cakeanddottle, other favorite authors of the briar sort, the Peterson Kapet and the Luciano. Of the
literary variety, I'll limit myself to a few:
Nicholson Baker, author of the novel "The Anthologist" and many others, and heroic savior of back
issues of many newspapers which he single-handedly rescued from destruction by libraries that
planned to put them on crappy microfilm and destroy the copies, which they claimed were deteriorating,
at which Baker scoffs with unlimited scorn, with the evidence of their preservation in hand. Duke
University finally stepped up and took custody of the collection, for which, vast kudos to them. Baker
is a force of nature.
Poetry: Frederic Seidel, whose poems star regular references to his beloved, custom-built Ducati
motorcycle. A tough and rather wild poet who might appeal to people who feel they don't like
poetry.
Two for nonfiction, George Packer, "The Unwinding," a series of portraits of contemporary people,
famous and not; and Craig L. Symonds, "The Battle of Midway," who reaches into the history and
does a masterful job of finding the factual roots of a seeming Naval miracle.
And from the past, if you can overcome the severe limitations of his dogged writing style,
"Crusade In Europe," the account of WWII in Europe and D-Day specifically, by Dwight D.
Eisenhower, who was way tougher than the tough guys by mastering the infinite detail of
the D-Day invasion, likely saving hundreds of thousands of lives by his unrelenting attention
to detail, and adept use of power. If you can stay awake, you will be astounded.