In 1994, list creator Paul Phillips submitted a message to the Usenet group rec.arts.books requesting that readers submit a single book that they would most like the world to read, for inclusion in a regularly published list. The criteria for inclusion were up to the submittor. The name and e-mail address of each submittor and any comments they cared to make would also be included in the listing. The list has grown with time; it now includes over five hundred books submitted by over six hundred people, with a backlog of several hundred more books waiting to be entered.
This list is a real treat to a reader. No matter how "book savvy" you are, I believe you'll find titles you're not familiar with, but would wish to read. Personally, I've got a list of seventy-four books to seek out based on an older version of the list; I've just started reviewing the latest list and have added eleven more, and I'm just through the G's.
The first two books that I read from the list were Cormac McCarthy's "All the Pretty Horses" and Josephine Hart's "Damage". The former book follows the journey of a world-wise teenager through late-1940's Mexico after he becomes disillusioned with the over-civilization of his Texas home. The latter book is a first person account of the lives destroyed when a father has an affair with his son's fiancee. It is unlikely that I would have become aware of either book if it were not for the One Book List.
I compiled my first reading list from the One Book List over a year ago, based on submitter comments. It included "The English Patient", which had not yet been released as a movie, and "Man's Search for Meaning" by Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, who died in September. It also included Evelyn Waugh's "The Loved One", "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card and "Farewell, My Lovely" by Raymond Chandler. The point I'm trying to make is that the list can introduce you to books you might not have heard about otherwise, or it can remind you of books you've read long ago and might want to read again, or books you've thought about reading, but just never got around to. Some of my re-reads based on the list include Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle", Keyes' "Flowers for Algernon" and Bester's "The Demolished Man". It really serves as a great source for reading ideas.
One problem you'll face when using the list is that some of books on the list are difficult to find. Many of them aren't available in the Summit County library system. Even more maddening were the ones which are listed as available, but which turned up lost or unavailable once they were placed on hold. There's another bonus to the list, however. If you would consider buying a book, most titles have links to www.amazon.com, a Web-based bookstore. Click on the link and you jump to Amazon's site, perhaps to find out a bit more about the book or author, or even to order it. I've ordered a few books from them; they're fast and you can trust them.
One other problem with the list is its size. The latest list is 376,711 bytes long; long to load and capable of choking some browsers. You can visit the site on-line and load sub-sections of the list (alphabetically, based on the book title), but I like to keep a copy of the list off-line as a reference source. You'll just have to try loading the full file to see if your system can handle it. The list is also available in text format, if you prefer accessing it that way.
It is an active site, so you'll want to visit it occasionally to get updated; the latest update is only a few days old. If you like books, don't miss this one!
NOTE: I'm interested in feedback for future issues. If you have a favorite site that you think would be a "Brain Candy" candidate, let me know, or feel free to write up a review yourself. I'm also thinking about an article promoting local members' sites, so send me your URL if you want your site promoted in "Brain Candy". I hope to hear from you.
CATBAR - Brain Candy 4 - The One Book List / Brian Rock / Sep 14 1997