Page Rage

An antisocial outcast, I’m not much of a joiner. It’s only my sincere affection for Three O'Clock In the Morning that compels me to participate in his book meme. But I’ll be darned if I’m "tagging’ anyone.

The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll changed my life. Only when I read this dark study in self-mutilation did I grasp that every kid has the power to throw his life away. Unfortunately, I took it to heart.

Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has been deeply rewarding every time I’ve read it.

Like a few of my other selections, I realize that suggesting that the Oxford English Dictionary be my companion on a deserted island is unimaginative. So barring that, I’d be satisfied with this Beyonce wall calendar from 2004.

I’ve looked at a few other people’s picks in this project, and I’ve been startled but pleased to see that my favorite novel, John Irving's A Prayer For Owen Meany appears in several categories. It kills me.

I’m such a sap. But how can you not cry along with a girl as her aspirations for a decent life are shattered in Betty Smith's A Tree Grows In Brooklyn?

I love the work of T.Coraghessan Boyle. But I can’t read him without thinking that had I made different choices it would have been my mug on these book jackets.

Why doesn’t our society allow for heroes? I wish that Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal That Rocked Professional Sports had never been written.

I’ve deliberately delayed reading the final ten pages of Triksta: Life and Death and New Orleans Rap. I wrote about the book here.

I couldn't afford Canada. Guatemala would work. Contemplating escape is one of my favorite pastimes. I haven't read Choose Mexico: Live Well On $600 a Month, but books like this arouse me.