10 Great Books - White Fang, by Jack London

And out of this classification arose the law. The aim of life was meat. Life itself was meat. Life lived on life. There were the eaters and the eaten. The law was: EAT OR BE EATEN. He did not formulate the law in clear, set terms and moralise about it. He did not even think the law; he merely lived the law without thinking about it at all.

Allow me to preface this by making something clear: Jack London’s portrayal of Native Americans in general is problematic. I will not ignore it, and I will not justify it. I accept it as part of the work that I, as an elementary school kid, loved and absorbed. We can’t expect much from a white guy writing in the early 20th century, so let us take it for what it is.

All that said, Jack London was an author who shaped my taste in literature growing up. I’ve always had an affinity for dogs; that’s never been a secret. From Balto to Air Bud to my own dog Molly, I have loved dogs in any way, shape, or form they can be presented to me. In White Fang and The Call of the Wild, London’s two most famous works, I found dogs in written literature. And I loved it.

I doubt that the books would have the same effect on me today if I read them again. Therefore, I have no plans to reread them any time soon. But what London did so well was allow us to view the events of the story through the eyes of a dog. In The Call of the Wild, it is a domesticated dog turning into a beast of the wild. In White Fang, it is a beast of the wild turning into a domesticated dog, which I found more appealing. (Addendum: I very specifically remember liking White Fang better as a kid and knowing for sure that would be an unpopular opinion.)

So yes. London has his problems, and we take his work with a grain of salt. But as a young boy who just wanted to read about cool dogs, his work had an effect on me then that has lasted till now and probably will last until the end of my life, just like Balto, Air Bud, and every other canine-related thing, fictional or non-fictional, that Child Roger loved with every inch of his little heart.

10 Great Books - The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (five-book trilogy), by Douglas Adams

In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.

Really, these books shaped me as I transitioned from a kid to a young adult. I discovered it in 7th grade and read all five books three times in middle school. In 9th grade I read them again and, if I still had them (be wary when you let people borrow your books), I would have read them a bunch more. There is so much I love about these stories and how masterful of a writer Douglas Adams is. The stories have so many dimensions, so many elements, and, to this day, they remain my favorite books of all time.

The main dimension is its humor; I laughed out loud multiple times over my multiple readings of the books. The whale scene in the first book was hilarious, and the way the series ended (with Ford Prefect laughing like a madman) was equally hilarious. But there are a lot more dimensions. It played my heartstrings like a harp multiple times, most memorably at the end of the fourth book, with God’s Final Message To His Creation. It also fucked with my mind, as anyone who knows about Zaphod and Zarniwoop or Agrajag knows all too well.

The Guide heavily influenced a lot of me. Not just my humor, but how I write, to the extent that one of the characters in my book Picture Perfect is named Douglas. It’s a welcome influence; the books are great and the movie (which, admittedly, is what got me into the books) is pretty good, too. I recommend them to anyone and everyone. It’s been years since I first read the books, but I still know that I’m a frood who knows where his towel is, and I celebrate Towel Day every May 25th. I can quote parts of the book from memory, and I intend to read them all again soon.

Don’t panic.

10 Great Books - RENT, by Jonathan Larson

No day but today.

Musicals count as books, right? Right? Okay, great. First off, I have to admit that, as someone who got heavily involved with drama and theatre as a high school student, I am obligated to have some sort of relationship with RENT. Also, my name is Roger. So yes, I do have a relationship with RENT. It’s complicated, though. I wish every time I saw it could be the first. Its magic really sticks with you the first time you see it (which is hopefully the stage version and not the movie). The movie takes out Christmas Bells, which is arguably the best song of the whole show. What the hell?

Anyways, I’m supposed to be talking about what makes RENT good. The music itself is fabulous, from the bass in Santa Fe to the piano riff in La Vie Boheme to the guitar and drums in Rent. The story is good, which shows in the music from Mark and Roger’s argument in Goodbye Love to the heartrending I’ll Cover You reprise. The short Tune Ups and Voicemails are charming and usually funny (“Mark it’s the Wicked Witch of the West, your mother!”).

RENT is a love it or hate it affair. But it’s always worth it to give it a shot (specifically the fantastic final Broadway performance or the Hollywood Bowl performances directed by NPH that have Wayne Brady in them). Perhaps then you can join in the next spontaneous singing of Seasons of Love. FIVE HUNDRED TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED MINUTES. Just make sure you pick someone good for the female solo.

10 Great Books - Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli

The earth is speaking to us, but we can’t hear because of all the racket our senses are making. Sometimes we need to erase them, erase our senses. Then—maybe—the earth will touch us. The universe will speak. The stars will whisper.

It’s been many years since I read Stargirl. I picked it up in 5th grade, shortly after I had discovered Jerry Spinelli and his amazing books, including but not limited to Maniac Magee, Wringer, Crash, and Loser. His work found me at a crucial time in my life; most of them dealt with not only coming of age, but doing it when you are someone who does not fit society’s norms. Spinelli is an expert at capturing that awkward transcendence, and in no other novel of his does it show more than Stargirl.

I honestly don’t remember many of the specifics of the book. I’ve been meaning to reread it for a while but I haven’t found the time. Even though I’m in college, though, I still feel like the book could have the same impact. The themes it deals with are not restricted to young high schoolers trying to find their place. Anyone can pick up Stargirl and find pieces of themselves in the prose. It’s a beautiful work.

