I’ve spent nearly all of my 51 years with a book (or two or three) in hand. And I’m utterly omnivorous in my taste. I’ve read great ‘terrible’ books and terrible ‘great’ books. (More about that in another post.) I have become somewhat indifferent to book reviews—as they tend to reveal more about the reviewer than the book being reviewed. I read what is recommended to me by friends and family (my kids in particular have terrific taste and read widely) what I see or hear about in the popular zeitgeist, and sometimes just because I like the cover. In other words—there isn’t really a theme to what I might like. Check that—there is one theme; I love and adore any writer who can construct an elegant sentence without a dependent clause. God knows I can’t. So I admire it that much more in others. Consider these authors in that light. Recommendations from a relatively well read friend who isn’t trying to improve you or upgrade you, just wants to share the good stuff with you.

The following short list is  both all good stuff and entirely arbitrary, based on what I like and have enjoyed. If you haven’t put these writer’s sentences, phrases, characters and stories into your head, I believe you’re missing something profound in your life. All three of these writers are often dismissively described as “genre” writers—which is ridiculous on the face of it—good writing is good writing. And frankly, all of these writers say something profound about the human condition that more lauded “literary fiction” often fails to accomplish. I think that may have something to do with ego, self-regard and an inability to get out of one’s own way, but I digress.

The list…

1. Tana French is the author of a series of crime novels set in Ireland called The Dublin Murder Squad. French has lived in Dublin since 1990 but grew up literally around the world—Italy, Malawi, the USA and Ireland. She was trained as an actress and has appeared in movies and theater—but when she published her first novel In the Woods in 2007 she had found her calling. It was a dazzling debut. Beautifully written, tensely plotted, creepy in some places and beautiful in others. I happened across it and was haunted by both the characters she created and the somewhat seedy, working class milieu of “wrong side of the tracks” Dublin. Her next books in the series expanded on those strengths and she has established herself among the first rank of crime/thriller writers on the planet. But that label fails to do her work justice. Tana French is a writer of elegant and sometimes hard edged prose. She imbues her flawed characters with humanity and authenticity—you cheer for them, fear for them and occasionally want to take a shovel to their heads. Simply put, she is a writer of great talent and the fact that she writes crime stories shouldn’t dissuade anyone from her books. These aren’t mindless, churned out crime fiction. She writes great stories and writes them beautifully.  Her books (and it is not necessary to read them in order, although they do have a bit of building from book to book—the main characters are different in each book and they work as stand-alone stories quite well) are:

Into The Woods (2007), The Likeness (2008), The Faithful Place (2010), Broken Harbour (2012)

The Secret Place (2014), The Trespasser (July 2016)

2. Elmore Leonard was one of the most prolific authors of the last half of the 20^th century writing over fifty novels plus screenplays, short stories, a terrific book on writing and television series. Another of the so-called “genre” writers Leonard writes books about criminals, near criminals, not-yet-criminals and used-to-be criminals. His work is often darkly comic, and sometimes laugh out loud funny. Most of all—he crafted some of the best dialogue in the English language. Leonard’s writing was characterized by short, punchy dialogue and his descriptions were spare and on point. Rarely wasting a single word, Leonard was a true craftsman and nearly everything, including the westerns he churned out and honed his skills on in the 1950’s, are worth reading.

I would point the new Leonard reader to his work in the 1990’s as a starting point; Get Shorty, Maximum Bob, Out of Sight, Pronto and Cuba Libre serve as great introductions. Many of his books have been made into not-very-good movies. The three exceptions are Out of Sight directed by Steven Soderbergh, Get Shorty directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and Jackie Brown—based on the novel Rum Punch and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Those movies are great because they mostly let Leonard’s dialogue alone—and it sparkles on the screen as it does on the page and easily worth your time. Elmore Leonard died in 2013 at the age of 88 and was working until nearly his last breath. I miss him.

3. Walter Mosley’s work moves from gritty crime novels through science fiction to dark erotica and hits most stops in between along the way. Best known for his novels set in post WWII segregated Los Angeles, starring a conflicted African-American WWII vet and PI named Easy Rawlins, Mosley’s characters are flawed, heroic, victims of their time and place and not always redeemed. The writing is evocative but never floral, descriptive, and sometimes heartbreaking. Born in 1952 Los Angeles to an African-American father he described as “a black Socrates” and a Jewish mother who introduced him to the classics of the western canon, Mosley knows and writes about the conflicting forces present in all of us. He writes of our collective demons and dreams with compassion but no sentimentality. He is a writer’s writer—but never “writerly” or mannered or deliberately literary.

A good place to start with Mosley is his first book Devil in a Blue Dress introducing us to Easy Rawlins. (also a terrific movie starring Denzel Washington.) I also highly recommend his Leonard McGill series that begins
with The Long Fall. For the more adventurous, his erotica is not kitsch and is both very sexy and deeply disturbing in places—Killing Johnny Fry is worth your time.

All three of these writers are quite famous but not regarded in the same way as a Jonathan Franzen or Don Delillo by critics and the academy. Which is a bit of a shame. All three of these writers use some of the tropes of the genre to propel their stories along—but at their heart all of them are exploring the elemental forces driving us. Our fears, dreams, needs, desires and dangerous compulsions. These books often reflect deeply on the human condition. And it is impossible to come away from any of them without having been moved to laughter, tears, reflection or simply haunted by the people they introduce us to. And of course, good, often breathtakingly good, writing. They are also marvelously entertaining and don’t ever feel like homework—which is why the snooty set secretly love them but have to put them in the ‘genre fiction” box. Surely these writers and their books are just too much fun to be serious?

My advice–jump into any of these books you happen to come across. Enjoy yourself, be carried along by terrific writing that also drives great stories with authentic humans at their center.

Look for a list of non-fiction writers you should be reading in the next month or so….