One of our number had to ask whether they still make books, when we asked about the staff's favorites. Another needed some prompting to remember what a novel is. ("It's like a manual, but with people in it.") Among the other responses...
"I've pretty much kept busy reading Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles and Stephen Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. I'd say The Vampire Lestat was the one I couldn't put down -- makes you think the whole thing could actually be possible. A pretty surreal year all around, I guess -- and pretty un-'95 books, at that. The only one on my list actually published in '95 is Memnoch the Devil, of which I've read about 10 pages...
"How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, by Guy Kawasaki -- because it's Guy, and it's got chutzpah."
"It's actually a play: Love! Valour! Compassion!, by Terrance McNally. It's touching, original, and important. If anyone produces this play near you, and you're not a homophobe, go see it. If you are a homophobe, and you can behave yourself, go see it; maybe you'll lose some of the attitude. If you're going to behave rudely and ignorantly, however, stay home, watch Singled Out, stay ignorant."
"The Hunger, by Whitley Strieber. Ever see the movie (David Bowie, Susan Sarandon, Catherine Denueve)? Ever wonder what in the hell the final sequence of scenes mean? I still don't have the answer, but the book is far more interesting than the movie. In fact, the book is so different from the movie that they're almost unrelated. In any case, it's definitely a different twist on the whole vampire scene."
What's the title of the book that someone should write about your 1995 life?
"In the Garden. (I think that's what it's called.... It's a translation from the Spanish, about some guy who never left his house and all he ever saw of the outside world was through TV.)"
"Post Ivory Tower Trauma"
"Very Small Rabbit, Very Wide Freeway"
"Blood, Sweat and Code; 365 Days With No Significant Personal Life. (nod to the CodeWarrior marketing people...)"
"Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing (possible subtitle: 'Fun and Games With Pyrotechnics')"
