Improvin’ (Rick)
| Table of Contents |
Following a pretty major shakeup in his life, my buddy Rick has decided to embark on a major self-improvement project, as folks in such positions are wont to do.
Being the helpful, concerned, and — you are to understand — not at all prying or meddlesome friend that I am, I “volunteered” to help. My contribution will be a list, cleared by the man himself to include 3 CDs, 10 books, and 10 films. Fun, huh?
But wait, there’s more! Because I’m the sort of guy that likes to share the fun, I’m soliciting suggestions for…errr…my suggestions. If you have a book, film, or album you simply must recommend, go to the profoundly ugly “Add Suggestion for Rick’s Self-Improvement Project!” page. All suggestions are added to the database! (Though if you haven’t been “cleared” by Rick, your suggestions won’t appear here immediately.)
UPDATE: “Rick Improvement Project” STATUS PAGE added! Check it to see which items he’s completed, as well as those he’s assigned himself!
Eric’s Suggestions
| Medium | Work | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| Book | The Stars My Destination | Alfred Bester |
| Book | The Road | Cormac McCarthy |
| Book | The Sound and the Fury | William Faulkner |
| Book | In the Dutch Mountains | Cees Nooteboom |
| Book | The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman | Laurence Sterne |
| Book | The Master and Margarita | Mikhail Bulgakov (trans. Burgin & O’Connor) |
| Book | Labyrinths | Jorge Luis Borges |
| Book | If on a winter’s night a traveler | Italo Calvino |
| Book | Hopscotch | Julio Cortazar (trans. Gregory Rabassa) |
| Book | Gravity’s Rainbow | Thomas Pynchon |
| Film | 8 1/2 | Federico Fellini |
| Film | American Splendor | Shari Springer Berman |
| Film | Bicycle Thieves | Vittorio De Sica |
| Film | Chinatown | Roman Polanski |
| Film | City Lights | Charlie Chaplin |
| Film | Kind Hearts and Coronets | Robert Hamer |
| Film | Rusalka ("Mermaid") | Anna Melikian |
| Film | The 400 Blows | Francois Truffaut |
| Film | The Seventh Seal | Ingmar Bergman |
| Film | The Third Man | dir. Carol Reed / writ. Graham Greene |
| Music | Goldberg Variations, 1955 Recording | Glenn Gould (comp. J.S. Bach) |
| Music | Goldberg Variations, 1981 Recording | Glenn Gould (comp. J.S. Bach) |
Brett’s Suggestions
| Medium | Work | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| Book | A Canticle for Leibowitz | Walter M. Miller, Jr. |
| Book | The Omnivore’s Dilemma | Michael Pollan |
| Book | Who Hates Whom: Well-Armed Fanatics, Intractable Conflicts, and Various Things Blowing Up: A Woefully Incomplete Guide | Bob Harris |
| Film | The Fog of War | Errol Morris/Robert S. McNamara |
| Film | The Thin Blue Line | Errol Morris |
| Music | Giant Steps | John Coltrane |
| Music | Head Hunters | Herbie Hancock |
| Music | Heavy Weather | Weather Report |
| Music | The Rite of Spring | Igor Stravinsky |
| Music | Verve Jazz Masters 2: Count Basie | Count Basie |
| Music | Kind of Blue | Miles Davis |
Ian’s Suggestions
| Medium | Work | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| Book | Freedom Evolves | Daniel C. Dennet |
| Book | Midnight\’s Children | Salman Rushdie |
| Book | My Year of Meats | Ruth L. Ozeki |
| Music | Time Out | The Dave Brubeck Quartet |
Other Noteworthy Suggestions
| Medium | Work | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| Book | As I Lay Dying | William Faulkner (sub. by Rick) |
| Book | Guns, Germs and Steel | Jared Diamond (sub. by Rick) |
| Book | The Great Gatsby | F. Scott Fitzgerald (sub. by Rick) |
| Music | ‘64 - ‘95 | Lemon Jelly (sub. by Taters) |
| Film | Blue Crush | John Stockwell (sub. by Aleena) |
| Book | Confederacy of Dunces | John Kennedy Toole (sub. by Pooro) |
| Book | Generation X | Douglas Coupland (sub. by Pooro) |
| Book | Infinite Jest | David Foster Wallace (sub. by Pooro) |
