Reading time: Less than 1 minute
This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help other writers. Today I discuss a suggested reading list from David Bowie…
As a teenager in the early 1970s, I remember hearing — and buying — the album Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie. I wasn’t a Bowie zealot (Elton John was more my style) but I appreciated his distinctive voice and the kinds of musical risks he took. It was obvious: he was deeply creative and innovative.
This week, I read a blog post offering a surprising list of 75 books Bowie has deemed as “must reads.” I particularly like the way his list doesn’t feature older, well-known classics — you know, Tale of Two Cities, or anything by Shakespeare.
Instead, he focuses on contemporary works and the breadth and depth of his interests is astonishing. I’ve read 11 of the books he recommends, and I liked all of them. These include:
- Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
- Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder by Lawrence Weschler
- The Bird Artist by Howard Norman
- Flaubert’s Parrot by Julian Barnes
- Metropolitan Life by Fran Lebowitz
- The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
- In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
- A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
- The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
- The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard
- Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
My appreciation for these 11 titles makes me suspect that I might like anything Bowie would recommend. Thus, I’m tempted to use his list of 75 books as my own reading list for the next few years. Does that makes my fiftysomething self a zealot at last?
