Hollis Hampton-Jones has been a model, an actress, and is now an author. Her debut novel is Vicious Spring (Riverhead, $22).
Money: A Suicide Note by Martin Amis (Viking Press, $14). This book made me laugh out loud at the obliviousness and arrogance of the alcoholic narrator, John Self. Amis’ characters are so profoundly human in their rottenness that they are absolutely compelling. We’re all jerks in one way or another.
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger (Lb Books, $6). I love all of Salinger’s writings, his authenticity and simplicity of voice, but this one had the biggest impact on me, particularly in its take on the divine. I’m fascinated by the way Salinger is able to convey everything through dialogue, gesture, and objects.
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Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (Vintage Books, $13). Lolita powerfully allows the reader to relate to and have an understanding of the completely unacceptable maneuverings of Humbert Humbert. Nabokov’s mastery of English is almost inconceivable, and he exquisitely reveals the tortured nature of his protagonist in a very humorous way. I’m a sucker for the collision of the bleak and the funny.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Viking Press, $14). It’s a definite time commitment to take on the reading of this book, but it is not overrated as one of the greatest novels of all time. It goes both deeply personal and grand scale, bringing the counterbalances of love and war so vibrantly to life. I love the way Tolstoy depicts war as chaos and unpredictability, full of chance happenings that are later claimed as military genius.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (W.W. Norton & Co., $13). This book awes the linguist in me. I would be hard-pressed to think of a book with more brilliantly inventive language. When I started the book, I was always having to flip to the glossary to translate, but midway through I was fluent in Alexspeak. The culture of violence that Burgess portrays sadly remains ever relevant.
The Sorrows of Young Werther