 | Chambers Biographical Dictionary
Buy used from: $0.01 This is a gigantic, heavy book that looks good on the shelf and lets you know a little about everybody who is, or was, important.
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 | The Structure Of The Novel by Edwin Muir
Buy new: $26.95 / Used from: $31.19 Though E.M. Forster's Aspects of the Novel is better known, this book is just as good.
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 | The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary
Buy new: $26.37 / Used from: $15.00 A wonderfully readable and wise translation of the first five books of the Bible (better known as the Torah).
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 | To Be a Pilgrim (New York Review Books Classics) by Joyce Cary
Buy used from: $14.93 This is the second book of Joyce Cary's first trilogy, and is somewhat overshadowed by the antics of the third, better known book, The Horse's Mouth. This book should be better known: the whole trilogy is a great experience.
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 | William Cowper: Selected Poetry and Prose by William Cowper
Buy new: $14.21 / Used from: $14.49 Cowper was much better known in his own time (1731-1800--that Biographical Dictionary really comes in handy). He's one of the poets that Pound and Eliot were rebelling against. Evidently he was much too calm for their tastes. But times have changed and you should give Cowper a try.
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 | Philosophy of Science: The Central Issues by J. A. Cover
Buy new: $49.61 / Used from: $30.00 One of the best philosophy anthologies ever! All about the underpinnings of the devious schemes that let those rascally scientists get results.
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 | Riders on the Storm: My Life with Jim Morrison and the Doors by John Densmore
Buy new: $11.56 / Used from: $0.37 John Densmore was the drummer with the Doors (duh). And reading this you'll be clued in on just what a drummer thinks about when he's playing with one of the greatest band ever: how to play the drums better! Who'd of thunkit? A good book though.
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 | Istanbul: Memories and the City by Orhan Pamuk
Buy new: $10.85 / Used from: $5.60 Turkish writer who won the Nobel. Here, he's writing about his city. Unlike a lot of books being written now, this one has some meat on it.
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 | The Complete Rhyming Dictionary: Including The Poet's Craft Book
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $3.25 For those moments when blank verse just isn't good enough. This is the rhyming dictionary Cole Porter used. And you can't get a better recommendation than that.
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 | Little Wilson and Big God: The First Part of the Confession by Anthony Burgess
Buy used from: $0.01 One of Burgess's best books. If you liked Enderby (and who didn't?) and you loved A Clockwork Orange (which was sold by Burgess for a song), you'll love this too.
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 | Records of Shelley, Byron, and the Author (New York Review Books Classics) by Edward John Trelawny
Buy new: $14.21 / Used from: $3.98 This is one of the best memoirs ever: Trelawny in Italy with Byron and Shelley. It's like you're there, but without the embarassment of having to watch them eat. (Well, you learn that Byron was always on a diet because he had a tendency toward plumpness.)
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 | The Rack by A. E. Ellis
Buy used from: $3.10 This book is out of print, but it's one of the 20th Century's best books. A book you'll be glad you read.
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 | The Ants by Bert Holldobler
Buy new: $96.00 / Used from: $78.62 If you've ever wanted to know anything about ants, this is your book.
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 | The Collected Stories of Isaac Babel by Isaac Babel
Buy new: $12.21 / Used from: $5.85 One of the best short story writers. (These descriptions seem to be getting shorter, the closer I get to dinner.)
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 | The Portable Jung (Portable Library) by Carl G. Jung
Buy new: $12.24 / Used from: $1.99 Once a disciple of Freud, Jung went on to discover new territory. This is a long read, but there are two or three startlingly good ideas to be found here.
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 | The Sunlight Dialogues by John Gardner
Buy new: $13.46 / Used from: $2.42 Gardner was a lot better known about thirty years ago (when this book was written) but appears to have faded a little lately. If he's known at all, it's mostly for Grendel (Beowulf from the point-of-view of the monster-kind of a gimmick). But his other books are good too--and this is one of his best.
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 | Cloud Atlas: A Novel by David Mitchell
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $4.82 This is a book with interwoven stories, some of which (especially the central one) are very memorable.
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 | The Hellfire Club by Peter Straub
Buy used from: $0.01 Peter Straub is a great storyteller, and at his best, he can outwrite all of his competition. This is one of his best books. (Oops, used the word "best" twice.)
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 | New Grub Street (Oxford World's Classics) by George Gissing
Buy new: $15.95 / Used from: $1.31 One of those books that you'd better read if you want to be a writer.
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 | In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic by Valerian Albanov
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $3.75 One of the best true adventure stories ever. (And a pretty good title too.) Well, gotta run. It's dinnertime. And my spelling's getting worse and worse (or wurse) anyway.
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