Best books ... chosen by Matt Labash
Matt Labash is a senior writer at The Weekly Standard. His book, Fly Fishing With Darth Vader: And Other Adventures With Evangelical Wrestlers, Political Hitmen, and Jewish Cowboys, has just been published by Simon and Schuster.
The Undertaking: Life Studies From the Dismal Trade by Thomas Lynch (Norton, $14). If I die before Thomas Lynch, a poet and a working mortician in Milford, Mich., I’d like him to bury me. Better still, I’d like him to eulogize me, since he writes with a lyricism that could make the dead return just to see how the ceremony shook out.
All of the early journalism of Tom Wolfe—The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, The Pump House Gang, Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers, Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter & Vine. Does that count against my total? Tough. They’re of a piece. Would you separate Matthew from Mark, Mark from Luke, Luke from John? You could, but then they wouldn’t be the Four Gospels. Which is what Wolfe’s collections are to journalism.
Pretty much anything by P.G. Wodehouse. Because there is a sentence like this on nearly every page: “The Right Hon. was a tubby little chap who looked as if he had been poured into his clothes and had forgotten to say ‘When!’”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean (Univ. of Chicago, $12). A jewel of a novella, written when Maclean was in his 70s. You’ll love it if you fish, but fishing is only the start of what there is in it to love.
The Blood of the Lamb by Peter De Vries (Univ. of Chicago, $14). A much overlooked classic by a mostly forgotten comic writer. Written after his daughter died of leukemia, this novel finds De Vries turning down the funny to rage at God. It reads like Ecclesiastes gone wrong. Strangely, though, few things can steel faith like voicing the particulars of doubt. I read this book in a single night, forgetting to sleep.
Rockin’ Steady: A Guide to Basketball and Cool by Walt “Clyde” Frazier (out of print). A perfect document of its time. In Rockin’ Steady, the New York Knicks’ legendary 1970s playmaker gives helpful tips on everything from how to catch flies with your bare hands to proper sideburn maintenance. Some would call this a coffee-table conversation starter. I just call it “my bible.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Magazine solutions - August 2, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - August 2, 2024
By The Week Staff Published
-
Magazine printables - August 2, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - August 2, 2024
By The Week Staff Published
-
'In a normal country, their activities wouldn't even be crimes'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Peng Shepherd's 6 favorite works with themes of magical realism
Feature The author recommends works by Susanna Clarke, George Saunders, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Laura van den Berg's 6 favorite books with hidden secrets
Feature The author recommends works by Patricia Lockwood, Gillian Flynn, and more
By The Week US Published
-
26 of America's most unexpectedly banned books
In Depth From 'Harriet the Spy' to 'Little Red Riding Hood,' these books have all fallen afoul of censors
By The Week Staff Published
-
Conn Iggulden recommends 6 unforgettable books with historical themes
Feature The British author recommends works by Patrick O'Brian, Richard Dawkins, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Five books chosen by Nina Stibbe
Feature The author recommends works by David Sedaris, Alba de Céspedes and more
By The Week UK Published
-
Julia Phillips' 6 favorite books that explore the beauty and brutality of life
Feature The Novelist recommends works by Alice Walker, Colson Whitehead, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Joseph Earl Thomas's 6 favorite books that tackle social issues
Feature The author recommends works by Fernanda Melchor, Adania Shibli, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Ivy Pochoda's 6 favorite books that explore the dark side of human nature
Feature The thriller writer recommends works by Cormac McCarthy, Rachel Kushner, and more
By The Week Staff Published