Friday, July 11, 2014

Cult Novels: An Essential List

Cult Novels: An Essential List 

15 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

Hum, gotta check this one out.

mybillcrider said...

I've read a surprising number of these. Well, maybe it's not so surprising.

Anonymous said...

I guess I'm not a very cult-y guy, as I've onlty read ten or so. If something is considered "in" and "trendy" I am usually against it.


Jeff

Randy Johnson said...

I've read about all the SF and a few others. Atlas Shrugged is one.

Kent Morgan said...

No doubt you have a copy of the book 500 Essential Cult Books the Ultimate Guide by Gina McKinnon. Each book gets a synopsis and a review. A nice touch is suggested further reading. The book was published in London and New York at the same time, but was conceived in the UK. In many instances, you see both the UK and US covers.

mybillcrider said...

Kent, I don't have that book, but I should have it.

Jeff, believe me, a lot of the books on this list are anything but "in."

Deb said...

I'm surprised at how many I've read (about 20); although as soon as I saw the old reliable standbys, Catcher in the Rye and Atlas Shrugged, I was face-palming. My favorite cult novel is singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen's halloucinatory mid-sixties novel, Beautiful Losers.

Tom Johnson said...

Uh oh, I've only read one of them.

Deb said...

Ice by Anna Kavan (which is on the list) is also very good. Bizarre in an intriguing, as opposed to frustrating way. In addition, Kavan also lived a very strange life (including being a long-functioning heroin addict).

mybillcrider said...

I've also read 20. Of those, NIGHTWOOD was the hardest to get through. I've read a few of them more than once, including V., which is a favorite of mine.

Cap'n Bob said...

But only one created an actual cult, Dianetics. According to his son, Hubbard tapped out that crock of shit in a two week period while high on cocaine.

mybillcrider said...

There's no danger that I'll ever read that one.

Steve Oerkfitz said...

Read 19. Don't believe I would consider crap like Clan of the Cave Bear or Valley of the Dolls for this list.

mybillcrider said...

They do kind of screw it up.

Bud said...

I ditto Jeff about "cultish" stuff. I almost passed on Catch-22 because of all the hype, but I'm glad I read it anyway 8-) I doubt that I would have read Confederacy of Dunces without Walker Percy's intro.