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A Raucous Reading List for the Denizens of DrunkSkull 

Classic novels, short stories, and poetry from some of my favorites. The spirit of this terrific work is what A Deep & Gorgeous Thirstaspires to. Here’s to hoping you’ll find some to re-read, or discover a few new favorites.

 

Top 5 Classic DrunkSkull Novels

1. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

2. On the Road or Big Sur by Jack Kerouac (if you like sad ones)

3. Ask the Dust by John Fante

4. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

5. Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion

Bonus 4 Undiscovered Classic DrunkSkull Novels

1. Hard Falling Rain by Don Carpenter

2. Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton

3. The Drinker by Hans Fallada

4. Women by Charles Bukowski

Novellas:

1. Ballad of a Sad Cafe by Carson McCullers

2. The Dead by James Joyce

3. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

4. Hunger by Knut Hamsun

5. Notes From the Underground by Fydor Dostoyevsky

Non-Fiction:

1. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

2. The White Album by Joan Didion

3. Stand Still Like the Hummingbird by Henry Miller

DrunkSkull’s 5 Favorite Short Stories Ever

1. “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” by J.D. Salinger

2. “Less Delicate Than The Locust” by Charles Bukowski

3. “Night School” by Raymond Carver

4. “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway

5. “Heartache” by Anton Chekov

DrunkSkull’s Top 3 Books of Poetry

1. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

2. Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame by Charles Bukowski

3. A Deep & Gorgeous Thirst by Hosho McCreesh (C’mon, you know I had to…)

Three Must-Read Poems by Charles Bukowski:

1. “The Crunch”

2. “The Way”

3. “I Met A Genius”

Of course, all these — even the obscure ones — don’t need my help. Most are widely available, and relatively easy to find in either your favorite library or bookstore.

Small press offerings, though…they do need my help. They aren’t necessarily hard to find via the internet, but it helps to know where to start looking. They’re worth the search. And because I would love for everyone reading this to find a new writer, or a new press to support, here’s a list of some of my favorites. If you buy just one thing off this reading list — buy one of these!

Terrific Small Press Books (at least three of which everyone should own):

And Still the Night Left to Go – Christopher Cunningham, Bottle of Smoke Press http://bospress.net/order.html

Booger – justin.barrett, Bottle of Smoke Press http://bospress.net/order.html

The Bridge to Take When Things Get Serious – Lori Jakiela, C&R Press http://www.crpress.org/2013/05/01/the-bridge-to-take-when-things-get-serious/

The Buddha Bar – Joseph Ridgwell, Blackheath Books http://www.blackheathbooks.org.uk/8.html

Cadillac Men – Rebecca Schumejda, NYQ Books http://nyqbooks.org/title/cadillacmen

Everything Else We Must Endure – Brian McGettrick, sunnyoutside http://sunnyoutside.com/releases/055/o.html

Feeding My Heart to the Wind – Mike Kreisel, sunnyoutside http://sunnyoutside.com/releases/028/feeding_o.html

Freight – Mel Bosworth, Folded Word Press http://www.foldedword.com/buy/bosworth.html

More Than the Alley – Doug Draime, Interior Noise Press http://interiornoisepress.com/INP_HP_Draime.html

Raymond Carver Won’t Raise Our Children – Dave Newman, Writers Tribe Books http://writerstribebooks.com/?p=172

Songs For Oblivion – Luis C. Berriozabal, Propaganda Press http://alt-current.com/pp/pp_item.html#songs_for_oblivion

Tiny Teeth – Anne Menebroker, R.L. Crow Publications http://rlcrow.com/services/books/tiny_teeth.htm

Trolleyman – Bob Pajich, Low Ghost Press http://lowghostpress.blogspot.com/2012/02/coming-soon.html

Words for Songs Never Written – William Taylor, Jr., Centennial Press http://www.centennialpress.com/WordsforSongs.html

Why I Write in Coffee Houses and Diners – Albert Huffstickler, Author’s Choice Press http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/why-i-write-in-coffee-houses/author/huffstickler-albert/page-1/

You Can Make Him Like You – Ben Tanzer, Artistically Declined Press http://www.artisticallydeclined.net/offerings/14232-you-can-make-him-like-you

And tons more…I wish I could name them all. But it’s a start — and I invite you down the rabbit hole…

Once more — a poem from the forthcoming book. You might recognize it from the event trailer:

Enjoy,

Hosho

 

Waking

on a couch,

your friend’s couch,

and no idea

how you

got there.

 

You’re filthy,

but otherwise

okay.

 

You can’t even

remember

leaving the

bar.

 

And you can’t find

the novel you

were reading,

but it seems

that might be

the only price

You’ll have to pay

for last night,

and besides

they make

more novels,

so you’re

okay with

that.

 

On the table

next to you

They’ve left you

a cup of water

and that like-to-about

breaks your heart.

 

So you get up,

take a piss,

and decide on a

naked dip

in their pool

before anyone

gets up.

 

The shock of the

cold water on you

gets the blood pumping,

and the lungs gasping,

and so does the climb out,

the cool summer morning air,

and you grab a towel

and sun a bit.

 

Your buddy

finds you out back

and fills you in on

all you were

there for but

completely missed,

and you both laugh about

what an unreasonable ass

you can sometimes be,

and his girl comes out,

and you apologize for

being naked in her pool

and using a good towel.

 

“Bah—who cares,

Let’s go get breakfast,”

she says, and later you’re gonna

take a beautiful girl to the Jemez

so this day is really shaping up,

and on the way to breakfast

you ask your buddy

about it, and

it turns out

you didn’t

lose the novel

after all.