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25 Important Books of the 00s
I decided, in the slew of retrospective ‘best of’ lists chronicling the decade we will be putting to rest in the next weeks, that even though I’m not the biggest fan of lists that try to span even a year, much less 10 of them, I might as well put something together. Of all the lists I’ve seen so far there hasn’t been a single one that came near anything remotely representing the kind of words I like to read, many of them repeating the same names by the same people in the same spots. And that’s fine and good, okay, I guess. Lists like this are really hard to put together in a way that everybody and their mother won’t be throwing darts at where you missed out and what’s wrong with what you put in, and that’s fine and good, okay, too. And this list is surely going to be no exception. What I’ve compiled here is by no means to be considered a definitive Best of the 2000s, or even a definitive My Favorite Books of the 2000s, because depending on mood, and focus, and a whole lot of other things, that’s not how it works. Anyway, to keep a long and rather assumable speech short, here are some books that really got me as they came out during the past 10 years, books which I also think in some way are capital I Important. Some of them are books I read in grad school, or in undergrad. Some I read in the last few months, some I’m still reading, what have you.
There are some obvious gaps. Some are intended. For instance, I swung pretty wide of books of poetry, not because I couldn’t think of any I wanted to list, but because I am less well read in that area and thus would show my brownness in doing so. Regardless, there were a few I couldn’t help, and so there they are [A full on list of important works of poetry from the 00s is on its way]. There are also a large to very large handful of ones that should just as easily be on here (for instance, I avoided books released by my own publishers, each of whom I believe exert a gorgeous load). I’ve talked far and wide about those people anyhow, so they would be obvious for me to list. I tried to be less obvious in my own tastes, despite the fact that a lot of it slipped in. And should be in. Because these are books I think are important. This list for me, not that I’m competing, tries to fill in some of the gaps other similar styled lists have thus far left out. And so, in the barrage of suggestions or additions that will follow (which I by all means welcome, the more the merrier, for real), I hope you’ll take pity on me for being such a goon as to have messed with a list in the first place, and take this for what it is, a partial shoutout to what I think are, if not the top 25 books of the 2000s, at least a version. They are in semi-random order, with some inherent tendencies within.
Oblivion, David Foster Wallace (Little, Brown, 2004)
[“Mr. Squishy” by itself from this stands as one of the most important innovations for short fiction since, I don’t know, Robert Coover. Regardless, the mind at work in here, in all these stories, is bigger than the book, than many books. This is not a collection, it is a monolith.]
Rising Up and Rising Down, William Vollmann (McSweeney’s, 2003)
[When I ordered a 3300 page book, I didn’t realize I was actually going to read almost every word of it, in a basement, in pure awe. Even just either of the last two volumes of case studies could make it here by themselves.]
American Genius, A Comedy, Lynne Tillman (Soft Skull, 2006)
[If I needed to name a book that is maybe the most overlooked important piece of fiction in not only the 00s, but in the last 50 years, this might be the one. I could read this back to back to back for years.]
Europeana, Patrik Ourednik (Dalkey Archive, 2005)
[I’ve recommended this book to more people than I can count, in the same way it was recommended to me: Pick it up and turn to any page. Read that page. You’ll buy the book. A very incredible rendering of the dark heart of our history.]
Pastoralia, George Saunders (Riverhead, 2000)
[One of the early formative collections for me, and a lot of other people, in the same time I was reading Wallace, Moody, Antrim, Dixon, Erickson, etc., all of whom who could/should have books on this list, and one of the few that is on most of those other lists already around too, and for good reason.]
Human Smoke, Nicholson Baker (Simon & Schuster, 2008)
[I mostly always hate historical nonfiction. I read this 600 page book in 2 days, most of it while walking back and forth around the terminal of an airport, because I could not sit still. Like someone took 300 books and ripped out the good parts and put them back together in one.]
This Is Not A Novel, David Markson (Counterpoint, 2001)
[This, and its counterparts in the Novelist series, are probably one of the books as objects and of memorable style I will remember most.]
Magic For Beginners, Kelly Link (Small Beer, 2005)
[Rip out all the stories in here except for “Stone Animals” and I am still putting the book on the list. The other stories are pretty much all that good too.]
The Essential Zizek (The Sublime Object of Ideology, The Ticklish Subject, The Fragile Absolute, The Plague of Fantasies: 4 books), Slavoj Zizek (Verso, 2009)
[I’m still reading this, bit by bit, but I’ve gotten more out of the bits I’ve read so far than I have from a lot of other books in a long time, and it’s fun. Sure, it’s actually four books, but seeing as how he’s practically defined the 00s in a lot of ways, it seems needed here.]
Halls of Fame, John D’Agata (Graywolf, 2005)
[This in a package deal with his edited anthology The Next American Essay should be taught in most every writing workshop at all concerned with unique angles and form.]
Venus Drive, Sam Lipsyte (Open City, 2000)
[You can’t fuck with Sam Lipsyte. This is still my favorite of his. Sentences in the worst way.]
Angle of Yaw, Ben Lerner (Copper Canyon, 2006)
[For a couple months I drove around with this in my car and had to take it out because I kept almost hitting other cars while reading each little sentence packet over and over again.]
Why Did I Ever, Mary Robison (Counterpoint, 2002)
[Another important MFA years book for me, one that did a lot in my understanding of style, humor, and poise, absent of narrative but in chunks. A veritable combination lock, like the one described inside it.]
I Looked Alive, Gary Lutz (Thunder’s Mouth, 2004)
[You can almost taste the hours it took him to write each of these sentences. This is an object. Just stare.]
