Goucher Reads

Sam Rapine

1. Who are you and what are you interested in?

My name is Sam Rapine. I’m a sophomore at Goucher College, majoring in Political Science and eventually double majoring/minoring/something-ing in Russian. I’m interested in fencing, combat sports, history, policy, chess, reading (duh); anything that offers a challenge, mental or physical.In terms of reading, I tend to go about 1/4 fantasy/sci-fi, 1/4 historical/current events, 1/4 travel experiences, and 1/4 classics/mythologies/philosophical writings. As long as I learn something, I’ll be happy that I’d read a book.

2. What are you reading now?

Currently I’m enjoying Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher, a shamelessly satisfying sword-and-sandal pleasure read. I’m also switching off with The Main Enemy by Milt Beard and James Risen, a nonfiction narrative of the CIA’s role in the final days/curtain call of the Soviet Union. Also, The Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan, rest his soul. 

3. What was the most important book you have ever read?

Oh boy. For me, this most naturally breaks down by stages in my life. I have trouble refuting Green Eggs and Ham, in all honesty. It got the ball rolling, and that’s something whose importance can’t be overstated (It also helped me remember my name, so hey). I feel the Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman comes next, destroying so many notions that a 13-year-old accumulates—the books introduced the idea of an unhappy/bittersweet ending, the presence of morally ambiguous characters, and the idea that oftentimes the story only ends because the storyteller stopped writing. In my mid-teens I picked up The Gunslinger by Stephen King, and read the rest of the Dark Tower series in short order. Say what you’d like about the sensationalism around King’s writing, but that series asked some wonderfully captivating, relevant questions and didn’t bother sugarcoating them. This coincided with A Game of Thrones (and subsequently A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R.R. Martin, whose Tarantino-esque prose basically removed any reservations about gore, sex, and chaos I had in what I read. Finally, the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher helped to remind me that as important, gloomy, or grave as a situation can get, there’s probably something in there to laugh at. So four books/series is the closest I can get to one important book. I realize that all of them are fiction (although Green Eggs and Ham is debatable), so maybe that says something about my approach to reading. 

4. If you could suggest one book, what would it be and why?

That said, I think I would advise Kaboom by Matt Gallagher, the recollections of a soldier/blogger in the Iraq War. To me, it provided a more relevant account of the events playing out in the Middle-East than any media outlet, as well as a crystal-clear picture of why the war dragged on as long as it did. That, or Storm Front by Jim Butcher, because who doesn’t need a good laugh?

Gillian Ziegler

1. Who are you and what are you interested in?

My name is Gillian Ziegler and I am a sophomore history major with a pre law concentration. I am originally from Germany and have lived in the U.S. for almost six years now. The thing that I am most interested in is probably 20th century European, and specifically German history. Having family who fought on both sides of both world wars I have always heard a lot of stories and this has grown into a real academic interest and I love learning about periods of history where I know exactly that my forefathers were directly involved in. I am also really interested in constitutional law and specifically the supreme court. (I recommend Peter Irons’ A People’s History of the Supreme Court for anyone interested in this subject).

2. What are you reading now?

The book I am reading at the moment and one that keeps me enthralled in The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer. It’s essentially about the man Gary Gilmore who, in 1976, became the first person to be executed after the Supreme Court brought the death penalty back that same year. Mailer immerses himself completely in Gilmore’s story and by conducting an immense amount of interviews with family and friends. What I find so fascinating is that after having been given the death sentence, Gary Gilmore wanted to die, and the entire second section of the book, which is 1,200 pages long, deals with his trial and relatively short amount of time in prison. The other book that I’m reading is a biography of Otto von Bismarck titled Bismarck: a Life by UPenn history professor Jonathan Steinberg. It is an extremely new biography and really sets itself apart with the man himself and what kind of person he became.

3. What was the most important book you have ever read?

This is a really tough question to answer, and I don’t think that there is really one book that I could choose because it depends entirely on the context. Some of the great books that I’ve read and consider important are Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, Long Walk To Freedom, Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels, and last but not least, Erich Maria Remarque’s Nichts Neues Im Westen (All Quiet On The Western Front). I consider them all so important because they illustrate a period of history that I believe everyone should know about. Each book in its own right shows to a certain degree the evils that some people are capable of, but they also partly show how different people have dealt with such situations and in some instances were either to overcome them, or in others be completely washed over by them and left to wither and die in the wake of ultimate destruction.

