Books read in 2023 - Here’s my top 5:
• Tender is the flesh [Agustina Bazterrica] - This is one of those phenomenal books that make you think a lot & stays with you long after you’ve finished it. Brutal. You should absolutely read it. Don’t even read about it so as not to spoil anything. Just read it. You will see what I mean!
• Faith, Hope & Carnage [Nick Cave & Sean O’Hagan] - Conversations about life, death, love & moving on from tragedy. Nick Cave doesn’t hold back.
• The complete fiction [H.P. Lovecraft] - This one was over 1,000 pages long! What’s cool about it is that it is in chronological order, which helps see how Lovecraft developed as a writer, from a young, average copycat to the fiction visionary he became. There’s a little foreword before every story from a Lovecraft authority, which adds cool insight and depth you may missed without these.
• Nothin’ but a good time [Richard Bienstock & Tom Beaujour] - Fascinating, hysterical at times. I know most folks will cringe at “hair metal” (so do I for most of those bands). What makes this book great is the way it shows how the cynical music industry worked behind the scenes in those days and the levels of dedication from the bands who made it. You gotta give them that. These bands really never had a “plan B”.
• Slenderman - Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls [Kathleen Hale] - Crazy research from the author. Bit biased at times yet quite the fascinating depiction.
Curious to see what you guys have!