In the last Middlebury alumnae magazine there was a short article by J. Parnini where he listed the fifteen books that shaped the United States. Then there was a list of the 40 most important books listed in the recent on-line TLS. Finally Ron Silliman on his blog had a list of the books that led him into poetry. Silliman called it a meme that was going through the internet. Somewhere between the Middlebury article and the Silliman post, I made up a list of 15 books that for some reason have been important to how I see myself now. After all it is always about me; as it is with all of us whether we admit it or not. Of course this list would change if I had written it last week or next. Here is my list in no specific order or rank:
The I Ching
Canterbury Tales: Chaucer
The Name of the Rose: Eco
Howl: Ginsburg
The Book of Nightmares: Kinnell
Tao de Ching: Lao Tzu
Persona: Pound
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek: Dillard
The Non-Conformist Memorial: Howe
Trilogy: H.D.
Collected Poems of Wallace Stevens
Poems for the Millenium, Vol 1&2, ed. by J. Rothenberg
After Ikkyu: Harrison
Philisophical Investigations: L. Wittgenstein
Stand on Zanzibar: Brunner
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