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Fiction
Philip K. Dick, Mary and the Giant
V.S. Naipaul, A Flag on the Island
Graham Swift, Learning to Swim, and other Stories
T.C. Boyle, The Tortilla Curtain
D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers

Nonfiction
Krishnamurti, Freedom From the Known
John Steinbeck, The Log from the Sea of Cortez
Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon
Bertrand Russell, Problems in Philosophy

The Rutgers Reading List, standard for a college English major

Harold Bloom's The Western Canon, the prodigious editor's prodigious list of canon literature

Mr. Sawaya's Reading Lists, a digitized version for all you Troy High alums out there

Books Set in Oxford, a fiction list provided by Oxford's dailyinfo.co.uk website

D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers (1912)
Although this autobiographical novel predates the literary innovation Lawrence was to announce in The Rainbow and Women in Love -- indeed, perhaps because it is a younger work -- it comes across as the honest and naked philosophy of a young mind.

The story centers around the growth of Paul Morel, from his first naive love to his ultimate, mature relationship with an older woman. Backgrounding this is Paul's past: an ignorant working-class collier father and an imperious, religious mother, the latter of whom is dying. There is great tension in this book, and great thoughtfodder as well. Lawrence's prose is a delight. Read it.

Philip K. Dick, Mary and the Giant (posthumously, 1989)
Though he gained fame through his science fiction novels like The Man in the High Castle and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Philip K. Dick always wanted to be counted among the 'legitimate' mainstream writers. Mary and the Giant was a mainstream novel Dick wrote in the 1950s which he never lived to see published. Nevertheless, I find it a historical portrait, full of the chiaroscuro contradictions of that decade, excelling in insight and narrative technique (chapter 1, in particular, strikes me as a tour de force of implicitly descriptive prose).

The story follows a middle aged man through his attempts to establish a classical music record store in a small, central California town. By way of this tableau Dick explores different interpretations of what art is, embodied in his dichotomous characters: a classical music expert and a twenty year old musical neophyte, a brutally powerful Black singer and an Orphic female dancer, a young jazz pianist and an obese, renowned concert pianist. Upon this he enjambs and manipulates different manifestations of love, and of sex: the molestation of a girl by her father, sex between an older man and a young woman, interacial sex and, in the final tableau, procreative love.

Philip K. Dick's usually stark narration is more colored in this work, but is still fast moving and easy to read. I think it's one of his finest works, and too, Phil, I think it's a finely wrought mainstream novel.
• St. Martin's Press; ASIN: 0312033982; go to philipkdick.com

V.S. Naipaul, A Flag on the Island(1993)
This collection includes with the eponymous novella a collection of brilliant, funny, witty, insightful short stories. Like much of Naipaul's work, these are set in the Caribbean, and explore the postcolonial atmosphere: the tensions between ethnicities, the search for a cultural identity. Without exception, each story is original in plot, individual in narrative, fun to read, and thought provoking.

If you haven't read any V.S. Naipaul, I think this is a great place to start. And when you read it, note that I especially enjoyed "The Night Watchman's Occurrence Book."
• 213 pgs, Penguin Books, ISBN: 014002937; go to my bio on V.S. Naipaul

Graham Swift, Learning to Swim and other Stories(1985)
I heard Graham Swift speak at Oxford University in 2003, discussing his most recent book, Last Orders. The aspect of this reserved, thoughtful man both contradict and confirm the subtle emotion that infuses this collection of short stories. Don't know if it's your thing or not, but I especially liked the sense of ambiguity Swift leaves you with: in each human relationship-focused story (this collection doesn't show off Swift's ability to compose place) you feel that you've witnessed a deep, unconfined exploration of human nature. Of all the stories, I think my favorite is "The Tunnel."
• 189 pgs, Simon&Schuster, ISBN: 06714546139

T.C. Boyle, The Tortilla Curtain(1995). I've read five of Boyle's nine novels and a short story collection, and I think he's one of the most consistently entertaining writers I've found. 2003 finds Boyle nominated for the National Book award for Drop City. My recommend, The Tortilla Curtain, is one of his more socially explicit novels, confronting the conflict between upper middle class white suburban California and the Mexican immigrant population. Having lived most my life in Southern California I found the portrayal of tensions both fairly accurate and educating. Also recommended of Boyle's novels are A Friend of the Earth and Budding Prospects.You'll enjoy the author's language; also pay attention to the characters' names.
• 368 pgs, Viking Press, ISBN: 0670856045; go to tcboyle.com