The place: A Bradburyesque dystopian society. The time: Reeeeeal soon now. The event: Some biblio-hater of your acquaintance has ratted you out to the firemen, who have dutifully arrived at your home with the intention of torching your beloved personal library (and the house along with it, of course). There's no saving the house, but you successfully bribe the fire chief into allowing you to retrieve five books. Only five.
Which are they to be? Which five books currently in your possession are most important to you?
I asked myself that question yesterday (not while reading, oddly), and off the top of my head produced this list:
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien*
In the Garden of the North American Martyrs by Tobias Wolff
With or Without by Charles Dickinson
The New Rules of Lifting by Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove
The Men's Health Home Workout Bible by Lou Schuler and Michael Mejia
*The Tolkien saga is three books, you say? In the words of Lee Corso, not so fast, my friend! LOTR is but one novel, divided only for your convenience into volumes. The fire chief agrees with me, and so does the author.
So that's one work (!) of high fantasy, two collections of short contemporary fiction, and two weight training books. That's a funny list, but I should feel diminished without these works. No religious titles on the list, I note. No sentimental volumes from childhood. The only glaring lack here (to me) is a cookbook, but I just don't have a strong favorite.
So, as the commercials say, who's in your five?(Cross-posted.)
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