Do You Have a Fictional Book That You Have Read Several Times?

[DFW]

134. Shibumi by Rodney Whitaker ("Trevanian"), Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow, and even the one I wrote

I have another one sort of in the works, and I re-read my first novel every now and then to see where I might be doing something wrong, and not to repeat it.

Other favorites tend toward the whacky side: Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins and Yellow Back Radio Brokedown by Ishmael Reed. Those two books had me trying like crazy to imagine what their authors liked like, as neither carried a photo. I pictured Robbins as a tall, lanky hippie (halfway right) and Reed to look like a close relative of Eldrige Cleaver (I was way closer with this one). They both had me in hysterics (the Loop Garoo Kid!).

I also used to go back and re-read Hawaii when I was younger, and had never been there. Michner lived near where I went to college, and someone from my school went out to interview him. He was apparently an archetypal curmudgeon, arrogant as could be, and he said if you don't believe your book is just fabulous, you had no business trying to publish it. Of course, if your books weren't as good as his were, that was discouraging advice, but over 30 years later, when I started on my first novel I remembered Michner's words, and tried to make sure that a complete stranger would still get a fun ride out of reading my book. I know from the couple of DUers who HAVE read my book that I came pretty close to succeeding.