The Sluts, Dennis Cooper (Da Capo, 2005)
[I hadn’t had a book grab me by the head like this one did in, well, I can’t remember when. In a lot of ways, this book is more emblematic of a certain underlying air of the 2000s than any other on this list.]
Remainland, Aase Berg (Action Books, 2005)
[A majorly important translation. For months after I got this one, I sat with it on my desk open while I was typing my own sentences. These aren’t poems. These are something else.]
The Open Curtain, Brian Evenson (Coffee House, 2008)
[I could have put at least 3 of Brian Evenson’s books on here. This and The Wavering Knife in particular are just too huge to me to say. I haven’t eaten acid but from what I understand this would be a little what it’s like. It will haunt you]
The Cave, Jose Saramago (Harvest, 2002)
[If there is a book that could be called an allegory for this decade, it’s probably this one. Fucking heartrending. And incredible, like most every single one of his. He is the paragraph master.]
The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis, Lydia Davis (FSG, 2009)
[I actually haven’t read the collected as a whole in whole yet, but I spent a lot of time with Lydia Davis’s books also especially during my MFA time, and in years thereafter. All of it in one place seems just too big to ignore.]
Dear Everybody, Michael Kimball (Alma Books, 2008)
[Michael Kimball’s knack for getting straight into the heart of things at the same time as his syntactical and sound prowess is just about enough to make it hard to stand up with one of his books in your hand.]
The Collected Stories, Amy Hempel (Scribner, 2006)
[The greatest evidence of a life’s work in one volume. Amy is the realest.]
Super Flat Times, Matthew Derby (Back Bay, 2003)
[I think I’ve probably read this book four or five times, at least in parts: massive ideas, massive words. Still surprises me every time. Humor, sentences, new language and idea, power, fun, all at once.]
Notable American Women, Ben Marcus (Vintage, 2002)
[Ben Marcus might be a witch. He’s also holy fuck.]
La Medusa, Vanessa Place (FC2, 2008)
[Another monster-beast sized creation I read pretty much without moving from my chair. This book probably has my favorite scene of the 2000s in it. It’s a guy eating Mexican food.]
Kamby Bolongo Mean River, Robert Lopez (Dzanc, 2009)
[Robert Lopez helped close out my decade by closing out my brain with just about every single sentence and paragraph in this thing. It just did not stop. There is not another book I can think of that moves emotionally the way this one does.]
Tags: books of the 00s
God, well done with the inclusion of Kelly Link. That book is brilliant. I have a deck of Magic for Beginners playing cards with all the drawings from the book. Beloved artifact.
God, well done with the inclusion of Kelly Link. That book is brilliant. I have a deck of Magic for Beginners playing cards with all the drawings from the book. Beloved artifact.
I just read a page of “Europeana” on Amazon and, yes, like you said, I already want to buy it.
Angle of Yaw is pretty good. I liked it a lot initially, but it kind of cooled off after a while, sort of inexplicably. There are definitely some poems in it I keep going back to.
I just read a page of “Europeana” on Amazon and, yes, like you said, I already want to buy it.
Angle of Yaw is pretty good. I liked it a lot initially, but it kind of cooled off after a while, sort of inexplicably. There are definitely some poems in it I keep going back to.
Yeah, Zizek!
Yeah, Zizek!
I actually really, really like this list. And am surprised how many of these I’ve read. Now I can spend a few minutes believing I’m not as horribly underread as I really know I am. This also adds a couple books to my pile. And I’ve cooled some over the years on some of the individual stories in Super Flat Times, now thinking it is more uneven than I used to, but I still love the structure of the thing so much, and would say about “Sound Gun” what you say about “Stone Animals” (though I agree with the assertion re: that story as well).
I actually really, really like this list. And am surprised how many of these I’ve read. Now I can spend a few minutes believing I’m not as horribly underread as I really know I am. This also adds a couple books to my pile. And I’ve cooled some over the years on some of the individual stories in Super Flat Times, now thinking it is more uneven than I used to, but I still love the structure of the thing so much, and would say about “Sound Gun” what you say about “Stone Animals” (though I agree with the assertion re: that story as well).
Thanks…Blake. Some great stuff to read. Will definitely check some of these out. Dear Everybody is one of my favorites.
Thanks…Blake. Some great stuff to read. Will definitely check some of these out. Dear Everybody is one of my favorites.
great list, several on here on my shelf, to be read, others on the wish list – pastoralia, the tillman, the link – just got the lipsyte in the mail YESTERDAY
I just read four pages and am ordering this one first.
yes, absolutely on ourednik, markson, & zizek. i think kelly link’s book over-rated. i know everyone out there loves her, but eh, it was ok. i read it, left me unaffected. a great (though predictably blake) list!
great list, several on here on my shelf, to be read, others on the wish list – pastoralia, the tillman, the link – just got the lipsyte in the mail YESTERDAY
I just read four pages and am ordering this one first.
yes, absolutely on ourednik, markson, & zizek. i think kelly link’s book over-rated. i know everyone out there loves her, but eh, it was ok. i read it, left me unaffected. a great (though predictably blake) list!
This is one of those lists where I agree so much with the books that I’ve read (ex: Derby, Lopez (thanks), Hempel, Evenson, Link etc.) that it makes me think I NEED to buy whatever is on this list that I haven’t read.
This is one of those lists where I agree so much with the books that I’ve read (ex: Derby, Lopez (thanks), Hempel, Evenson, Link etc.) that it makes me think I NEED to buy whatever is on this list that I haven’t read.
the cheapest lutz i looked alive on amazon is $81
the cheapest lutz i looked alive on amazon is $81
Many a sweet pick here, & a few I need to catch up w/. Bravo, bigtime. Among the nits I’d pick, hmm — Evenson’s stories seem more worthy than his novels, & given the aesthetic at work here, seems you need at least of Gilbert Sorrentino’s brilliant threesome form the Aughts: LITTLE CASINO, or LUNAR FOLLIES, or A STRANGE COMMONPLACE. A magnificent late-career flowering.
