Douglas Rushkoff is a syndicated columnist, NPR commentator, and adjunct professor of virtual culture in New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program. His most recent book is Exit Strategy (iPublish.com, $15).
Cosmic Trigger Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson (New Falcon Publications, $10 to $15 each). Wilson’s journey through the “chapel perilous” of coincidence and paranoia is a mind-expanding, life-changing story. He is at once cosmically universal and shockingly intimate.
The Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy translated by Everett Fox (Schocken Books, $25). These are the foundation myths of a civilization, and when you read them you’ll find they say altogether different things from what we are taught. Fox’s translation is poetic, yet stark, giving us some small hint about how these allegories were understood by those who heard them first.
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Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan (MIT Press, $20). McLuhan helped me realize that everything is media. Not just TVs and radios but the zipper on your jacket and the air through which you sigh. If you don’t understand media, you really can’t understand anything.
Vurt by Jeff Noon (St. Martin’s Press, $14). This was the most fun I’ve had reading a book; Noon has a fantastically original way of depicting fantasy worlds. Vurt is the first book I read that seems less written than it is painted. Noon is a sci-fi/fantasy writer for people who thought sci-fi was over.
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy (Penguin USA, $8). For my money, the best novel that was ever written or will be written. It marks the height of form, dangling between those great Victorian novels and the modernist ones that were yet to come. You’re getting better than the best of Brontë or Dickens here, as well as a preview of Woolf and Joyce. This is the novel I try to emulate.
Battle for God by Karen Armstrong (Ballantine Books, $15). This book explains how fundamentalism began in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and why it continues to plague us in spite of our better instincts. Armstrong, a former nun, is honest and transparent-an insightful teacher on the often tragically misunderstood relationship between mythos and chronos.
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Pope Leo canonizes first millennial saintSpeed Read Two young Italians, Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, were elevated to sainthood
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Russia slams Kyiv, hits government buildingSpeed Read This was Moscow's largest aerial assault since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022
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South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
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Keith McNally's 6 favorite books that have ambitious charactersFeature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
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Helen Schulman's 6 favorite collections of short storiesFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Raymond Carver, James Baldwin, and more
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Beatriz Williams' 6 timeless books about history and human relationshipsFeature The best-selling author recommends works by Jane Austen, Zora Neale Hurston, and more
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Aysegul Savas' 6 favorite books for readers who love immersive settingsFeature The Paris-based Turkish author recommends works by Hiromi Kawakami, Virginia Woolf, and more
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Geoff Dyer's 6 favorite books about the realities of warFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Ernie Pyle, Michael Herr, and more
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Laura Lippman's 6 favorite books for those who crave a high-stakes adventureFeature The Grand Master recommends works by E.L. Konigsburg, Charles Portis, and more
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Thomas Mallon's 6 favorite books from the 80's and early 90'sFeature The author recommends works by James Merrill, Calvin Trillin, and more
