Winner of the National Book Award and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Jin is known for spare and elegant stories about Chinese culture. His latest novel, “ A Free Life, “ is an epic tale of immigrants in America. His picks:
My Five Most Important Books
1. “Anna Karenina“ by Leo Tolstoy. It helped me structure [...]
The novelist summoned the spirits of Virginia Woolf in his Pulitzer Prize-winning book “The Hours” and Walt Whitman in 2005’s “Specimen Days.” His picks:
My Five Most Important Books
1. “Mrs. Dalloway” by Virginia Woolf. We see her learning how to write a great novel by writing one.
2. “To the Lighthouse” by Virginia Woolf. Perfectly balanced and [...]
The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” is blessed with literary chops and a Hollywood touch. The film version of “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh,” Chabon’s 1988 debut novel, hits theaters on April 10. His picks:
My Five Most Important Books
1. “Complete Stories of Edgar Allan Poe.” The first writer I fell [...]
1. “Essays” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. A plain-spoken, cunning tour of inconsistency, yearning and faith.
2. “The Moviegoer” by Walker Percy. A seriocomic masterpiece that exploits the human connection between bliss and bale.
3. “Inferno” by Dante. Serious things here. But often very funny too, and useful: it lets you know what really happens if you’re bad.
4. [...]