Beach season is upon us, which means ideally less time slothing in front of the LED screen and more time catching the rays. It’s also the ideal time to catch up on all that reading you’ve been planning to do since last summer.
Just in case in you’re at a loss for what book to pick up (and despite the fact the internet is inundated with lists just like this one) WE Vancouver staff have picked six of their favourite summer reads for people who really love to read. Feel free to add your own faves in the comments.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Diaz
This Pulitzer Prize winner chronicles both the life of Oscar Wao, an overweight sci-fi and fantasy-obsessed Dominican boy growing up in New Jersey, as well as the curse that has plagued his family for generations. Rife with footnotes and fantasy references, while switching between lively and profanity-laden b-boy vernacular and eloquent prose, it poses two key questions: 1) Will Oscar ever get laid? And 2) How will he die? With more sizzle than a Vancouver summer can even handle, you'll be left wondering until the very end.
While Mortals Sleep – Kurt Vonnegut
This posthumously published stockpile of previously unprinted prose finds Mr. Kilgore Trout at his poignant best. The short stories are inhabited by the kind of well-meaning everymen (and women) familiar in much of Vonnegut's work. With equal parts of humour and sadness, we see their lives twisted by fame, ambition, automation, and loneliness. A welcome addition to Vonnegut's celebrated canon, for sure.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay – Michael Chabon
Another Pulitzer-winner, this time about two Jewish cousins who find fame and fortune building a comic book empire. The story follows Joe Kavalier, a refugee via Prague, and Sam Clay, his American cousin, from the dark days of WWII to modern day. It’s tragic, funny and beautiful, with characters that absolutely pop off the page. A modern classic.
Trout Fishing in America – Richard Brautigan
Trout Fishing in America – a book that has inspired communes, a folk band and a teenager to legally adopt it as his name – isn't about fish at all. While lining America's waterways with indelible characters and peculiar metaphors, Brautigan's novella laments the passing of the 19th century and America's industrial ascent. An instant cult classic, it's worth the price of admission for the opening pages alone.
He Died With a Falafel in His Hand – John Birmingham
Anyone who says they enjoyed (or understood) Ulysses is a liar. And for summer reading, people shouldn't to burden themselves with forests-worth of dense indecipherable writing. So relax, and have a laugh. John Birmingham's memoir of a life spent in Aussie share houses living among satanic vets, albino moontanners, and med students is an easy read and will bring a smile to your face. And let's be honest, isn't that what we all want in a summer read?
Infinite Jest – David Foster Wallace
OK, maybe you should burden yourself. We’re putting this on here because a) it’s mind-blowing (if you can finish it) and b) it will take you the whole summer to read it (if you can finish it). There’s even an online reading club, Infinite Summer, designed just for such an occasion. It’s known more for its impossible length (including 300+ pages of footnotes) for its astounding insight into the human condition. DFW’s masterwork is a marathon for the brain. It will enthrall you, then bore you, then melt your brain, and then make you laugh harder than you ever have from a book. Do it.
