Douglas Shoback

Five favorite books? Yikes! Ok:

1: "Pattern Recognition" by William Gibson.

This is his first book dealing with the near future and focuses on brands and identity. I absolutely love how Gibson writes about our culture. Especially when it's about our current culture, not some far off future.

2: "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood.

I first read this as an undergraduate in a North American Literature class. The story blew me away. I always held Feminist ideals, but reading about Offred and the dystopic world that Atwood created, and viewing our current culture at the time and how we treat women, it just solidified my stance as a Feminist. Plus, Margaret Atwood writes a damn good story.

3: "The Crying of Lot 49: by Thomas Pynchon.

I love Thomas Pynchon. I can barely understand his works, but I love him nonetheless. The paranoia and spiraling into conspiracy that permeates all of his novels is just what we need in an America run by Trump. When nothing makes sense, turn to Pynchon and find his humor and his intelligence comforting. I know Pynchon hates The Crying of Lot 49, he says it's his worst work, but I just love the Oedipa Maas and Mucho and the Trystero (or Tristero?) and W.A.S.T.E. It's just amazing and it influenced my writing.

4: "The Hunger Games Series" by Susan Collins.

Yeah, it's Young Adult fiction, but I adore the Hunger Games. The world Collins creates is simply astounding--how people justify horrors as a means to survive. I mean, sacrificing your children for a game in order to maintain order in a tyrannical system simply shows the cognitive dissonance humans will stand to survive. It's a great insight into our psychology.

5: "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski.

I picked up this book in graduate school. It just seemed interesting. I hadn't heard much about it, but the cover looked neat and the writing was unique. To this day, I have no clue what it's about. I have read this book about 20 times and I still can't figure out what it's about! A professor of mine said it was about the internet. I can see that, with the ever-expanding room and the darkness and changing structure. But there's also other meanings locked inside. It's fun to try to figure it out. And Danielewski is an amazing writer, which helps.

According to my mom, I was writing stories at age four. About a purple pony that took me and my sister on adventures.