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1twacorbies
Have you ever discovered a specific author and then greedily devoured all their works, one after another, ignoring all else?
The summer after undergrad I worked at a restaurant on campus and discovered William Burrough's stuff while browsing the graduate library. From then on, a couple of hours every afternoon were spent reading his novels in the quiet corners of the library. Sometimes, I just leaned against the shelf and read them right there.
Working at a bookstore a few years later, I became obsessed with Samuel Beckett. That's when my fellow clerks and I realized that we had each become defined by an author we identified with. Conversations became dominated with discussions about our personal obsession ("So, what's new with Beckett?" "I saw a biography of Beckett in the Bargain aisle so I put it on hold for you").
Still later, working at the same place, we all collectively began reading books by Tom Robbins. For awhile, we only read Robbins. We came up with the theory that the first book by Robbins you read is your particular favorite, and generalized this rule to any author's ouvre you were obsessed with. A little later, we decided that this particular madness centering on any single author burns white hot but eventually goes cold (I haven't read a book by Robbins in years, and probably never will again).
Anyone else? Past obsessions? Embarrassing confession? Current manias?
The summer after undergrad I worked at a restaurant on campus and discovered William Burrough's stuff while browsing the graduate library. From then on, a couple of hours every afternoon were spent reading his novels in the quiet corners of the library. Sometimes, I just leaned against the shelf and read them right there.
Working at a bookstore a few years later, I became obsessed with Samuel Beckett. That's when my fellow clerks and I realized that we had each become defined by an author we identified with. Conversations became dominated with discussions about our personal obsession ("So, what's new with Beckett?" "I saw a biography of Beckett in the Bargain aisle so I put it on hold for you").
Still later, working at the same place, we all collectively began reading books by Tom Robbins. For awhile, we only read Robbins. We came up with the theory that the first book by Robbins you read is your particular favorite, and generalized this rule to any author's ouvre you were obsessed with. A little later, we decided that this particular madness centering on any single author burns white hot but eventually goes cold (I haven't read a book by Robbins in years, and probably never will again).
Anyone else? Past obsessions? Embarrassing confession? Current manias?
2strandbooks
I started a thread like this but I'm the opposite than you. I have many authors that I want to read all of their works, but since most of them are dead I'm trying to space them out over years. I don't look forward to the day when I don't have another virginia Woolf or George Eliot book to read.
3MikeBriggs
Current manias: Carol O'Connell
4vpfluke
Well, my wife read all the previous Dan Brown books prior to The Da Vinci Code, but I could only read Angels and Demons which I thought was better than the Da Vinci Code, but couldn't drum up an interest in Deception Point or Digital Fortress.
I guess the author I read all the way back in a devouring way was Robertson Davies. After reading the Cornish Trilogy, I read the Deptford Trilogy and then the Salterton Trilogy.
I guess the author I read all the way back in a devouring way was Robertson Davies. After reading the Cornish Trilogy, I read the Deptford Trilogy and then the Salterton Trilogy.
5southernbooklady
I reacted like this when I first discovered Lawrence Durrell (and his brother Gerry!). Now, I often read as much as I can of an author's work--even the ones I don't like so much, because I like to be able to put the books in context. I like to have a sense of the entire oeuvre.
6bluesalamanders
I often do this when I discover a new author I really like or when I start rereading an old favorite - I get 'in the mood' for their kind of writing, so that's all I feel like reading for a while.
7Storeetllr
Like MikeBriggs, I'm heavy into Carol O'Connell right now. Also, having recently discovered (to my utter delight) Jim Butcher and Guy Gavriel Kay, I'm plotting to get my hands on everything I can find by them. In general, I've read everything by Jeff Lindsey, Lindsey Davis, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, and Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb and grab up anything new of theirs that comes along as soon as possible.
Oh, and can't forget Jane Austen whom I recently read for the first time Pride and Prejudice and loved. So, next up of hers are Sense and Sensibility, Emma, and Northanger Abbey.
Oh, and can't forget Jane Austen whom I recently read for the first time Pride and Prejudice and loved. So, next up of hers are Sense and Sensibility, Emma, and Northanger Abbey.
8NWADEL
I'm really into Pathologist/crime books! Started with Patricia Cornwell, read all of her books, couldn't get enough and then it was Kathy Reichs, now its Karen Slaughter!
9rachelbrandfire
I am madly in love with Kurt Vonnegut. I just can't get enough.
10scribblingDesdemona
I wrote Christopher Moore a letter because of the amount of sleep I lost tearing through his books. I have read them all, and now I have to be patient and wait for him to put out another.
11kathi
My current addictions are Lee Child, Harlan Coban, Jim Fusilli, Shirley Rousseau Murphy, and Stephen White. I pre-order their books and pay full price if I have to. I remember when it was Dick Francis and Patricia Moyes.
Then there are the food addictions. Currently hooked on french vanilla yogurt.
Next are the music addictions. I've lived through an obsession with Brahms' A German Requiem, and another period when it had to be Mozart's Solemn Vespers every single day. I've recently recovered from Mendelssohn's Elijah. This one was especially bad because the oratorio is about two hours in length, and I had to listen to the whole thing every evening.
Do you think I need help?
Then there are the food addictions. Currently hooked on french vanilla yogurt.
Next are the music addictions. I've lived through an obsession with Brahms' A German Requiem, and another period when it had to be Mozart's Solemn Vespers every single day. I've recently recovered from Mendelssohn's Elijah. This one was especially bad because the oratorio is about two hours in length, and I had to listen to the whole thing every evening.
Do you think I need help?
12vpfluke
#11
I understand musical addictions. My wife and I were driving north on I-75 to spend a weekend in Detroit and heard Lisa Gerrard's The Mirror Pool, near Lima, Ohio. But didn't know who or what it was. Coming back south, surprisingly, we heard the same music again. We were enraptured. I told my wife that if we began to get out of the signal range, were turing around and driving back north to find out what we were hearing. The next day, we bought the CD.
I heard Felix Mendelssohn's Elijah in Philadelphia some 30 years ago, and it was magnificent, particularly the chorus, Hail to Baal, which almost made me a pagan. (A nice note, the Touchstones for Mendelssohn are coming up). But I never bought the record (pre-CD era).
I understand musical addictions. My wife and I were driving north on I-75 to spend a weekend in Detroit and heard Lisa Gerrard's The Mirror Pool, near Lima, Ohio. But didn't know who or what it was. Coming back south, surprisingly, we heard the same music again. We were enraptured. I told my wife that if we began to get out of the signal range, were turing around and driving back north to find out what we were hearing. The next day, we bought the CD.
I heard Felix Mendelssohn's Elijah in Philadelphia some 30 years ago, and it was magnificent, particularly the chorus, Hail to Baal, which almost made me a pagan. (A nice note, the Touchstones for Mendelssohn are coming up). But I never bought the record (pre-CD era).
