Best books … chosen by Ralph Steadman
Ralph Steadman is a prolific author, artist, and political cartoonist. His newest published work is Psychogeography, a book that pairs Steadman’s illustrations with essays by the novelist Will Self.
The Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller (New Directions, $15). Miller sailed to Greece after gaining notoriety with Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. Having written two risqué books, it was time to seek out the birthplace of civilization, to write about ancient sites and other storytellers—and to avoid Englishmen at all costs.
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Modern Library, $12). A book about an innocent, Prince Myshkin, who falls in love with a photograph of a woman and then the real thing. He is cursed with being a beautiful human being not meant for this world, and is consequently enveloped in the dark madness of a corrupt yet inviting scenario.
Desolation Angels by Jack Kerouac (Riverhead, $15). A fantastic experimental work, in which Kerouac spends two months alone on a mountaintop trying to find himself, travels with his mom to California, and joins his pals Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, and William Burroughs in Tangiers—and does away with punctuation, which I found absolutely mind-blowing. After reading it, I went back to On the Road, finding it wonderfully honest and disarming, but oddly quaint.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

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.
Rembrandt’s Jews by Steven Nadler (Univ. of Chicago, $20). This is a brilliant study of Amsterdam’s Golden Age, when there was an influx of refugees, many of them Jews, who would become Rembrandt’s customers and pay handsomely.
Mark Twain: A Life by Ron Powers (Free Press, $16). I wonder if Samuel Clemens would be so vitally remembered if he hadn’t heard the cry of the riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River: “Mark Twain!” Of course he would, because Kurt Vonnegut, who loved him dearly and would have loved this book, said so.
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus by Ludwig Wittgenstein (Hard Press, $10). I love philosophy, and after a hideous grammar school humiliation I chose philosophy as something to do that sounded scholastic. What I gleaned from this book was that “the only thing of value is that which cannot be said.”
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
-
What should you be stockpiling for 'World War Three'?
In the Spotlight Britons advised to prepare after the EU tells its citizens to have an emergency kit just in case
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Carnivore diet: why people are eating only meat
The Explainer 'Meatfluencers' are taking social media by storm but experts warn meat-only diets have health consequences
By Elizabeth Carr-Ellis, The Week UK Published
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
John McWhorter’s 6 favorite books that are rooted in history
Feature The Columbia University professor recommends works by Lyla Sage, Sally Thorne, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Abdulrazak Gurnah's 6 favorite books about war and colonialism
Feature The Nobel Prize winner recommends works by Michael Ondaatje, Toni Morrison, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Elliot Ackerman’s 6 favorite books on war and duty
Feature The Marine veteran recommends works by Robert A. Heinlein, John le Carré, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Xochitl Gonzalez’s 6 favorite books that shaped her storytelling
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Stephen King, Julian Barnes, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Jason Isaacs's 6 favorite books that changed his perception on life
Feature The British actor recommends works by George Orwell, C.S. Lewis, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Tessa Bailey's 6 favorite books for hopeless romantics
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Lyla Sage, Sally Thorne, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Pagan Kennedy's 6 favorite books that inspire resistance
Feature The author recommends works by Patrick Radden Keefe, Margaret Atwood, and more
By The Week US Published
-
John Sayles' 6 favorite works that left a lasting impression
Feature The Oscar-nominated screenwriter recommends works by William Faulkner, Carson McCullers, and more
By The Week US Published