Many a sweet pick here, & a few I need to catch up w/. Bravo, bigtime. Among the nits I’d pick, hmm — Evenson’s stories seem more worthy than his novels, & given the aesthetic at work here, seems you need at least of Gilbert Sorrentino’s brilliant threesome form the Aughts: LITTLE CASINO, or LUNAR FOLLIES, or A STRANGE COMMONPLACE. A magnificent late-career flowering.
I like this list.
I like this list.
So entirely with you on Europeana, to this day never have read a narrator’s voice quite like it. Such an autistic, monstrously intelligent match for the 20th century. Kelly Link is a right choice, exactly. I’ve never read the Vanessa Place, need to now. Vollmann’s violence book is not the best thing on violence I’ve ever read but it’s the most equal to it in terms of size and seriousness, it deserves to be here too. Excellent round up, man.
So entirely with you on Europeana, to this day never have read a narrator’s voice quite like it. Such an autistic, monstrously intelligent match for the 20th century. Kelly Link is a right choice, exactly. I’ve never read the Vanessa Place, need to now. Vollmann’s violence book is not the best thing on violence I’ve ever read but it’s the most equal to it in terms of size and seriousness, it deserves to be here too. Excellent round up, man.
Kamby Bolongo Mean River was A. MAZE. ING. Blew my mind.
Kamby Bolongo Mean River was A. MAZE. ING. Blew my mind.
I’ve only read 8 of these (thought I’ve read books by most of the authors)
I’ve only read 8 of these (thought I’ve read books by most of the authors)
thanks David. what are some other good nonfiction books on violence? i’ve read Zizek’s, which was fun. would love more.
you should definitely check out La Medusa. i think you’d be really into it.
thanks again.
thanks David. what are some other good nonfiction books on violence? i’ve read Zizek’s, which was fun. would love more.
you should definitely check out La Medusa. i think you’d be really into it.
thanks again.
that’s the truth. :)
thanks lincoln
that’s the truth. :)
thanks lincoln
thanks John. I read 4 or 5 of those Coffee House issues of the Sorrentino. I liked them, but they didn’t stay with me as long as I’d imagined for some reason. Still, I agree, as a late career flowering as you say, it’s pretty incredible.
yeah, someone needs to reissue that
i end up predictably blake so often. :P
it’s unbelievable. OH
thanks John. I read 4 or 5 of those Coffee House issues of the Sorrentino. I liked them, but they didn’t stay with me as long as I’d imagined for some reason. Still, I agree, as a late career flowering as you say, it’s pretty incredible.
yeah, someone needs to reissue that
i end up predictably blake so often. :P
it’s unbelievable. OH
a deck of cards is nice and fitting for the aura of that book. nice.
yeah, the Derby is more of an old school thing for me too, but still every time I pick it up I get entranced a little. Sound Gun, jesus.
a deck of cards is nice and fitting for the aura of that book. nice.
yeah, the Derby is more of an old school thing for me too, but still every time I pick it up I get entranced a little. Sound Gun, jesus.
Thank you very much for this fucking awesome list, Blake! I am teaching a course on 21st century lit. next year and have been trying to suss out the reading list. This helps big time.
Thank you very much for this fucking awesome list, Blake! I am teaching a course on 21st century lit. next year and have been trying to suss out the reading list. This helps big time.
I’ve read 5 of these (Europeana, Pastoralia, I Looked Alive, Venus Drive, and Why Did I Ever) and am currently reading La Medusa (which is fucking amazing).
Given how much I enjoyed the books from this list that I’ve read, I think I’ll probably have to buy the rest of them. Thanks for the recommendations, Blake.
I’ve read 5 of these (Europeana, Pastoralia, I Looked Alive, Venus Drive, and Why Did I Ever) and am currently reading La Medusa (which is fucking amazing).
Given how much I enjoyed the books from this list that I’ve read, I think I’ll probably have to buy the rest of them. Thanks for the recommendations, Blake.
this is the first of any ‘best of the decade list’ (of any medium or thing) that hasn’t pissed me off in some way. the 4 of these i’ve read i like a lot.
this is the first of any ‘best of the decade list’ (of any medium or thing) that hasn’t pissed me off in some way. the 4 of these i’ve read i like a lot.
René Girard’s “Violence and the Sacred”
(not from this decade though, obv.)
René Girard’s “Violence and the Sacred”
(not from this decade though, obv.)
Better keep RU&RD under lock and key. Someone might take it into their heads to cat-burgler that shit.
Better keep RU&RD under lock and key. Someone might take it into their heads to cat-burgler that shit.
Could you explain your claim that ‘Mr. Squishy’ is as important as Coover’s work (which work? Babysitter? or the unreadable later stuff?)? Is the climbing man an allusion to Barthelme? Wouldn’t you say ‘The Suffering Channel’ or ‘Oblivion’ do things that are more interesting, structurally?
Could you explain your claim that ‘Mr. Squishy’ is as important as Coover’s work (which work? Babysitter? or the unreadable later stuff?)? Is the climbing man an allusion to Barthelme? Wouldn’t you say ‘The Suffering Channel’ or ‘Oblivion’ do things that are more interesting, structurally?
“head” not “heads.” though a cat burlger with multiples would be a cat burlger i would not want to tangle with.
