I’ve been doing a little summer office cleaning. Ok, it’s forced…the box where I keep different versions of the scenes for my book and notes, etc. burst! As I was sifting through the papers, I came across a photocopy of a page titled “1 Favorite Book to Recommend to the Group.” It’s from one of the summers I spent in the New York State Writers Institute at Skidmore College. The workshop was headed by Marilynne Robinson and Mary Gordon (Marilynne Robinson later won a Pulitzer for Gilead…great book but also don’t neglect to read her earlier novel Housekeeping). Anyhow, this is a list of books that writers in the class recommended:

The Leavetaking by John McGahern

The Polish Officer by Alan Furst

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCuller

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

Stories by Breece D’J Pancake

Chess is My Life by Victor Korchnoi

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Why Did I Ever by Mary Robison (my recommendation at the time!)

The Lime Twig by John Hawkes

Mating by Norman Rush

The Art of the Novel by Milan Kundera

Possession by A.S. Byatt

White Teeth by Zadie Smith

For me, this list is like finding a lost treasure. There are plenty of books on there I still haven’t read. I was particularly intrigued by Breece D’J Pancake, though. I’ve never heard of this author. I looked him up a few days ago and found out he died in the 1970s. For a sample of his work, click here to read Pancake’s Trilobites (published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1977). There’s nothing as grounding — or humbling –as taking a break to read a piece so well crafted and honest. The guy could write! Plus he certainly had one cool name.