some favorites
Explore a curated list of favorite books, from literary classics like Graham Greene's *The Quiet American* and Gabriel García Márquez's *Love in the Time of Cholera* to humorous picks by P. J. O'Rourke. Discover standout fiction, history, and unforgettable stories in this hand-picked collection.
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Under the Volcano
by Malcolm Lowry
Set in tropical Mexico, this is the story of a man's obsessive need to drink himself to death.
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The Unbearable Lightness of Being
by Milan Kundera
A young woman in love with a man torn between his love for her and his incorrigible womanizing; one of his mistresses and her humbly faithful lover—these are the two couples whose story is told in this masterful novel. In a world in which lives are shaped by irrevocable choices and by fortuitous events, a world in which everything occurs but once, existence seems to lose its substance, its weight. Hence, we feel "the unbearable lightness of being" not only as the consequence of our pristine actions but also in the public sphere, and the two inevitably intertwine.
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Catch-22
by Joseph Heller
Catch-22 is like no other novel. It is one of the funniest books ever written, a keystone work in American literature, and even added a new term to the dictionary. At the heart of Catch-22 resides the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero endlessly inventive in his schemes to save his skin from the horrible chances of war. His efforts are perfectly understandable because as he furiously scrambles, thousands of people he hasn't even met are trying to kill him. His problem is Colonel Cathcart, who keeps raising the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempts to excuse himself from the perilous missions that he is committed to flying, he is trapped by the Great Loyalty Oath Crusade, the hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule from which the book takes its title: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes the necessary formal request to be relieved of such missions, the very act of making the request proves that he is sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved. Catch-22 is a microcosm of the twentieth-century world as it might look to some one dangerously sane -- a masterpiece of our time.
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You Can't Go Home Again
by Thomas Wolfe
Novelist George Webber is driven from his hometown when his successful autobiographical novel infuriates the family and friends he has depicted in it.
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The Ginger Man
by James Patrick Donleavy
First published in 1955 and originally banned in America, this reprint is part of a series of reissues of works by this incomparable author, whom Joseph Heller has called "one of the most accomplished and original writers of our time."
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The Quiet American
by Graham Greene
The relentless struggle of the Vietminh guerrillas for independence and the futility of the French gestures of resistance become inseparably meshed with the personal and moral dilemmas of two men and the Vietnamese woman they both love. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.
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The Magic Christian
by Terry Southern
Guy Grand is an eccentric billionaire-the last of the big spenders-determined to create disorder in the material world and willing to spare no expense to do it.
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In Pharaoh's Army
by Tobias Wolff
Despite his impressive credentials as a paratrooper and former Green Beret, Tobias Wolff recognises in himself laughably little talent for the military life and no taste at all for the war. A young officer out of his depth, he lives in boredom and terror and grief for lost friends; then and in the years to come, he reckons the cost of staying alive. Much has been written about the scarring Vietnam experience, but never with the blend of exactitude, humanity, grotesque humour, and painful truth that marks the work of Tobias Wolff.
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Still Life with Woodpecker
by Tom Robbins
“Robbins’s comic philosophical musings reveal a flamboyant genius.”—People Still Life with Woodpecker is a sort of a love story that takes place inside a pack of Camel cigarettes. It reveals the purpose of the moon, explains the difference between criminals and outlaws, examines the conflict between social activism and romantic individualism, and paints a portrait of contemporary society that includes powerful Arabs, exiled royalty, and pregnant cheerleaders. It also deals with the problem of redheads.
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Holidays in Hell
by P. J. O'Rourke
Having traveled to hot spots around the world in search of trouble, truth, and a good time, the author humorously recalls his experiences in Lebanon, Korea, the West Bank, El Salvador, Nicaragua, the Philippines, and Poland. Reprint.
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1066
by David Howarth
The year 1066 is one of the most important dates in the history of the Western world: the year William the Conqueror defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings and changed England and the English forever. The events leading to-and following-this turning point in history are shrouded in mystery. Distorted by the biased accounts written by a subjugated people, many believe it was the English who ultimately won the battle, since the Normans became assimilated into the English way of life. Drawing on a wealth of contemporary sources, David Howarth gives us memorable portraits of the kings: Edward the Confessor, Harold of England, William of Normandy, as well as the leading political figures of the time. Howarth describes the English commoners: how they worked, fought, died, and how they perceived the overthrow of their world from their isolated shires.
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Love in the Time of Cholera
by Gabriel García Márquez
Set on the Caribbean coast of South America, this love story brings together Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza, a man who has secretly loved her for more than fifty years, on the day of her husband's funeral. Reprint. 50,000 first printing.