“head” not “heads.” though a cat burlger with multiples would be a cat burlger i would not want to tangle with.
i just got a loan by showing the bank a picture of it on my bed
i just got a loan by showing the bank a picture of it on my bed
i think all of the stories in that book are incredible works. but Mr Squishy freaks me out: in breadth of attention (and inversely, focus of attention), in the way he opens energy and then allows it to run full scale out of the end of the story itself, the sheer mass of consideration of what is going on in the story (not that i could begin to put it into words here: it is the text). i don’t know. i love all of the stories in Oblivion, all in different ways (‘Good Old Neon’?? ‘Incarnations of Burned Children’???) but Mr. Squishy seems working on a ground of new terrain that no one has really touched, Coover included, particularly as structure, and as in conception (seems huge even for wallace, the size of that thing). oblivion as a whole is a fucking weapon.
i think all of the stories in that book are incredible works. but Mr Squishy freaks me out: in breadth of attention (and inversely, focus of attention), in the way he opens energy and then allows it to run full scale out of the end of the story itself, the sheer mass of consideration of what is going on in the story (not that i could begin to put it into words here: it is the text). i don’t know. i love all of the stories in Oblivion, all in different ways (‘Good Old Neon’?? ‘Incarnations of Burned Children’???) but Mr. Squishy seems working on a ground of new terrain that no one has really touched, Coover included, particularly as structure, and as in conception (seems huge even for wallace, the size of that thing). oblivion as a whole is a fucking weapon.
thanks mike
it was weird to consider the decade. surprising how many books i read during it that i thought were from it, but were actually way earlier. glad this can help, would be interested to see what you end up teaching.
thanks mike
it was weird to consider the decade. surprising how many books i read during it that i thought were from it, but were actually way earlier. glad this can help, would be interested to see what you end up teaching.
thanks bryan, my pleasure
thanks bryan, my pleasure
i should mention herein too: the deficit of poetry (as i attended to in the introduction of the post as something i mostly intentionally avoided) is going to be alleviated by another list, of all poetry, by a most excellent friend. coming soon.
i should mention herein too: the deficit of poetry (as i attended to in the introduction of the post as something i mostly intentionally avoided) is going to be alleviated by another list, of all poetry, by a most excellent friend. coming soon.
And I first found out about the book from you on this site–so, thanks!
And I first found out about the book from you on this site–so, thanks!
yes, but blake reads good books so being predictably blake isn’t a bad thing. i hope you didn’t take it as a bad thing. if you had bad books (or books i thought were lame), then, you’d be unpredictably blake. also, we get to know your taste, here at htmlg.
yes, but blake reads good books so being predictably blake isn’t a bad thing. i hope you didn’t take it as a bad thing. if you had bad books (or books i thought were lame), then, you’d be unpredictably blake. also, we get to know your taste, here at htmlg.
hehe, i know, i don’t take being me as a bad thing, at least i try not to . ;) thanks lily
hehe, i know, i don’t take being me as a bad thing, at least i try not to . ;) thanks lily
hm, had to think about this for awhile. vollmann’s massive feat isn’t the ‘best thing’ i’ve read on violence overall (mainly because, after a point, he tends to just skillfully narrate, although i mean, who else but vollmann could follow violence everywhere it goes so exhaustively and still remain consistently insightful all the while? truly amazing) but it’s hard to think of many discrete books “on violence” that i’ve read that would be the silver bullet here. it actually seems like a book that’s yet to be written. or maybe someone else might have some suggestions? you know the zizek. bryan beat me to it on recommending rene girard’s violence and the sacred. in a way, it’s a book you’ll have ‘read’ because one thesis in it (about scapegoating) is so overfamiliar by now but there’s so much more to it and in it. actually, another good book by him, just in passing, on violence but lots of other stuff too, is the awesomely titled things hidden since the foundation of the world. elaine scarry’s the body in pain: the making and unmaking of the world is something else, a must read. a really good recent reflection on violence and atrocity i read was by an italian theorist adriana cavarero called horrorism. agamben’s homo sacer is also a must. another excellent one, but oriented toward the theory of violence, like walter benjamin, arendt and high theory and stuff, is one called critique of violence by beatrice hanssen. it’s pretty fantastic though in its way. mark seltzer’s serial killers is still the best theoretical book i’ve read on that topic, i think. guyotat’s tomb for 500,000 soldiers has to be counted in: it’s fiction but i mean, you’re there. oh! and erroll morris’ collaboration with philip gourevitch on the book that goes with his film, standard operating procedure, superb. i think overall though the most truly important book ive read on violence is christopher browning’s the origins of the final solution. i don’t think i’d understand anything at all about how truly world-ending violence comes to be without that book. hope this helps? i feel like im missing something but it might be, like i say, that the book of books remains to be written.
i asked below but i think you missed it: the monson, does that have a release date? it’s a new one, yeah? sounds good, love monson.
hm, had to think about this for awhile. vollmann’s massive feat isn’t the ‘best thing’ i’ve read on violence overall (mainly because, after a point, he tends to just skillfully narrate, although i mean, who else but vollmann could follow violence everywhere it goes so exhaustively and still remain consistently insightful all the while? truly amazing) but it’s hard to think of many discrete books “on violence” that i’ve read that would be the silver bullet here. it actually seems like a book that’s yet to be written. or maybe someone else might have some suggestions? you know the zizek. bryan beat me to it on recommending rene girard’s violence and the sacred. in a way, it’s a book you’ll have ‘read’ because one thesis in it (about scapegoating) is so overfamiliar by now but there’s so much more to it and in it. actually, another good book by him, just in passing, on violence but lots of other stuff too, is the awesomely titled things hidden since the foundation of the world. elaine scarry’s the body in pain: the making and unmaking of the world is something else, a must read. a really good recent reflection on violence and atrocity i read was by an italian theorist adriana cavarero called horrorism. agamben’s homo sacer is also a must. another excellent one, but oriented toward the theory of violence, like walter benjamin, arendt and high theory and stuff, is one called critique of violence by beatrice hanssen. it’s pretty fantastic though in its way. mark seltzer’s serial killers is still the best theoretical book i’ve read on that topic, i think. guyotat’s tomb for 500,000 soldiers has to be counted in: it’s fiction but i mean, you’re there. oh! and erroll morris’ collaboration with philip gourevitch on the book that goes with his film, standard operating procedure, superb. i think overall though the most truly important book ive read on violence is christopher browning’s the origins of the final solution. i don’t think i’d understand anything at all about how truly world-ending violence comes to be without that book. hope this helps? i feel like im missing something but it might be, like i say, that the book of books remains to be written.
