Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas: A Savage Journey To The Heart Of The American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson (1971) - It’s been a couple of decades since I last read this one, but it still rocks, rattles and resonates. A brutal, sloppy tongued kiss-off to the 1960s counterculture.

Humor, Horror And The Supernatural: 22 Stories by Saki by H.H. Munro aka Saki (1951) - Tightly compact stories of puckish wit with a touch of the macabre. Bedtime stories for the Addams household.

Hiding The Elephant: How Magicians Invented The Impossible And Learned To Disappear by Jim Steinmeyer (2003) - Tracing the evolution of one branch of effects, Steinmeyer takes us on an elegantly digressive tour of magic’s golden age — from the latter 19th century to the 1930s. Nicely written with a personal voice.

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke (1968) - Clarke’s novelization of his screenplay (co-written with Kubrick) clears up the ambiguities and bafflements of the movie, for good and ill. There are some minor plot changes, such as Saturn being the destination, rather than Jupiter — but essentially the same story. I can’t help thinking of Olaf Stapledon’s earlier and heavier Starmaker.

Hard Times by Charles Dickens (1854) - Dickens fires a hard shot across the bow of the booming industrial revolution, touching on issues that plague us to this day. His shortest novel, they say, and works just fine at that.

Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick (1974) - Another of PKD’s near future police state novels, turning out to have a surprising amount of heart. Gosh, I just read this in the 1990s, but on re-reading it, found I didn’t remember hardly any of it. Well, that’s just plain handy.

The Secret Life Of Houdini by William Kalush and Larry Sloman (2006) - A new biography of Harry Houdini, based on tons of new research material. I’m not sold on the writing style, a little too ‘professional contract writer’ for me, but Houdini’s remarkable life wins out. A very driven man, to an almost disturbing extent. There are some very interesting allegations here, if their evidence is reliable (I’ll never be able to read Sherlock Holmes the same way again). Phony psychics — infuriating now, infuriating then. Additional materials appear online, with much more appearing in a limited 2 volume hardcover version.

Eye In The Sky by Philip K. Dick (1957) - Considering this is from his 1950s straight ahead sci-fi period, it rivals his later books in brain punching f-ed-up-edness, though it does resolve things more or less rationally by the end. Strange stuff, and a smattering of esoteric hi-fi fetishism besides.

On Photography by Susan Sontag (1977) - This book got a lot of attention when new, but seems to have since become the redheaded stepchild of photography commentary. Must have really pissed off the poobahs. And just so we know the terrain, this is a word book, not a picture book. On a thirty year re-read, there’s still plenty here to think about, whether you choose to agree, disagree or reserve judgement. An apt followup to my recent read of Understanding Media, which seemed to remain hovering over this book (as it did over everything for a little while there). I say, give it a go if you’d like to read something on photography other than the usual technical guide or cheerleaderly evangelizing.

Understanding Media: The Extensions Of Man by Marshall McLuhan (1964) - I’ve been giving this a read every decade since the late 1970s, and I still learn something new every time. Some of his contentions haven’t panned out (or at least not yet), but on the whole it remains prescient and surprisingly relevant. So many conflicts — social, political, international — all seem to connect back to the shocks and backlashes set off by the advent of instant electric communications.