4. If you could suggest one book, what would it be and why?

If I had to choose one book to recommend, it would probably have to be All Quiet On The Western Front and for the reasons that I mentioned above.

Lawanda Cannon

1. Who are you and what are you interested in?

My name is Lawanda Cannon. I am a student library assistant at the Gocuher College library and I am an office assistant at Community living here on campus as well. I am a second semester junior, majoring in English and am trying to pursue a Sociology major in the fall. I am interested in music, poetry, and food.

2. What are you reading now?

As of right now the only books I read are in relation to my academics. I just finished a The Beggar’s Opera, a play by John Gay and I am currently reading a book of poetry titled Tell Me by Kim Addonizio. 

3. What is the most important book you have ever read?

The most important book I have ever read was called Strunk and White (also known as The Elements of Style). This book goes into great detail about the many grammer aspects of English. 

4. If you could suggest one book to read, what would it be and why?

I would suggest The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. I know this is a recreational read and also a movie, but I feel that a lot can be learned about everyday human connections. 

Royce DuBiner

1. Who are you and what are you interested in?

I am Royce and I am interested in Sailing, History, Corporate Governance, International Criminal Law, Medical Malpractice, and Historic Preservation. I also like anything related to the American South. 

2. What are you reading now?

Right now I am reading a book on critical race theory and the law. It is called The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration In The Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. This goes along with my general interest in public policy and criminal law. The author of the book spoke at my school last year. Sadly, I do not have time to read for fun and most of my reading is related to work or schoolwork.

For a fiction book I just finished Noble House. The Novel was the story of a British Businessman during the heyday of Hong Kong’s rise to becoming an Asian Tiger. It is a great book for both showing the culture of Hong Kong and International Business Transactions. 

I really liked the book Peace Under Heavenby Man-Sik Ch’ae and Novel Without A Name by Duong Thuu Huong. Both novels are really great introductions to Asian history in the 20th century. Peace Under Heaven was great for me because it showed me a little of what Korean life was like under Japanese Colonialism. The book is comical but also critiques Korean society during the Japanese Colonial Period. Novel Without A Name was extremely transformative for me to read. I spent most of my time time at Goucher studying Asian Colonial and Post-Colonial history. Duong’s novel shows the brutality of war as it was for the average Vietnamese soldier during the American War. Slowly you see the main character descend into hell and become less and less human as he travels across Vietnam. Novels that show human beings on the edge and in their survivalist form appeal to me for some reason.

I would say every American owes it to themselves to read Shelby Foote’s The Civil War: A Narrative. It is a nearly impossible read but I think the Civil War was the peak of the mountain in terms of this countries development after the founding of the Republic. I will admit I am barely done with the first book in the series, Fort Sumnter to Perryville. If that is too daunting I would recommend reading The Wild Man From Sugar Creek: The Political Career of Eugene Talmadge by William Anderson. This book is a great look into the politics of Georgia and the South during the depression and in the weird intra period between Civil Rights and Reconstruction. The book is still valid for today’s politics as candidates increasingly turn to populist political strategy much like that employed by “Gene.” I don’t really read fiction so I am absolutely no use in that area.

Asa Eisenhardt

1. Who are you and what are you interested in?

I’m Asa, and I enjoy music, long journalism articles and film. I’ve also recently improvised my own peanut sauce and given my amateur cooking abilities, I’m kinda excited about it! I graduated from Goucher in 2010 with an English degree (creative writing concentration), and have absolutely made use of the skills honed then while working as a technical writer for the past couple of years.

Goucher is such a reading- and writing-heavy school, and the meat grinder of literary analysis I went through really helped me become the dependable documentation dude I am today. 

2. What are you reading now?

Recently, I’ve finally kicked my butt back into a decent reading-for-pleasure regimen. I can’t say I frequently read the same caliber of material as some of the previous Goucher Reads interviewees, but for me anything is a step in the right direction back to the reading voracity of my youth. 

As of late, I’ve been rekindling my longtime love of noir/crime/detective fiction. Drive was an excellent film based on a similarly excellent novel. It’s Hemingwayish in its minimalism and conveyance of character behavior. A quick and awesome read.

