Monday, July 13, 2015

Jamie Agnew's Book Shelf


What books are currently on your nighstand?

 
I usually read a mystery at work and a non-mystery at home. Lately I’ve been fascinated by RAINTREE COUNTY by Ross Lockridge, Jr., which I think might be the legendary great American novel, so I’m reading a memoir/literary analysis/biography by his son Larry Lockridge called BENEATH THE RAINTREE. It’s quite good and moving (Ross killed himself when Larry was five) and I don’t think the dealer who sold it to me knew it was signed! My current mystery is the ARC of Steve Hamilton’s new book THE SECOND LIFE OF NICK MASON and, surprise, it’s fantastic. Steve really knows how to suck the reader in. It’s supposed to be the start of a new series, which would be great as long as he also writes more Alex McKnight installments.
 
Who is your favorite novelist of all time?
 
In literature it has to be Knut Hamsun, a Norwegian who was a great writer but not that great a person. In mystery, Ross Macdonald knocks me out whenever I open one of his books.
 
What books might we be surprised to find on your selves?
 
We have a very large collection of Archie Comics Digest, though they’re often found in the bathroom.
 
Who is your favorite fictional hero?
 
Elizabeth Hand’s Cass Neary isn’t exactly a saint, but when the chips are down she always does the right thing. I just know Cass and I would be great friends. You wouldn’t want to be her enemy!
 
What book do you return to?
 
I’ve probably read PAN by Knut Hamsun almost every summer. It’s a magical book.

4 comments:

Deb said...

Another RAINTREE COUNTY fan--hooray! I always advise people to read SHADE OF THE RAINTREE either before or while they read RAINTREE COUNTY. Lockridge envisioned producing an American ULYSSES, but today it's remembered as a sort of GONE WITH THE WIND-lite thanks to the melodramatic technicolor movie Hollywood made with Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor. Lockridge (who suffered from depression anyway) never recovered.

pattinase (abbott) said...

And this book looks at his death as well as Tom Heggens.

http://www.amazon.com/Ross-And-Tom-American-Tragedies/dp/0306809923

Deb said...

Thank you for the recommendation. How did I not know about this book? I've added it to my tbr list.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Glad to have served some useful purpose on such a bad day!