Recommended reading - Robert Frost: Collected Poems, Prose, and Plays (1995):

Robert Frost: Collected Poems, Prose, and Plays

By Robert Frost.

Edited by Richard Poirier and Mark Richardson.

Published by Library of America.

Published 1995.

First Edition.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 188301106X

ISBN-13: 978-1883011062

Description:

Justly celebrated at home and abroad, Robert Frost is perhaps America’s greatest twentieth-century poet and a towering figure in American letters. From the publication of his first collections, A Boy’s Will (1913) and North of Boston (1914), Frost was recognized as a poet of unique power and formal skill, and the enduring significance of his work has been acknowledged by each subsequent generation. His poetry ranges from deceptively simply pastoral lyrics and genial, vernacular genre pieces to darker meditations, complex and ironic.

Here, based on extensive research into his manuscripts and published work, is the first authoritative and truly comprehensive collection of his writings. Brought together for the first time in a Library of America single volume is all the major poetry, a generous selection of uncollected poems, all of Frost’s dramatic writing, and the most extensive gathering of his prose writings ever published, several of which are printed here for the first time.

The core of this collection is the 1949 Complete Poems of Robert Frost, the last collection supervised by Frost himself. This version of the poems is free of unauthorized editorial changes introduced into subsequent editions. Also included is In the Clearing (1962), Frost’s final volume of poetry. Verse drawn from letters, articles, pamphlets, and journals makes up the largest selection of uncollected poems ever assembled, including nearly two dozen beautiful early works printed for the first time. Also gathered here are all the dramatic works: three plays and two verse masques.

The unprecedented prose section includes more than three times as many items as any other collection available. It is rich and diverse, presenting many newly discovered or rediscovered pieces. Especially unusual items include Frost’s contribution to John F. Kennedy’s inauguration and two fascinating 1959 essays on “The Future of Man.” Several manuscript items are published here for the first time, including the essays “‘Caveat Poeta’” and “The Way There,” Frost’s remarks on being appointed poetry consultant to the Library of Congress in 1958, the preface to a proposed new edition of North of Boston, and many others. A selection of letters represents all of Frost’s important comments about prosody, poetics, style, and his theory of “sentence sounds.”

LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.

Recommended reading - The Mothman Prophecies: A True Story, by John A. Keel (1975):

The Mothman Prophecies: A True Story

By John A. Keel.

Published by Tor Books.

First published 1975.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0765334984

ISBN-13: 78-0765334985

Description:

A true story of unexplained terror…

West Virginia, 1966. For thirteen months the town of Point Pleasant is gripped by a real-life nightmare culminating in a tragedy that makes headlines around the world. Strange occurrences and sightings, including a bizarre winged apparition that becomes known as the Mothman, trouble this ordinary American community. Mysterious lights are seen moving across the sky. Domestic animals are found slaughtered and mutilated. And journalist John Keel, arriving to investigate the freakish events, soon finds himself an integral part of an eerie and unfathomable mystery…

The Mothman Prophecies.

Translated into more than thirteen languages, John Keel’s unsettling account of what he encountered in Point Pleasant has long been regarded as a classic in the literature of the unexplained. A New York Times bestseller, it also inspired the acclaimed 2002 film.

Recommended reading - The Star Trek Reader II, by James Blish (1977):

The Star Trek Reader II

By James Blish.

Published by E P Dutton.

Published 1977.

First Edition.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 0525209603

ISBN-13: 978-0525209607

Description:

Here for the first time in hardcover are 19 of the most exciting episodes that ever appeared on the award-winning Star Trek television series. Novelized by the renowned science fiction writer James Blish, each of these stories is a little gem with a permanent sparkle, and their combination a collector's item.

Recommended reading - The Underground Man, by Ross Macdonald (1971):

The Underground Man

By Ross Macdonald.

# 16 in the Lew Archer series.

Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

First published 1971.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0679768084

ISBN-13: 978-0679768081

Description:

"There are certain books that bide their time, like plants, waiting decades to flower.... If a copy of The Underground Man, a novel from 1971, by Ross Macdonald, has been sitting on your shelf for ages, unread and barely noticed, try opening it now. Suddenly it's a book in full bloom." – Anthony Lane, The New Yorker.

"A more serious and complex writer than Chandler and Hammett ever were." – Eudora Welty.

"Ross Macdonald is an important American novelist!" – San Francisco Chronicle.

"I should like to venture that Ross Macdonald is a better novelist than either...Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler." – Anthony Boucher, The New York Times Book Review.