i asked below but i think you missed it: the monson, does that have a release date? it’s a new one, yeah? sounds good, love monson.
Thanks for taking the time to compile this list. Very useful. Also, it’s great to see Markson up there. Looking forward to your next list. Cheers.
Thanks for taking the time to compile this list. Very useful. Also, it’s great to see Markson up there. Looking forward to your next list. Cheers.
man, that’s some list. those titles are all just too good even by themselves. i just added a ton to my amazon wish list. thanks a lot David, that is really helpful and great. you know, i think a reading list from you in general might be in order. hey, what’s your email?
the monson is out in april. still in the middle of it, but really enjoying.
speaking of, other electricities i had written down to be on the list then forgot. it should be there.
thanks again david.
man, that’s some list. those titles are all just too good even by themselves. i just added a ton to my amazon wish list. thanks a lot David, that is really helpful and great. you know, i think a reading list from you in general might be in order. hey, what’s your email?
the monson is out in april. still in the middle of it, but really enjoying.
speaking of, other electricities i had written down to be on the list then forgot. it should be there.
thanks again david.
thanks Adam! markson is the master.
thanks Adam! markson is the master.
actually, got yr email there embedded in the comment. imma drop you a line.
actually, got yr email there embedded in the comment. imma drop you a line.
… supposedly it’s in the works, by Brooklyn Rail books, but that’s been the word for a few years now… people should bitch to John Yau…
… supposedly it’s in the works, by Brooklyn Rail books, but that’s been the word for a few years now… people should bitch to John Yau…
I don’t know, much as I love many of Evenson’s stories none of them have stayed with me as long as The Open Curtain did. That book may have stuck with me longer than any other I’ve read.
I don’t know, much as I love many of Evenson’s stories none of them have stayed with me as long as The Open Curtain did. That book may have stuck with me longer than any other I’ve read.
it really does something with the senses that i don’t think i’ve ever encountered quite the same way in fiction anywhere.
it really does something with the senses that i don’t think i’ve ever encountered quite the same way in fiction anywhere.
Yes yes yes Kelly Link. I want to write her fan mail twice a week.
Yes yes yes Kelly Link. I want to write her fan mail twice a week.
great list. the only thing I would probably want to add to it is Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland. But that’s probably because it’s really important to me. Minus the post-9/11 gobbledygook.
great list. the only thing I would probably want to add to it is Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland. But that’s probably because it’s really important to me. Minus the post-9/11 gobbledygook.
I’d include Waste by Eugene Marten, the reissue of Log of the S.S., too.
I’d include Waste by Eugene Marten, the reissue of Log of the S.S., too.
Waste was another that I had written down to include and then somehow didn’t.
I had to force myself to skip reissues. It would have just been too hard.
Waste was another that I had written down to include and then somehow didn’t.
I had to force myself to skip reissues. It would have just been too hard.
ken, good additions, yes
truethe
ken, good additions, yes
truethe
Great list – a bunch of these I’ve been meaning to check out, so this list serves as a friendly push.
My Loose Thread would be my DC pick, but The Sluts is awe-inspiring as well. God Jr is fairly amazing too, that last chapter in particular.
As for a book that’s deep below the radar, I’d nominate Frank Lentricchia’s wonderful Lucchessi and the Whale. The guy’s been hyped by Lish and DeLillo but still seems utterly unknown. Or maybe I’m just hanging in the wrong circles.
Great list – a bunch of these I’ve been meaning to check out, so this list serves as a friendly push.
My Loose Thread would be my DC pick, but The Sluts is awe-inspiring as well. God Jr is fairly amazing too, that last chapter in particular.
As for a book that’s deep below the radar, I’d nominate Frank Lentricchia’s wonderful Lucchessi and the Whale. The guy’s been hyped by Lish and DeLillo but still seems utterly unknown. Or maybe I’m just hanging in the wrong circles.
Thanks Jeff. My Loose Thread almost bumped The Sluts, but in the end I stayed there. You’re right though, both of those were big.
Nice on the Lentricchia. I’ve never heard of him somehow. I’m checking it out now. Thanks
Thanks Jeff. My Loose Thread almost bumped The Sluts, but in the end I stayed there. You’re right though, both of those were big.
Nice on the Lentricchia. I’ve never heard of him somehow. I’m checking it out now. Thanks
Thank you for this list. Now I gotta get my debit card working so I can order the books I haven’t read yet. Vanessa Place, hella yeah. And yes, My Loose Thread, over The Sluts, but Dennis is a hologram of wonderfulness all around.
Thank you for this list. Now I gotta get my debit card working so I can order the books I haven’t read yet. Vanessa Place, hella yeah. And yes, My Loose Thread, over The Sluts, but Dennis is a hologram of wonderfulness all around.
hologram of wonderfulness just about says it all. really you could put any of his 2000s books on there. can’t go wrong.
hologram of wonderfulness just about says it all. really you could put any of his 2000s books on there. can’t go wrong.
