
44. The Glance Rumi April 28, 2002
45. The House of Incest Nin April 29, 2002
46. The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald April 28, 2002
47. Tortilla Flat Steinbeck May 4, 2002
48. The Dharma Bums Kerouac May 10, 2002
49. American Pastoral Roth May 20, 2002
50. Nothing But The Marvelous Miller May 20, 2002

The First 50: June, 2000 through July 2, 2001

BOOKS READ – June, 2000 through July 2, 2001

1. The Kindness of Women Ballard July 29, 2000
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Rowlings July 31, 2000
3. Siddhartha Hesse June, 2000
4. Iron John Bly June, 2000
5. Big Sur Kerouac June, 2000
6. Disgrace Coetze July, 2000
7. Panic Snap Reese July, 2000
8. Crash Ballard August 15, 2000
9. Quiet Days in Clichy Miller August 7, 2000
10. Running Wild Ballard August 20, 2000
11. A Theory of Everything Wilber August 26, 2000
12. Joseph Campbell Companion Campbell September 1, 2000
13. In Cold Blood Capote September 25, 2000
14. Open Secret Rumi October 17, 2000
15. Whores for Gloria Vollman October 27, 2000
16. Writing Down the Bones Goldberg October 25, 2000
17. Death and Fame Ginsberg October 20, 2000
18. Betting on the Muse Bukowski October 26, 2000
19. The Love Poems of Rumi Rumi November 2, 2000
20. Brave New World Revisited Huxley November 5, 2000
21. Brave New World Huxley November 11, 2000
22. W;t Edson November 15, 2000
23. The Mystery of the Aleph Aczel November 19, 2000
24. The Birth of the Beat Generation Watson November 23, 2000
25. The Certificate Singer November 25, 2000
26. Howl Ginsberg November 26, 2000
27. Just Six Numbers Rees December 10, 2000
28. Driving Mr. Albert Paterniti December 21, 2000
29. Sisterwife Collins January 7, 2001
30. American Psycho Ellis January 23, 2001
31. Midnight Butterfly Lloyd February 2, 2001
32. Love's Fire Shakespeare, et. al. February 4, 2001
33. The Colossus of Maroussi Miller February 7, 2001
34. Four Quartets Eliot February 10, 2001
35. The Art of Happiness Lama February 10, 2001
36. The Twilight Years – Paris in the Thirties Wiser February 18, 2001
37. Transforming the Mind Lama March 12, 2001
38. The Inferno Dante April 3, 2001
39. After the Ecstacy, The Laundry Kornfield April 26, 2001
40. Nerve, Literate Smut Anthology April 27, 2001
41. Four Major Plays Lorca May 6, 2001
42. I Married a Communist Roth May 21, 2001
43. The Dying Animal Roth May 24, 2001
44. True and False Mamet May 26, 2001
45. Love – Ten Poems Neruda May 26, 2001
46. On the Road Kerouac June 11, 2001
47. The Story of the Eye Bataille June 17, 2001
48. The Celibacy Club Eidus June 25, 2001
49. The Old Man and the Sea Hemmingway June 29, 2001
50. The Snows of Kilimanjaro Hemmingway July 2, 2001

500 Books

I'm three books away from finishing 500 books since January 1, 2000. In looking back, I'm sad that I don't have more notes from all my reading. I decided to write this reading blog for my own edification and to help in my efforts to document my own learning and entertainment.

I can see this also being a repository for reviews of theater and movies.