The other book I’m just finishing up is called Queer Street, and it’s the third (and sadly last, I believe) of Curt Colbert’s Jake Rossiter detective novels. Each one uses considerable historical accuracy in examining postwar Seattle’s various social issues through the lens of a tough-as-nails private eye— police corruption (Rat City), Japanese immigrant conflicts during and after the institution of internment camps (Sayonaraville) and the underground club scenes of the gay/lesbian/transgender community (Queer Street). I was honestly kinda worried I’d be really offended at how a private eye— especially an ex-marine, as Rossiter is— would handle the lifestyles in Queer Street, given that homophobia was even more rampant in those days than it is now and detective fiction isn’t known for being egalitarian (see any Mickey Spillane novel, yikes).  I was honestly really impressed, though— Colbert doesn’t use any homophobic motives to keep Rossiter tough.

Sadly, in my lengthy search for Queer Street, I found out Colbert’s publisher went under. I really hope it’s not the last the world sees of his writing— Rat City is so instantly addictive, it’s unbelievable. For anyone into Sam Spade, Phillip Marlowe or olden-day America, I can’t recommend it enough.

I’d also highly recommend the Longreads tumblr, which highlights some of the best long-form journalism I’ve ever read. In particular, this article about pain relief technology for war veterans really moved me. 

3. What was the most important book you have ever read?

This is truly a tough one. I think the slew of sci-fi and fantasy I read as a kid is pretty indicative of the day-dreaming escapist I am. I feel like Ray Bradbury imbues his work with this sense of wonder that sort of transcends genre. He makes you feel the same. whimsical sort of emotions as his characters and I think that sort of resonance is a profound connection with the audience that most artists seek. So in that way, Something Wicked This Way Comes was ONE of the most important books I’ve ever read— it’s as much a wide-eyed and spirited a coming-of-age tale as it is a deliciously ghoulish Halloween yarn.

But on a slightly more contemporary note, I think High Fidelity is a masterpiece. Rob, its protagonist, isn’t the best guy— in fact, dude is quite repulsive. He brags about this and that sexual conquest, rambles on about his musical knowledge, and becomes an overdramatic wreck when his girlfriend leaves him. But at the same time, there’s some comfort in his being flawed. He’s a warts-and-all hopeless romantic who has to conceal his true nature under a spikey layer of pop-culture elitism and mid-30s jadedness. It’s like reading a book of painful confessions from a close pal.

Though I hardly pay as much attention to the comic book industry as I should, Watchmen is something I will forever evangelize. I’m not one for nerd rage, but it bums me out that most people might remember it as a stupid eye candy movie and not a self-contained, brilliant series that addressed American history, Cold War paranoia, the ubermensch and all these vastly different character stories under the premise of a simple question: what if superheroes were real? I’ve read the thing more than any book I own and more times than I can count, and yet I still find new things every time I pick it up. Absolutely indispensable.

Man, I feel like the answers to this question and the previous one are interchangeable! In addition to the books I mentioned there, I’d also add Stephen King’s On Writing. I have great respect for the man’s work, though I’ve read little of it save for a traumatic glance through Cycle of the Werewolf  at the tender age of ten. That said, his humor, wisdom and unpretentious insight are phenomenal and On Writing seamlessly switches between advice and memoir.

Christy Dentler

1. Who are you and what are you interested in?

My name is Christy Dentler, and I’m a senior atGoucherCollege. I am an English and French major. I’m interested in literature, film, poetry, fashion, and photography. I don’t really have a particular favorite genre of literature. I love everything. 

2. What are you reading now?

I am currently reading Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth. It’s one of my favorites by her, and I am also reading a collection of short stories by Jean Stafford. Stafford is one of my favorite writers. An underrated author, she is not someone that I hear about too often. My favorite short story by her is called In the Zoo. She also wrote a great book called The Mountain Lion that I liked very much. 

3. What is the most important book you have ever read?

The most important book I have read would be Charlotte Bronte’s Villette. I identified deeply with the main character, Lucy Snowe. On the exterior, she appears to be very cold and quiet, but she is extremely intelligent, courageous, and passionate. She surprises not only those around her but also herself with her strength and boldness. The book reveals her inner life. Another book that was important to me was Journals of Sylvia Plath. While she remains to be controversial figure for many, reading about her experiences in college and her time abroad, and her work ethic as a writer inspired me to go college after taking a few years off after high school to pursue my own passions. 

4. If you could suggest one book, what would it be and why?

There are so many books I want to recommend, but I would say J.D. Salinger’s Franny and Zooey is a great read. The characters are so alive, and Salinger has such a distinct and familiar voice. When I read him I feel stability and comfort, and I believe that everything will turn out for the best and be okay. I don’t think I will ever outgrow J.D. Salinger. 