Not much to argue with in this list. Some people would call that a weakness. I call it a sling blade
Any thoughts on the upcoming film-ization of THE OPEN CURTAIN?
I’d add Laird Hunt to this list. No particular book. All of them.
Not much to argue with in this list. Some people would call that a weakness. I call it a sling blade
Any thoughts on the upcoming film-ization of THE OPEN CURTAIN?
I’d add Laird Hunt to this list. No particular book. All of them.
Nice list Blake, I’ll be checking a bunch of these out. Jeff, the Lentricchia seems interesting. Another great 2000’s book with a Melville theme is Vila-Matas’ “Bartleby and Co”.
Nice list Blake, I’ll be checking a bunch of these out. Jeff, the Lentricchia seems interesting. Another great 2000’s book with a Melville theme is Vila-Matas’ “Bartleby and Co”.
Great picks, Blake. I’ve read 10 of ’em! I think if I was to make a list I’d also include A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews, Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollack, and the Wells Tower collection. Oh–and Letters to Wendy’s!
Great picks, Blake. I’ve read 10 of ’em! I think if I was to make a list I’d also include A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews, Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollack, and the Wells Tower collection. Oh–and Letters to Wendy’s!
oh miriam toews, that’s a really good choice
oh miriam toews, that’s a really good choice
i wanted to watch ‘the library.’ that bit in the story where she announces you’ll wish you have seen that show? yes, i did. i loved the whole familiar-from-a-dream feeling that story had about it.
i wanted to watch ‘the library.’ that bit in the story where she announces you’ll wish you have seen that show? yes, i did. i loved the whole familiar-from-a-dream feeling that story had about it.
Oh man yes. By the time I was done with that I was really pretty depressed I would never see the show, although the idea of the cast switching around all the time is pretty annoying — I feel like that sort of shit never works.
Oh man yes. By the time I was done with that I was really pretty depressed I would never see the show, although the idea of the cast switching around all the time is pretty annoying — I feel like that sort of shit never works.
Heather Lewis’ “Notice” hit me harder than any novel of the past decade. The way it works formally is really something, but more than that the story just makes me insane with sadness. The last two times I tried to reread it I had to stop because I wasn’t in an emotionally stable enough place to deal with it. Though I’m not sure that such a place exists — might just be one of those books where you have to surrender yrself to the darkness for a while. And I work full time, so fuck that. :)
I think there’s a pretty good case for Oblivion as DFW’s best book. Yr right to single out squishy. It’s sort of hard for me to put my finger on what it is that makes it so special, but I think that a clumsy way of putting it would be to say that whereas most great stories are great in part because of the mulitplicity of interpretations that they open themselves up to, Squishy completely resists any interpretation at all, for me. It’s just this weird aesthetic object onto itself. Not that I read “Bartelby” and start start scribbling out “interpretations,” or whatever, no. Maybe the last three Lynch films or Godard’s “In Praise of Love” or the Kanye/Spike Jonez muppet duel video work in similar ways in my skull. Weird aesthetic objects complete onto themselves, which if you try to “figure them out” you’re already losing.
Title story of Oblivion is my favorite. It should not work, you should not be able to write a story about what that story turns out to be about, that’s like the first thing they teach you even in high school about writing — don’t end a story like that.
The other one I would include: Thom Jones, “Sonny LIston Was a Friend of Mine” — total master of “voice” (ugh), even if he’s not as formally groundbreaking as a number of the authors above. I hope he has another book in him.
I think Lipsyte has finally topped Venus Drive with The Ask. Which is a relief, because it’s sort of awkward when someone’s books, even if very good (and I like Sam’s first two novels), don’t quite touch the wild heights of that first book (which deserves to be as canonical as Joy Williams first book of stories, Richard Ford’s first book of stories, Amy Hempl’s, etc. — hopefully The Ask will blow up, and people will go back and discover that one) (also, Open City stacking some paper on the back of it would be a good thing).
Heather Lewis’ “Notice” hit me harder than any novel of the past decade. The way it works formally is really something, but more than that the story just makes me insane with sadness. The last two times I tried to reread it I had to stop because I wasn’t in an emotionally stable enough place to deal with it. Though I’m not sure that such a place exists — might just be one of those books where you have to surrender yrself to the darkness for a while. And I work full time, so fuck that. :)
I think there’s a pretty good case for Oblivion as DFW’s best book. Yr right to single out squishy. It’s sort of hard for me to put my finger on what it is that makes it so special, but I think that a clumsy way of putting it would be to say that whereas most great stories are great in part because of the mulitplicity of interpretations that they open themselves up to, Squishy completely resists any interpretation at all, for me. It’s just this weird aesthetic object onto itself. Not that I read “Bartelby” and start start scribbling out “interpretations,” or whatever, no. Maybe the last three Lynch films or Godard’s “In Praise of Love” or the Kanye/Spike Jonez muppet duel video work in similar ways in my skull. Weird aesthetic objects complete onto themselves, which if you try to “figure them out” you’re already losing.
Title story of Oblivion is my favorite. It should not work, you should not be able to write a story about what that story turns out to be about, that’s like the first thing they teach you even in high school about writing — don’t end a story like that.
The other one I would include: Thom Jones, “Sonny LIston Was a Friend of Mine” — total master of “voice” (ugh), even if he’s not as formally groundbreaking as a number of the authors above. I hope he has another book in him.
