Consultant Dermatologist (Retired)
London, England
1. The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges
The encyclopedia as art - the lazy pleasure of useless and out-of-the-way erudition - for random dipping into.
2. Sincerity and Authenticity by Lionel Trilling
Masterly use of some key works of literature to relaunch your lifetime's reading - deeply humanistic
3. Butterfly Cooing Like a Dove by Miriam Rothschild
The trail of wings followed through history, art, science and literature to provide a delightfully eccentric autobiographical anthology.
4. Samuel Johnson by Walter Jackson Bate
Moving affirmation of the project of reading and writing as a key component of the examined life for many of us.
5. Haunts of the Black Masseur by Charles Sprawson
Subtitled 'The Swimmer as Hero,' literature, films, Olympic history and the author's own experience enthrallingly combine to celebrate man's relationship with water.
6. The Quest for Corvo by A.J.A. Symons
Unique 'experiment in biography' encouraging biographers ever since to reveal more of the writing process - as gripping as a detective novel
7. Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean
Posthumously published, a labour of love that teaches us not only about the unholy alliance between science and the vagaries of the human heart, but also about the writing process. And all about a forest fire in Montana.
8. The Name of the World by Denis Johnson
A novel about a man, numbed by the death of his wife and child, who, when events force him to act as if he cares, begins to find people who, against all expectations, help him through his private labyrinth. Wonderfully naturally written - an uneven but underrated writer.
9. Together in the Dark by Robert Colfelt
A physician's essays that make you think that it might be worthwhile trying to write some yourself - deeply felt.
10. Twenty Lines a Day by Harry Matthews
Surely we could all have a go at just twenty lines a day! The ultimate book to fall back on when the writing urge deserts us.
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