As a mysterious fire rages through the hills above a privileged town in Southern California, Archer tracks a missing child who may be the pawn in a marital struggle or the victim of a bizarre kidnapping. What he uncovers amid the ashes is murder – and a trail of motives as combustible as gasoline. The Underground Man is a detective novel of merciless suspense and tragic depth, with an unfaltering insight into the moral ambiguities at the heart of California's version of the American dream.

If any writer can be said to have inherited the mantle of Dashiell Hammet and Raymond Chandler, it was Ross Macdonald.  Between the late 1940s and his death in 1983, he gave the American crime novel a psychological depth and moral complexity that his predecessors had only hinted at.  And in the character of Lew Archer, Macdonald redefined the private eye as a roving conscience who walks the treacherous frontier between criminal guilt and human sin.

Recommended reading - The Star Trek Reader I, by James Blish (1976):

The Star Trek Reader I

By James Blish.

Published by E P Dutton.
First Edition.
Published 1976.
Hardcover.
ISBN-10: 0841504679
ISBN-13: 978-0841504677

Description:

Episodes from the popular TV series, many of which have been selected by fans themselves, have been adapted into short stories.

Recommended reading - After Midnight, by Helen Nielsen (1966):

After Midnight

by Helen Nielsen.

ASIN: B0007E0IM4

Published by Morrow.

First published 1966.

First Edition.

Hardcover.

Description:

A beautiful suspect with an intense desire to kill. The murder of Roger Warren seemed like an open-and-shut case.The evening before, Roger and his dazzling wife Wanda had moved from one bar to another, fighting loudly and publicly. The next morning, the dead figure of Roger was slumped in a living room chair … while Wanda lay sleeping in bed, a bloodied knife on the pillow beside her. At the District Attorney’s office, the bereaved beauty could remember nothing . . . except an intense desire to kill.

Recommended reading - The Postman Always Rings Twice, by James M. Cain (1934):

The Postman Always Rings Twice

by James M. Cain

Published by Vintage.

First published 1934.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0679723250

ISBN-13: 978-0679723257

Description:

“A good, swift, violent story.” – Dashiell Hammett.

“A poet of the tabloid murder.” – Edmund Wilson.

An amoral young tramp. A beautiful, sullen woman with an inconvenient husband. A problem that has only one grisly solution — a solution that only creates other problems that no one can ever solve.

First published in 1934, The Postman Always Rings Twice is a classic of the roman noir. It established James M. Cain as a major novelist with an unsparing vision of America’s bleak underside and was acknowledged by Albert Camus as the model for The Stranger.

“I make no conscious effort to be tough, or hard-boiled, or grim, or any of the things I am usually called. I merely try to write as the character would write, and I never forget that the average man … has acquired a vividness of speech that goes beyond anything I could invent.” – James M. Cain.

Recommended reading – True Crime, by Andrew Klavan (1995):

True Crime

By Andrew Klavan.

Filmed as True Crime (1999), directed by Clint Eastwood.

Published by Dell.

First published 1995.

Mass Market Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0440224039

ISBN-13: 978-0440224037

Description:

In the heat of the city, a man is out of time: speeding in a beat-up Ford Tempo, blasting easy-listening music. Reporter Steve Everett drinks too much, makes love to his boss's wife, and has just stumbled upon a shocking truth: a convicted killer is about to be executed for a crime he didn't commit.

In the cold confines of Death Row, Frank Beachum is also out of time. Ready to say good-bye to the wife and child he loves and hello to the God he still believes in, Beachum knows he did not kill a convenience store clerk six years ago.  But in a few hours – if Steve Everett can't find the evidence to stop it – a needle is going to pierce Frank Beachum's skin.

The killing machine is primed. The executioner is waiting. And so is the priest. Now the clock is ticking down and the race is on – between the reporter and his demons, between the system and its lethal flaws, between the last innocent man and society's ultimate crime. . . .

Recommended reading - MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, by Richard Hooker (1968):

MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors

By Richard Hooker.

Filmed as M*A*S*H (1970), directed by Robert Altman.

Published by William Morrow Paperbacks.

First published 1968.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0688149553

ISBN-13: 978-0688149550

Description:

Before the movie, this is the novel that gave life to Hawkeye Pierce, Trapper John, Hot Lips Houlihan, Frank Burns, Radar O'Reilly, and the rest of the gang that made the 4077th MASH like no other place in Korea or on earth. The doctors who worked in the Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (MASH) during the Korean War were well trained but, like most soldiers sent to fight a war, too young for the job. In the words of the author, "a few flipped their lids, but most of them just raised hell, in a variety of ways and degrees."