I think Lipsyte has finally topped Venus Drive with The Ask. Which is a relief, because it’s sort of awkward when someone’s books, even if very good (and I like Sam’s first two novels), don’t quite touch the wild heights of that first book (which deserves to be as canonical as Joy Williams first book of stories, Richard Ford’s first book of stories, Amy Hempl’s, etc. — hopefully The Ask will blow up, and people will go back and discover that one) (also, Open City stacking some paper on the back of it would be a good thing).
from Gary Lutz, 12.10.09:
“An expanded edition of I Looked Alive is in the production stage. The new
edition should be out sometime in 2010.
All best wishes,
Gary Lutz”
from Gary Lutz, 12.10.09:
“An expanded edition of I Looked Alive is in the production stage. The new
edition should be out sometime in 2010.
All best wishes,
Gary Lutz”
My favorite of Dennis’s in the past decade would have to be “Period” (2000). But “The Sluts” sure does come close. Fuck it, how can you even choose? But “Period” still ‘haunts’ me for sure.
My favorite of Dennis’s in the past decade would have to be “Period” (2000). But “The Sluts” sure does come close. Fuck it, how can you even choose? But “Period” still ‘haunts’ me for sure.
And “Comfort and Critique” by Sotos.
“Impossible Princess” (Kevin Killian) was great.
And “Comfort and Critique” by Sotos.
“Impossible Princess” (Kevin Killian) was great.
there were no important books this year because books are for nerds and nerds are not important.
there were no important books this year because books are for nerds and nerds are not important.
Personal/almost random lists are always the only ones worth reading. Lists that try to sum everything up defeat the point of being lists.
American Genius is really a wonderful book, isn’t it?
Personal/almost random lists are always the only ones worth reading. Lists that try to sum everything up defeat the point of being lists.
American Genius is really a wonderful book, isn’t it?
People of Paper and What is the What are two that come to mind. Nice list.
People of Paper and What is the What are two that come to mind. Nice list.
I’ve been rereading Aristotle’s Poetics unceasingly because of a class I have to write for, but it seems to me that an enormous part of Wallace’s oeuvre is grappling with ‘what’ tragedy is, how to use pity/fear. I think there’s a huge amount of work to be done with the idea of ‘catharsis’ as purgative (seriously), especially with the idea of it being a ‘cleansing’ (there are scatological references throughout his work, it’s one of those things, like suicide, that you can’t help but notice once you start looking: they’re everywhere). But for me, Squishy felt closer to some of his earlier work, rather than say, ‘Suffering,’ which seems to me to be a gigantic arrow pointing directly to the Pale King.
I’ve been rereading Aristotle’s Poetics unceasingly because of a class I have to write for, but it seems to me that an enormous part of Wallace’s oeuvre is grappling with ‘what’ tragedy is, how to use pity/fear. I think there’s a huge amount of work to be done with the idea of ‘catharsis’ as purgative (seriously), especially with the idea of it being a ‘cleansing’ (there are scatological references throughout his work, it’s one of those things, like suicide, that you can’t help but notice once you start looking: they’re everywhere). But for me, Squishy felt closer to some of his earlier work, rather than say, ‘Suffering,’ which seems to me to be a gigantic arrow pointing directly to the Pale King.
great list. only really been engaged with books and the world of words, in a serious way, for the last half decade or so, so this list is a good sort of catch-up. lots of good stuff to explore. reading ‘disgrace’ at the moment but guess that’s technically ’90s. also, bartis’s ‘tranquility’ had a serious lasting impact when i read it a year ago. and roth’s ‘sabbath’s theatre’ might be the peak of his dirty old man books (everything after seems mostly parody).
great list. only really been engaged with books and the world of words, in a serious way, for the last half decade or so, so this list is a good sort of catch-up. lots of good stuff to explore. reading ‘disgrace’ at the moment but guess that’s technically ’90s. also, bartis’s ‘tranquility’ had a serious lasting impact when i read it a year ago. and roth’s ‘sabbath’s theatre’ might be the peak of his dirty old man books (everything after seems mostly parody).
[…] HTML Giant – 25 Books of the 00s […]
25 ways to say hyperbole
25 ways to say hyperbole
superlative
superlative
Not a single nonfiction book was important? You are quite narrow-minded, it seems.
Not a single nonfiction book was important? You are quite narrow-minded, it seems.
yeah sasha fletcher related me your story about the book and, sure enough, i did the same and bought it too and would recommend it in similar fashion
yeah sasha fletcher related me your story about the book and, sure enough, i did the same and bought it too and would recommend it in similar fashion
can you get Ogre to yell that?
can you get Ogre to yell that?
Human Smoke is a nonfiction book, as is Vollmann’s seven-volume Rising Up…, as is the Zizek quartet. You are quite an ass-hat, it seems.
Human Smoke is a nonfiction book, as is Vollmann’s seven-volume Rising Up…, as is the Zizek quartet. You are quite an ass-hat, it seems.
Why Did I Ever is my current can’t-put-down book. every page is brilliant and hilarious and unpredictable. great list, blake. that lydia davis book, too…if i had to pick one book to take with me to an island to read over and over, that might be it.
Why Did I Ever is my current can’t-put-down book. every page is brilliant and hilarious and unpredictable. great list, blake. that lydia davis book, too…if i had to pick one book to take with me to an island to read over and over, that might be it.
the d’agata is also.
damn, people crazy!
the d’agata is also.
damn, people crazy!
hahaha
hahaha
Thank you for putting this together. I can’t wait to have my mind blown into the air.
Thank you for putting this together. I can’t wait to have my mind blown into the air.
oh blake, my email’s been screwy, got a bunch of bad sends just returned to me. did you get my reply?
oh blake, my email’s been screwy, got a bunch of bad sends just returned to me. did you get my reply?
Great 2000’s book with a Melville theme is Vila-Matas’ “Bartleby and Co.”