Perhaps the main appeal to me, however, was the titular character, Stargirl. I’ve always liked to make friends with eccentric people, and I’ve always had crushes on eccentric girls. People who try to fit in have always bored me, even though I found myself trying to fit in for the longest time. Around the time I read Stargirl, however, I realized that fitting in was never important. It’s all about being yourself, and you should never change who you are to superficially please other people.

10 Great Books - The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams

Yes, I have tricks in my pocket, I have things up my sleeve. But I am the opposite of a stage magician. He gives you illusion that has the appearance of truth. I give you truth in the pleasant disguise of illusion.

I’ve always been partial to Tennessee Williams. He’s one of my favorite playwrights and the way he writes tragic Southern belle heroines is really bittersweet to me. One of the shortest ways I can describe my late mother is that she was like the tragic heroine of a Tennessee Williams play: a Southern belle with a tragic flaw and an unhappy ending.

At the end of the day, we don’t read stories or plays to feel good or bad. We read them because we want to be compelled; we want a story to take us in and enthrall us. Williams did it majestically with A Streetcar Named Desire (although some argue the film is better than the book) and he does it even more fantastically in The Glass Menagerie (which was written three years prior to Streetcar). The play features a small, quaint cast and it is told entirely through flashbacks from Tom, the narrator. One of my favorite monologues in all of literature is Tom’s angry monologue before he attempts to storm out and ends up breaking part of Laura’s glass menagerie.

The Glass Menagerie is filled with powerful scenes and striking dialogue, and if accompanied correctly by the music, is even more captivating. I have yet to see (or act in) any production but it’s certainly on my bucket list.

10 Great Books - The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

If you took a high school English class, odds are you have read this book. If you haven’t, take the time to do so. One of the greatest achievements of all of American literature is something that you should not deprive yourself of. It’s some of the best prose ever written, and the vocabulary therein is fantastic.

However, the most important facet of all is the story itself. For the first half of the story, “The Great Gatsby” is an unseen character shrouded in mystery. Once he is revealed, events unfold and facts are revealed as the book builds up to its absolutely tragic climax. Jay Gatsby is a classic tragic hero, his flaws were his ultimate undoing. And all the events of the book are told from the eyes of Nick, one of the few people who could get close to Gatsby.

The American Dream is inherently fucked up, and Fitzgerald does not mince words with his stellar story.

10 Great Books - The Zoo Story, by Edward Albee

I’ve been to the zoo!

Zoo Story is an extremely minimalistic play. There is one act. There are two characters, Peter and Jerry. Jerry has been to the zoo. The only set piece is a bench. There are no scene changes, and there is only one prop which is absolutely necessary for the play. It runs anywhere from an hour to forty-five minutes. And it is one of the best plays I have ever seen or read.

I do have a personal connection to this play: my senior year of high school, we took it to NCTC (North Carolina Theatre Conference) along with Eugene Ionesco’s The Lesson. I was cast in the latter, though I was originally slated to play Peter in Zoo Story. My best friend DeShawn played Jerry; this never changed. There was a very good reason for this. His performance has Jerry is the single best performance I have ever seen by any actor onstage, period. And I’ve seen professionals act multiple times. The judges at NCTC seemed to agree, as he was awarded Outstanding Male Actor (in other words, “best”).

I’m not just saying that because I’m his friend, I’m saying it because his performance legitimately moved me. The role of Jerry is absolutely polarizing to begin with, and he played it perfectly. Jerry has a six-page monologue where he tells of his sultry landlord’s dog and the lengths to which he went in order to make the dog love him. The monologue crescendos in a way that is positively fascinating and actually tear-jerking, both in the text and on the stage. I use the tail-end of the monologue whenever I need a monologue for an audition.

Zoo Story isn’t a long read at all. As I said, it’s one act. Make the time to read it if you can, it’s a positively fascinating work and I absolutely love discussing it with people.

10 Great Books - The Great Outdoor Fight, by Chris Onstad

I just beat the asses of three thousand men. The hell you leave me alone.

I know I have a separate category for great Achewood strips, but to choose one strip from the brilliant arc that is The Great Outdoor Fight would betray that brilliance. Plus, I own the hardcover so sucks to your ass-mar if you try to tell me it’s not a book.

The arc begins with a squirrel who is constantly on some sort of drugs asking a millionaire cat for money to help fund a company that will produce fake penises for automobiles. It ends with two raw dudes returning home after a compelling triumph against man, machine, rules, expectations, and probably some other things. The events in-between make up the single best webcomic arc there ever was.

Though the art is simple, what makes Achewood and, by extension, The Great Outdoor Fight is the language. Roast Beef says of Rodney Leonard Stubbs, the 1973 Fight champion, “He was like the Thomas Edison of handing a dude his ass!” Ray drops the nugget of wisdom, “You give a beggar your meal, he only loves you while it’s on his lips.”

Another thing that makes it is the subtle nuances you only notice during a reread. I won’t ruin the fun and mention any of them, but if you look real closely you will notice a lot of things that will make you whisper “Damn…” to yourself.

The first strip of The Great Outdoor Fight arc is here. It’s a quick but fulfilling read. The hardcover book grants a lot of bonuses, however, fleshing out the history of the Fight using prose (prose which is surprisingly good for a webcomic author) and offering some select histories of previous Fight champions, as well as a glossary to help with defining the Fight.