For fans of the movie and the series alike, here is the original version of that perfectly corrupt football game, those martini-laced mornings and sexual escapades, and that unforgettable foray into assisted if incompleted suicide – all as funny and poignant now as they were before they became a part of America's culture and heart.

Recommended reading - No Beast So Fierce, by Edward Bunker (1973):

No Beast So Fierce

By Edward Bunker.

Filmed as Straight Time (1978), directed by Ulu Grosbard and Dustin Hoffman.

Published by NO EXIT PRESS.

First published 1973.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 1842432664

ISBN-13: 978-1842432662

Description:

“One of the great crime novels.” – James Ellroy.

An angry and mercilessly suspenseful novel about an ex-con's attempt to negotiate the "straight world" and his swan dive back into the paradoxical security of crime. It is airtight in its construction, almost photorealistic in its portrayal of L. A. lowlife and utterly knowledgeable about the terrors of liberty, the high of the quick score and the rage that makes the finger tighten on the trigger of the gun.

Recommended reading - Fire in the Hole: and Other Stories, by Elmore Leonard (2012):

Fire in the Hole: and Other Stories

By Elmore Leonard

Published by Mariner Books.

Published 2012.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0062120344

ISBN-13:‎ 978-0062120342

Filmed as the TV series Justified, directed by Graham Yost.

Description:

“If Leonard were a new kid instead of a past master, this fiction collection would make his name.” – People.

“Rummaging through Leonard’s attic via these nine stories revives some fond memories and turns up a couple of forgotten treasures.” – Kirkus Reviews.

“Elmore Leonard’s 39th book ...finds one of America’s most accomplished novelists presenting his most accomplished female characters in years.” – USA Today.

“[Leonard’s] most satisfying book since Out of Sight…. Top-notch work from one of our most gifted and consistently entertaining writers.” – New York Times Book Review.

“Vintage Leonard…. Nine stories with booze and shotguns and lowlifes…and lots of scenes that ought to be in movies.” – Detroit Free Press.

Originally published as When the Women Came Out to Dance, Elmore Leonard’s extraordinary story collection, Fire in the Hole reconfirms his standing as the “King Daddy of crime writers” (Seattle Times) – a true Grand Master in the legendary company of John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, and James M. Cain. These nine riveting tales of crime and (sometimes) punishment – including the title story starring U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens, which was the basis for the smash hit TV series Justified – feature all the elements that have made the great Elmore Leonard great: superb writing, unforgettable characters, breathtaking twists, and the sharpest, coolest dialogue in the mystery-thriller genre.

Recommended reading - The Goodbye Look, by Ross Macdonald (1969):

The Goodbye Look

By Ross Macdonald.

Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

First published 1969.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0375708650

ISBN-13: 978-0375708657

Description:

"The American private eye, immortalized by Hammett, refined by Chandler, brought to its zenith by Macdonald." – The New York Times Book Review.

In The Goodbye Look, Lew Archer is hired to investigate a burglary at the mission-style mansion of Irene and Larry Chalmers. The prime suspect, their son Nick, has a talent for disappearing, and the Chalmerses are a family with money and memories to burn. As Archer zeros in on Nick, he discovers a troubled blonde, a stash of wartime letters, a mysterious hobo. Then a stiff turns up in a car on an empty beach. And Nick turns up with a Colt .45. In The Goodbye Look, Ross Macdonald delves into the world of the rich and the troubled and reveals that the past has a deadly way of catching up to the present.

If any writer can be said to have inherited the mantle of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, it is Ross Macdonald. Between the late 1940s and his death in 1983, he gave the American crime novel a psychological depth and moral complexity that his pre-decessors had only hinted at. And in the character of Lew Archer, Macdonald redefined the private eye as a roving conscience who walks the treacherous frontier between criminal guilt and human sin.

Recommended reading - The Godfather, by Mario Puzo (1969):

The Godfather

By Mario Puzo.

Filmed as The Godfather (1972), directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

Published by Berkley.

First published 1969.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0451205766

ISBN-13: 978-0451205766

Description:

“A staggering triumph...The definitive novel about a sinister fraternity of crime.” – The Saturday Review.

“You can’t stop reading it, and you’ll find it hard to stop dreaming about it.” – New York Magazine.

50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION – WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA.

Mario Puzo’s classic saga of an American crime family that became a global phenomenon – nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.

With its brilliant and brutal portrayal of the Corleone family, The Godfather burned its way into our national consciousness. This unforgettable saga of crime and corruption, passion and loyalty continues to stand the test of time, as the definitive novel of the Mafia underworld.