The “Bartleby syndrome”, suggests our malingering guide, is a “labyrinthine theme which lacks a centre”. The 86 footnotes to a text that does not exist are “fragments, chance finds, the sudden recollection of books, lives, texts or simply individual sentences that gradually enlarge the dimensions of the labyrinth”.
O.T.
Ooooh, yes. I’d add People of Paper as well. I might also add Bear v. Shark. On the one hand, I’m not sure if I can argue that it was in fact “important.” On the other, it was maybe my most recommended book and, like Lipsyte, Bachelder is one of the few guys who I think can write *funny* really, really well.
Great 2000’s book with a Melville theme is Vila-Matas’ “Bartleby and Co.”
The “Bartleby syndrome”, suggests our malingering guide, is a “labyrinthine theme which lacks a centre”. The 86 footnotes to a text that does not exist are “fragments, chance finds, the sudden recollection of books, lives, texts or simply individual sentences that gradually enlarge the dimensions of the labyrinth”.
O.T.
Ooooh, yes. I’d add People of Paper as well. I might also add Bear v. Shark. On the one hand, I’m not sure if I can argue that it was in fact “important.” On the other, it was maybe my most recommended book and, like Lipsyte, Bachelder is one of the few guys who I think can write *funny* really, really well.
[…] continuing from my Important Books of the 00s list, which mostly intentionally swerved poetry in manner of context, the excellent and esteemable […]
[…] Butler recently wrote about 25 important books of the ’00s at HTML GIANT. I was surprised and honored to find Super Flat Times sandwiched between Amy Hempel […]
[…] – Blake Butler put together a list of what he’s claiming to be “if not the top 25 books of the 2000s, at least a version.” So go check out Butler’s version of the 00-power houses. — Butler’s 25 at HTML Giant […]
EUROPEANA IS A GREAT BOOK BLAKE THANKS FOR PUTTING THAT CZZZZZECH BOOK ON THIS LIST
ZZZIP IS ON PAGE 80 NOW THANKS TO YOU
EUROPEANA IS A GREAT BOOK BLAKE THANKS FOR PUTTING THAT CZZZZZECH BOOK ON THIS LIST
ZZZIP IS ON PAGE 80 NOW THANKS TO YOU
[…] and experiment-influenced fiction, whatever those terms are worth. So, it’s limited, but still interesting. . . . Craig Finn, lead singer of The Hold Steady, talks about adapting Chuck Klosterman’s Fargo […]
[…] post re:– neither repost nor riposte–Blake’s wichtige Liste and (only at first) about Infinite Jest in German. Maybe a chair is a good metaphor for who gets […]
Important. List.
Important. List.
[…] by Patrik Ourednik [This was on my list of 25 important books of the 00s, and […]
Great list. Good to see Vanessa Place’s La Medusa on here–though surprising not to see Dies.
Several here I didn’t know about. Thanks for that.
Great list. Good to see Vanessa Place’s La Medusa on here–though surprising not to see Dies.
Several here I didn’t know about. Thanks for that.
Just read the Sluts. Got it last night after getting home from work and finished before midnight. Couldn’t stop myself, even though I had visions of finishing it on the train into work. An amazing read. So fucked up and hilarious. Will never view “smile” or LOL in e-mails the same way. I know someone who always writes “smile” in her work e-mails (she has no sense of humor). I’m tempted to recommend this book to her.
Just read the Sluts. Got it last night after getting home from work and finished before midnight. Couldn’t stop myself, even though I had visions of finishing it on the train into work. An amazing read. So fucked up and hilarious. Will never view “smile” or LOL in e-mails the same way. I know someone who always writes “smile” in her work e-mails (she has no sense of humor). I’m tempted to recommend this book to her.
Good list, Notable American Women I read with complete glee after the first few pages of consternation. What a rhythm… and I’ll stand by his Franzen manifesto. I’d put a Kevin Killian, Derek McCormack, and a few others from Cooper’s Little House on The Bowery list on there as well.
Good list, Notable American Women I read with complete glee after the first few pages of consternation. What a rhythm… and I’ll stand by his Franzen manifesto. I’d put a Kevin Killian, Derek McCormack, and a few others from Cooper’s Little House on The Bowery list on there as well.
Reading “Rising Up and Rising Down” was probably the best-spent month of my life. (Yeh, worth it for the case studies alone.) I’d toss Europe Central on the pile — otherwise, I can’t quibble w/Blake Butler’s list.
As for “The Library,” just watch all episodes of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” — that’s the inspiration for what Kelly Link’s talking about.
RURD looks amazing. I have the short version, and someone recently bought me the full version as a gift. (Waiting for it to ship.) I’m drooling.
Reading “Rising Up and Rising Down” was probably the best-spent month of my life. (Yeh, worth it for the case studies alone.) I’d toss Europe Central on the pile — otherwise, I can’t quibble w/Blake Butler’s list.
As for “The Library,” just watch all episodes of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” — that’s the inspiration for what Kelly Link’s talking about.
RURD looks amazing. I have the short version, and someone recently bought me the full version as a gift. (Waiting for it to ship.) I’m drooling.
[…] 25 Important Books of the 00s | HTMLGIANTI decided, in the slew of retrospective ‘best of’ lists chronicling the decade we will be putting to rest in the next weeks, Of all the lists I’ve seen so far there hasn’t been a single one that came near anything remotely representing the kind of words I like to read, … There are some obvious gaps. […]
[…] read in the last week: Gary Lutz’s masterful I Looked Alive (see also: Blake Butler’s take on the book). And now I’m in the midst of Jesse Ball’s The Curfew, which I’m enjoying […]
[…] 25 Important Books of the 00s […]
[…] Other important books in literature this year: http://htmlgiant.com/web-hype/25-important-books-of-the-00s/ […]