Let’s recommend some good reads!
The Purple Cloud by M.P. Shiel (1901)
This is one of the first "last man on earth" novels. It's a very strange Victorian adventure about a polar explorer who accidentally causes a global cataclysm that leaves him to wander the unpopulated world for decades. It's kind of like I Am Legend by way of Edgar Allen Poe. I enjoyed it.
Penguin Classics / Via Amazon
Keith Haring Journals by Keith Haring (2010)
Haring's personal journals from the 1970's until his death in 1990 offer a lot of insight into his art. I enjoyed reading about his early experimentation process when he was finding his style. Also, did you know he was a huge fan of the Grateful Dead? The journals become haunting as he becomes overwhelmed with his celebrity lifestyle and his untimely demise from AIDS.
Penguin
The Jaguar Smile by Salman Rushdie (1987)
Rushdie's journalistic account of his travels in Nicaragua during the Sandanista regime was reallyinteresting. I read this while I was also traveling around Nicaragua and it gave me context for what the country had been through three decades later. Many have criticized Rushdie's naiive view on the Sandanistas, but I found the book to be somewhat balanced and highly readable.
Picador
Galápagos by Kurt Vonnegut, (1985)
Only as a huge fan of Vonnegut am I comfortable in saying that this is one of the most irritating novels I've ever read. Go with anything else by Vonnegut.
Delacorte Press, / Via en.wikipedia.org
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