4/6/2007

At the Revolution Cafe on Friday night, listening to chess strategy, conversations, live jazz, and

reading David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens, translated into Spanish by Marta Salis.

I asked him to recommend some books and, at one point, long after my friend had arrived and I'd finished my beer, he said I'd ruined his night--he spent over half an hour staring off into the heat lamp and texting his friends, trying to remember an author's name.

Here's the list, in its entirety.
For intellectual stimulation: Rayuela or, in English Hopscotch, by Julio Cortazar (the offending author, see also 12/30/06 post) and Tres Tristes Tigres, by the Cuban author Guillermo Cabera Infante.

For pure enjoyment: Glass House, by the Italian author, Alessandro Baricco.

And, authors everyone should read: Hermann Hessse and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

He qualified his list with this--what is good for me, may not be good for you.

Thanks for your time! and, if you weren't kidding, sorry for ruining your night.