Which Book Has Effected Your Life the Most?

Much as I hate to admit it, Robert Anton Wilson's Cosmic Trigger has so far been the book that bent the path of my life the furthest.

The old paperback, with this cover:



What about you?

[Edited on Feb 10, 2004 by Faust]

'the thief of always' by clive barker. it was the first book i ever read leisurely, and it launched my interest in lit.

*cringe* Oh, that thread title. Oh dear.

Catcher in the Rye

Terribly sorry about the misspelling. And I'm a professional editor, too...

*wince*

It's the Newcastle typing. Maybe if I beg the staff to edit it...?

[Edited on Feb 10, 2004 by Faust]

John Adams by David McCullough really interested me. It made me appreciate a person that played a big part in US history. Usually I think people feel the "founding fathers" were all slave-owning, uptight, inhuman beings that made no sacrifices during their lives. This book introduced me to one who, I think, stands out in a positive light.

Which books have *affected* me the most?

1) "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", by Robert Pirsig, because he talks about almost everything that matters to me.
2) "A Treatise of Human Nature", by David Hume, because he takes all the formal philosophers, stomps them into the ground, and says, "Okay, what's left?" and gets it right.

If someone seriously says "the Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand, I'm going to punch their face in.

Now that that's settled...

um...

Non-fiction - Education Automaton and/or Critical Path - Buckminster Fuller

Fiction - the Wild Boys - William S. Burroughs

"The Changeover" by Margaret Mahy... I was about 12. It's a young adult book, but there's just something to it... magic, romance, the storyline... it makes sense if you've read it.

"DMT: The Spirit Molecule" by Dr. Richard Strassman.

Interesting. Cosmic Trigger did it for me, since it got me interested in doing LSD.

the ABZ book was my first venture into dark humor
and Animal Farm was my first adult book.


I love both and they've really become a big part of my mindset

... oddly enough, probably Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder.

A fellow psychonaut? We have much to discuss, hah.

In Search of the Miraculous - P.D. Ouspensky

all about love - bell hooks

Nothing can cure the funk that comes when you realize you have no answer for this question.

all of mine are geeky non-fiction

The Stranger-Albert Camus and The Great Gatsby-F. Scott Fitzgerald
Demian somewhat, I only read that not too long ago

[Edited on Feb 11, 2004 by MCnaptime]

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut got me reading books again after a stint of reading nothing but punk record sleeves and comics.
Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting was like discovering punk all over.

I could recommend one. It's kinda what I do for a living...

I was young...