Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson (204 pages) - 1919
from a review: One of the first books to convincingly employ Freudian psychology to revealing the inner workings of ordinary characters, this collection used a small-town setting as a means of examining the neuroses and obsessions of American life in a manner that has only been rivaled by Flannery O’Conner for sheer intensity and insight Availability notes: Library, retail book stores, downloadable from web.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (304 pages) - 1940
From publisher: The novel is considered McCullers's finest work, an enduring masterpiece that was chosen by the Modern Library as one of the top one hundred works of fiction published in the twentieth century. Set in a small Southern mill town in the 1930's. Availability notes: Library and retail local and online book stores.
==Suggestions by Mary
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (44 pages) - 1899
Great Books Penguin Classic -Great Books online guide
Conrad's classic about a cruel, corrupt trader in the Congo raises profound questions about the compromises people sometimes make with evil.
This story is reputed to be inspiration for movie "Apocalypse Now". Availabilty: Library, retail, Great Books Anthology, downloadable from web.
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (304 pages) - 2004
Written by Pulitzer Prize winning author.
From Amazon: The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans. Availability: Library as well as books on tape. Possibly on the shelf at local retail stores because it is new (but no guarantees), certainly can be ordered.
==Suggestion by Donna
Three Junes by Julia Glass-
Only the first story titled Collies of the collection will be on the ballot. Not sure about length, probably between 50 and 150 pages. - 2002
Entire collection/novel Won the National Book Award in 2002. Collies won an award for best novella in 1999.
From a reviewer: A couple's entire life together, a man's past, present, and future, all in only 50+ pages. Miraculous! "Collies" stands on its own as a wonderfully complete read, well worth the time invested in it.
Availability: Houston Library and retail local and online book stores.
==Suggestions by Adam
Night by Elie Wiesel (128 pages) - 1958
Author won Nobel peace price in 1986.
From Amazon: Night is a wrenching attempt to find meaning in the horror of the Holocaust; is technically a novel, but it's based so closely on his own experiences in Birkenau, Auschwitz, and Buchenwald that it's generally--and not inaccurately--read as an autobiography. Widely acclaimed author - was Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council; Awarded Congressional Medal of Freedom in 1985.
Availability: Houston Library as well as retail book stores.
Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen Scientist by Richard Feynman (133 pages) - 1999
Nobel prize winning physicist - book based on a previously unpublished, three-part public lecture Feynman gave in 1963- he expounds on the inherent conflict between science and religion, on people's distrust of politicians, and on our universal fascination with flying saucers, faith healing, and mental telepathy.
Availability: Houston Library, retail local and online book stores.
==Suggestions by Alice
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (160 pages) - 1922
Great Books Penguin Classic - Great Books online guide
Classic novel of self discovery. The early events in the life of the novel's protagonist closely parallel the traditional story of the Buddha's life.
Availability: Houston Library, retail book stores and downloadable from the web.
A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul -(288 pages) - 1989
Author Nobel Prize winner for Literature in 2001.
V.S. Naipaul takes us deeply into the life of one man—an Indian who, uprooted by the bloody tides of Third World history, has come to live in an isolated town at the bend of a great river in a newly independent African nation.
Availability: Houston Library and retail local and online book stores.