A #1 New York Times bestseller in 1969, Mario Puzo’s epic was turned into the incomparable film of the same name, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. It is the original classic that has been often imitated, but never matched. A tale of family and society, law and order, obedience and rebellion, it reveals the dark passions of human nature played out against a backdrop of the American dream.

With a Note from Anthony Puzo and an Afterword by Robert J. Thompson.

Recommended reading - Star Trek: Lost Scenes, by David Tilotta and Curt McAloney (2018):

Star Trek: Lost Scenes

By David Tilotta and Curt McAloney.

Published by Titan Books.

Published 2018.

Illustrated edition.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 1785653776

ISBN-13: 978-1785653773

Description:

Fascinating compilation of previously unseen and fully restored stills from The Original Series, showing William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and other cast crew filming the iconic show.

Think you know everything about the Original Series? Think again. Star Trek: The Lost Scenes is packed with hundreds of never-before-seen color photos of the world's ultimate sci-fi series. Professionally restored images are used to chronicle the making of the series, reassemble deleted scenes, and showcase bloopers from the first pilot through the last episode. Whether you're a new Star Trek fan or a seasoned veteran, this book is a must-have.

Recommended reading - The Walton Experience, by Travis Walton (1978):

The Walton Experience

By Travis Walton.

Filmed as Fire in the Sky (1993), directed by Robert Lieberman.

Published by A BERKLEY/MEDALLION BOOK.

First Edition.

Published 1978.

Mass Market Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0425036758

ISBN-13: 978-0425036754

Description:

The Walton Experience.

Seven no-nonsense men. They had just finished a day's work cutting trees in Arizona's Apache Sitgreaves National Forest. As the old pickup maneuvered the dark mountain road, they all saw the brilliant glow suspended in the trees.

Travis Walton got out to investigate. But when the other six went to look for him … he was gone.

Now Travis Walton reveals what happened during the 5 harrowing days of his disappearance.

Recommended reading - Unknown Man #89, by Elmore Leonard (1977):

Unknown Man #89

By Elmore Leonard.

Published by Mariner Books.

First published 1977.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 006218928X

ISBN-13: 978-0062189288

Description:

“The greatest crime writer of our time, perhaps ever!” – The New York Times Book Review.

“An absolute master.” – The Detroit News.

“No one is Leonard’s equal,” declares the Chicago Tribune – and anyone who might doubt it would only have to read Elmore Leonard’s riveting noir classic, Unknown Man #89, to become a true believer.

Detroit process server Jack Ryan has a reputation for being the best in the business at finding people who don't want to be found. Now he's looking for a missing stockholder known only as "Unknown Man No. 89." But his missing man isn't "unknown" to everyone: a pretty blonde hates his guts and a very nasty dude named Royal wants him dead in the worst way. Which is very unfortunate for Jack Ryan, who is suddenly caught in the crossfire of a lethal triple-cross and as much a target as his nameless prey.

The twisty tale of a Detroit process server whose search for a missing stockholder leads him into more serious peril than he ever imagined possible, Unknown Man #89 is a gourmet stew of mystery, suspense, and double and triple cross, peppered with the razor-sharp dialogue for which Grand Master Leonard is justifiably famous.

Exhilarating old-school crime fiction that the late, great John D. MacDonald, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and Robert Parker would have been proud to call their own, Unknown Man #89 is a gem – nothing less than we’d expect from the man who created the incomparable U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens of the hit TV series Justified.

Recommended reading - The Instant Enemy by Ross Macdonald (1968):

The Instant Enemy

By Ross Macdonald.

Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

ASIN: B07R5PYF7Q

Published by Alfred A. Knopf.

First published 1968.

First Edition.

Hardcover.

Description:

“Moves fast and is full of surprises. . . . The best work Macdonald has done in years.” – The New York Times.

“A more serious and complex writer than Chandler and Hammett ever were.” – Eudora Welty.

“Archer has seldom been in better form, and neither has his estimable creator.” – The New Yorker.

“Lew Archer is back, careening down the bloody trail of women who were beaten to death, a murdered cop, and a dead hobo who is the key to a 15-year-old family secret that won't die. "(The) American private eye, immortalized by Hammett, refined by Chandler, brought to its zenith by Macdonald". – New York Times Book Review.

