Recs if you like Ask the Dust (The Saga of Arturo Bandini, #3)...

For when you need to wallow in melancholy and misery: a collection of pessimistic, cynical, downbeat, depressing, doom and gloom fiction for my disillusioned friends.

More to come!

Got the holiday blues? Check out my list Christmas with the Cranks!

I know there are already several lists with a California theme, but I am hoping this acts as a syllabus of sorts for books that deal with the core myth, history, violence, dream, and contradiction of California. Suggestions are welcome!

This is the list from The Atlantic. "In 1868, a little-known writer by the name of John William DeForest proposed a new type of literature, a collective artistic project for a nation just emerging from an existential conflict: a work of fiction that accomplished “the task of painting the American soul.” It would be called the Great American Novel, and no one had written it yet, DeForest admitted. Maybe soon."

All books read by Tough Guy Book Club since 2014. The club that wants men to Read More, Talk More, and have more Friends.