Lest you think that the last book I read before picking up Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was High Fidelity some nine months ago – I’m a remarkably uncommitted reader considering my profession, but not that bad – I’d like to fill in some gaps. Here are three authors whose books I’ve read in the time between Hornby and Rowling:
Chuck Klosterman: A sometimes sports writer, I found Klosterman through his interaction with Bill Simmons on ESPN.com and decided to read his Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs on my trip to Chicago this spring. I liked it so much that I quickly picked up Killing Yourself to Live and, most recently, Chuck Klosterman IV. His acerbic wit and seemingly endless well of pop culture analogies make reading his essays – the subjects of which range from an AC/DC cover band to Britney Spears to Saved by the Bell – a delightful and addicting experience.
David Sedaris: I was given his Me Talk Pretty One Day by a friend more than a year ago, but didn’t pick it up until I was entering the six-hour rehearsal period of Beauty and the Beast in April. Dry and self-deprecating, Sedaris relays semi-true stories from his life with a remarkable humanity. I have yet to explore his other work, but will likely do so very soon.
Mark Haddon: A coworker placed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime on my desk and said “Read it. You’ll like it. It’s weird.” I thought it was an interesting commentary on my taste in books (which I’m sure the coworker didn’t even know, since I never talk about books), but I did like it, largely because it was weird. Haddon, the only fiction writer I’ve picked up in the past year besides Rowling and Hornby, deftly narrates through the eye of an autistic boy. It can be frustrating at times to read the mix of run-on thoughts and overly simple sentences, but the last 60 pages of the book are very engaging. It took me a week to get to that point, but an hour to finish the book from then on.
Anyone who knows Nick Hornby’s style and wants to recommend something to me is encouraged to do so in the comments.