Lew Archer is hired by Keith Sebastian, a Los Angeles business executive, to find his daughter Sandy, a high-school senior who has run off with a homeless boy. Sebastian and his wife, living on the on the edge of affluent bankruptcy, seem unable to communicate with their daughter. Archer finds the runaways easily enough, but before he can return Sandy to her parents, she has participated in a violent crime. Archer’s efforts to save the girl from the consequences of her actions, and to understand those actions, involve him in a savage plot twisting deep into the past. At least one old murder and some new ones confound him and the police. Archer himself is very nearly killed by an ex-cop who wants to keep the case closed, but he finally manages to open it and let some daylight in. The Instant Enemy is Lew Archer at his toughest, and Ross Macdonald at his most trenchant in his observations of California society.

Recommended reading - The Making of Star Trek, by Stephen E. Whitfield & Gene Roddenberry (1986):

The Making of Star Trek

By Stephen E. Whitfield & Gene Roddenberry.

Published by Del Rey.
Twenty Second Printing edition.
Published 1986.
Mass Market Paperback.
ISBN-10: 0345340191
ISBN-13: 978-0345340191

Description:

"For would-be TV writers, directors and producers, this will be an education in itself, a polished but non-varnished look at how TV really works." – Publishers Weekly.

A complete history of what may be the most popular TV series ever – the original Star Trek episodes! Filled with quotations from cast members, memos to and from Gene Roddenberry, biographies of cast members, sketches, photographs, set descriptions, and even budgets and cast schedules, this volume is a fascinating, invaluable behind-the-scenes account of the development and production of the original Star Trek series.

Recommended reading - Star Trek: Open a Channel: A Woman's Trek, by Nana Visitor (2024):

Star Trek: Open a Channel: A Woman's Trek

By Nana Visitor.

Published by Insight Editions.

Published 2024.

Hardcover.

ASIN: B0C7P8NTH2

ISBN-13: 979-8886633016

Description:

Nana Visitor, Star Trek’s Kira Nerys, explores how the series has portrayed and influenced women. Interviews with the stars, writers, producers, and celebrity fans reveal the struggles and triumphs of women both behind and in front of the camera throughout the sixty-year history of Star Trek, and how they have mirrored the experiences of women everywhere.

The groundbreaking casting of Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura in 1966 was a paradigm shift for women and people of color. Pioneering is no picnic, and she planned to leave the show until none other than the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. contextualized her appearance in people’s living rooms across America as a way for people of color to know they were indeed an important part of the future.

Since then, each Star Trek show has both reflected the values of its time and imagined a future of equality. In her first book, Open a Channel: A Woman’s Trek, Nana Visitor sets out to discover both how Star Trek led the way for women, and how each show was trapped in its own era.

For Visitor, this is more than a book about Star Trek. It’s also about how society and the stories we tell have evolved in the last sixty years, and how the role of women has changed in that time.

STAR AUTHOR: Written by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actor Nana Visitor, famous for playing Major Kira Nerys. This is both her story and her journey through the stories of other women involved with Star Trek from the 1960s to the 21st century.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS: Features interviews with more than a dozen women who starred in Star Trek, including Kate Mulgrew, Sonequa Martin-Green, Terry Farrell, Gates McFadden, Denise Crosby, Tawny Newsome, and Jess Bush.

INSPIRING STORIES: Explore how Star Trek has influenced women in the real world, including soldiers, scientists, and even astronauts. For the book, author Nana Visitor visited ESA HQ and interviewed astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti while she was in orbit around Earth on the International Space Station.

PIONEERING SERIES: Following the humanistic tenets of creator Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek, throughout the decades, led the way in promoting diversity. Youths who grew up with Captain Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager, for example, not only learned to accept a woman as a leader but were also able to expand what they could imagine for themselves. The book makes clear how important storytelling is, and how the storytelling of Star Trek has had a profound effect on its audience.

Recommended reading - The Black Marble, by Joseph Wambaugh (1978):

The Black Marble

By Joseph Wambaugh.

Published by Delacorte Press.

Published 1978.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 044000523X

ISBN-13: 978-0440005230

Description:

He is a damned good cop – a burned-out homicide detective wrapped around a Smith & Wesson .38 and a vodka bottle.

She is his partner – twice divorced, nursing a grudge against men, obsessed by the awful temptation of love.

“Terrifying … romantic … beautifully constructed.” – Los Angeles Times.

“Wambaugh sidesteps all the clichés … He has the ability to portray women as flesh-and-blood, thinking human beings.” – The Sun (Baltimore).

“First-rate … Fast, colorful, and gripping … as touching as it is breathlessly entertaining.” – Cosmopolitan.

“Superb . . . his best book!” – St. Louis Post-Dispatch.