What books would you replace first if a fire destroyed your personal library? What books influenced you in some significant way? Which books simply entertained you to a great degree? Which books are you quick to recommend? ASK posed these questions to members of the College of Arts and Sciences, and the results have been compiled into The CoAS Reading List. Here it is in its entirety — so far — to be used as a guide to good reading and, given your interest, for discussion. If you have comments of your own about a book or books, please feel free to contact the person or persons who supplied the work. We do not consider the list static and intend to add to it as time goes on. We welcome suggestions of your own, along with commentary.
• Man's Best Friend
"Groucho Marx once said, "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. And inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
by Rachel Reynolds, Department of Culture and Communication
• Magic, Horror, and Dr. Seuss
"Secretly, I wish I were a cigar chomping schlock promoter."
by Fred Siegel, Department of English and Philosophy
• My No Chemistry Book List
"...these books are absolutely interesting and deserving of consideration ... And you know--there's not a chemistry book amongst them."
by Kevin Owens, Department of Chemistry
• The Dream Team
"...if, years later [after I read the book], looking at it on the shelf brings a smile or a vivid image, it made the list."
by Scott Stein, Department of English and Philosophy
• The Final Fifteen, or My Formative Friends
"I have found that books are like friends but that they are also like clothes. Sometimes we outgrow them while at other times we have so incorporated them into ourselves that they somehow become part of ourselves and remain psychically present even when physically absent."
by Stacy Ake, Department of English and Philosophy