Tom Minnema

1. Who are you and what are you interested in?

 I am Tom Minnema.  I work in the circulation department of the Goucher College Library.  I am interested in sports, movies, US history, and finding humor in everyday life.

2. What are you reading now?

  Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O’Malley, Baseball’s Most Controversial Owner, and theDodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles by Michael D’Antonio

3. What was the most important book you have ever read?

Oh lord…Well, the scariest book I’ve ever read is The Worst of Times: Illegal Abortion : Survivors, Practitioners, Coroners, Cops and Children of Women Who Died Talk About Its Horrors by Patricia G. Miller.  Truly frightening stuff.

4. If you could suggest one book, what would it be and why?

 Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line by Ben Hamper is my favorite read.  A hilariously accurate description of life in Southeastern Michigan in the late ‘70’s/early ‘80’s.  It also shows the sanity games one needs to play to survive in a factory environment.  A truly wonderful read.

Favorite fiction author is Christopher Moore.

Favorite non-fiction author is Erik Larson

Ben Mueser

1. Who are you and what are you interested in?

My name is Ben Mueser, from Henniker, NH. I am a senior history major, with a minor in social and political theory. My interests are in political theory and philosophy. In political theory I am particularly interested in the concept and critique of sovereignty, and in philosophy I am especially interested in how the self and identity is created. 

2. What are you reading now?

Right now I am reading Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov. Its a novel about an absurd world and the protagonist’s (Cincinnatus C.) struggle to transcend the ludicrous prison he sits in while he waits to be executed for a nonexistent crime. It is both funny and interesting, but Nabokov’s style isn’t easy to get through sometimes, and I have not been exactly speeding through it. 

I am also reading a lot of social/political theory for a few different classes. At the moment, it includes: Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism; Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, Power/Knowledge, The Birth of Biopolitics; Judith Butler, Gender Trouble. I am enjoying all of these texts, but the enormity of my reading load means that, unfortunately, I just can’t spend the time on each one that I would like to. 

 I can’t identify one book that is most important to me, but here are a few. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon is just the most wonderful and interesting story I have ever read, and is written in beautiful prose. The Great Gatsby has always been important to me, mostly because it was the first book that I read in high school that I got truly excited about and just loved to read more than once. The Fall by Albert Camus is important to me because the conclusion truly unsettled me, and made me feel personally uncomfortable, and affected me in an actual visceral way. The Master and Margarita by Mikhael Bulgakov is a hilarious and provocative story about the devil and his entourage coming to Moscow in the 1930s to perform a black magic show. I could list more, but lets leave it at that for now. 

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera is one of my favorite books. I have given away two copies already, and I always recommend another book by him as well, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting. I like Kundera for two reasons. First, because he addresses an anxiety of hedonism that is relevant for all of us whether we want to talk about it or not. Second, because I think he recognizes that as an author, he has the right to inject himself into his writing, but he does it elegantly and smoothly, so that throughout his writing you feel like you are learning an interesting story, but through a conversation with him. 

I also recommend The Lord of The Rings because its just straight up badass, beautiful, and brilliant. Also, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy is an incredibly dark and foreboding tale of a band of indian scalp hunters on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s. Finally, I recommend The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway because its a book that, in my opinion, is impossible to read and not enjoy. 

Hillary Edwards

1. Who are you and what are you interested in?

My name is Hillary. I graduated from Goucher in 2010 and have since settled down in Baltimore. I work for the University of Maryland (http://wellness.umaryland.edu) and am pursuing a Master’s in Public Health on the side. I’m an advocate of public transportation in cities. I know some about art, a lot about tea, and would spend all my free time in a kitchen if I could, but a lot of that time right now is taken up learning how to garden (which is not a bad thing). 

2. What are you reading now?

Right now I’m trudging my way through Nikolai Gogol’s Dead Souls. 

Recent reads I loved: 

Tinkers by Paul Harding, whose story moved so smoothly between worlds of consciousness on a man’s deathbed. It won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and after reading was easy to see why.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is hands down one of the most beautifully haunting and hollow novels I’ve ever read.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, which is a true classic everyone should read. I think it is very telling of how our country has reverted back to the ways (in industry and in politics) of the early 1900s.

The Curfew by rising author Jesse Ball is a quick read but unforgettable. Ball is an author on the rise and the stories he constructs are full of suspense and love.  

