2006 Books 31 - 35

31. The Ginger Man by J.P. Donleavy - Sex and booze and blasphemy are the trinity of this story. The writing style was a little hard to get used to, but once I gave up and simply went with the flow, I enjoyed this book.

32. In The Hollow Of His Hands by James Purdy- A man comes home to claim his biological son who looks exactly like him, although no one seemed to notice that little fact, including the man who thought he was the boy's father. If you can accept that plot point, you can accept any of the crazy twists in this story. This is Purdy writing comedy. I'd call it more bizarre than funny.

33. A Night Out, Night School, Revue Sketches: Early Plays by Harold Pinter - Two of Pinter's earliest works written for television and five detached character scenes. I think the first play, "A Night Out", is as good as anything Pinter wrote in the rest of his career.

34. All The King's Men by Robert Penn Warren- Fascinating characters, a plot that's a challenge to keep up with, and some insights into the human heart that are so well written they gave me goosebumps.

35. The Nephew by James Purdy - A short novel about small town life with a better eye for detail than most. The moral of the story is we sometimes know the least about the people that we think we're the closest to.