Books I will always love:

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, 

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, 

Chicken With Plums by Marjane Satrapi, 

Another Country by James Baldwin, 

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, 

Welcome to Hard Times by E.L. Doctorow, and

Blankets by Craig Thompson 

3. What was the most important book you have ever read?

Important in what way? In changing my life view? In making me believe literature is worth the time spent pursuing? Or are we talking about a book that I can re-read and always discover something new? I’ll answer the last, but with an author rather than a book. I’m enraptured by Milan Kundera. I’m working my way through his bibliography, some novels for a second or third time, and to whom I have an evolving relationship with as I read and re-read his novels as I grow older. The complexities of human nature and relationships are so striking. While working my way through his bibliography, it’s not only remarkable to see how Kundera developed as an artist, but also in how the perspectives of his characters change as I, the reader, have more life experiences. Sometimes I think I go through these phases of life that are more metamorphoses than simply change. I first read The Unbearable Lightness of Being in high school, I thought I was so cool, but really 90% of the content was way over my head at the time. The last time I read it was last November and it left me breathless. I neglected to see the vulnerability in the selfishness of many of Kundera’s characters for so long, yet it’s now quite apparent to me.

If you’ve never read Kundera, I would not start by reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being. 

I recommend beginning with The Farewell Waltz or Life is Elsewhere.

4. If you could suggest one book, what would it be and why?

I’ve already named many of my favorite books, but one I haven’t mentioned is Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle. This book is youth, not about it. Doyle’s command of language is extraordinary and impeccable as he takes draws you into 1960s Dublin from the perspective of a ten year old boy. The events in the book are destructive, some in hilarious due to the nature of, well, young boys, but also heartbreaking in the coping of the social world around him.  

Max Temkin

1. Who are you and what are you interested in?

My name is Max, I’m a designer from Chicago and an alumni (barely) of Goucher College. I’m interested in philosophy, games, and bugs (I know a lot of facts about ants).

2. What are you reading now?

I just finished a really cool book about philosophy and games called *The Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia by Bernard Suits, although a cursory glance at the Goucher library website shows that you don’t have that book, so I hope I haven’t sabotaged your project now. The Grasshopper was recommended to me by Richard Lemarchand, who made the Uncharted games, so that’s a good reason to read it right there.

Some other books I’ve read in the last few months: Hitch-22: A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens (excellent), In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson (just okay), The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow (great, funny), and the execrable Walter Issacson biography of Steve Jobs (riddled with errors; for a much better book on Apple and Jobs, check out Revolution in the Valley by Andy Hertzfeld).

Some design books I’ve read recently that I loved: Thoughtless Acts by Jane Fulton Suri, Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers by Leonard Koren, Grid Systems in Graphic Design by Josef Muller-Brockmann, Mobile First by Luke Wroblewski, and Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type by Kimberly Elam. I also highly recommend Distance, a journal of long essays on design - Benjamin Jackson’s article Hard Fun is interesting.

Finally, John Campbell sent me the new printing of his book Pictures for Sad Children and I can report that it made me feel things and is very funny.

3. What’s the most important book you have ever read?

My desert island book is Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, who is my favorite author. What can I even say about Infinite Jest other than that it’s laugh-out-loud funny and heartbreaking and clever all at the same time? To quote DFW, it’s about “what it is to be a fucking human being.”

If you want to get into Wallace (and who doesn’t) I suggest starting with his non-fiction Consider the Lobster and A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again which books I personally checked out from the Goucher library and accrued late fees on, and then moving on to either I.J. or Broom of the System.

A more boring answer to this question could also be Moby Dick by Herman Melville which I keep in my bedroom and am always reading (as soon as I finish it, I start back on the first page).

4. If you could suggest one book to read, what would it be and why?

I’m constantly yelling at people to read a tiny little book called Don’t Think of an Elephant by George Lakoff. It’s one of those things where once you read it, you’ll divide your life into before you read Elephant and after. 

For my fellow philosophy enthusiasts, I think John Searle’s The Construction of Social Reality is the best thing I’ve read since I graduated, it blew my mind.

*The Grasshopper: Games, Life and Utopia by Bernard Suits, Hitch-22: A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens, Revolution in the Valley by Andy Hertzfield, Thoughtless Acts by Jane Fulton Suri, Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers by Leonard Koren, Mobile First by Luke Wroblewski, Grid Systems: Principles of Organizing Type by Kimberly Elam, and Don’t Think of an Elephant by George Lakoff are not available in the Goucher collection, but can be ordered through Interlibrary Loan through Worldcat. If you want to read this book, suggest it to be added into our circulation!