I know A Separate Peace in high school impacted but only in the "I hate this fucking novel so damn much" kind of way.

As for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, I read that years after it was released (snagged my brother's copy) so I wasn't aware of any trend around the book. However, I thought the "Quality before subjective/objective distinction" was an interesting concept and influenced my own metaphysical theories (although not as far as he takes it).

You don't have to. Reading is over-rated. Just watch TV and movies. Oh, and also, buy your clothes at Abercrombie :)

All kidding aside, I have very little patience for a novel. It truly may have something to do with watching a lot of TV as a child; this probably killed my attention span. As much of a creative mind as I (like to think I) have, I can't get through an entire novel. It has to either be something serious (i.e. a biography, or like this cool book I read about the number zero), or a book written by a comedian. I've read Al Franken's "Oh, The Things I Know!" too many times. I think I like these because I can put them down anytime I want. I like a lot of poetry as well, which is a pretty new thing for me, since I used take pride in my mocking of the entire idea of poetry. But I think this is once again linked to my lack of an attention span, since they are usually pretty short. Unlike this post :)

and

I know where my loyalties lie.

Elmore Leonard! Have you read Charles Willeford?

I modestly think "The Brothers Karamazov" is deeper.

I've read the book. It's not that long and it's an easy read. But I wasn't blown away by it. There are many many better books out there for the effort.

I take my hat off to you sir.

Hmm, novel with the biggest impact. Either 1984 or the Picture of Dorian Gray

All Orwell, especially 1984. This one books has had such a n impact on me and my idealisms...

All the Calvin & Hobbes comics I read from such a young age, possibly lead me into my interest (obsession) over human psychology, philosophy, etc.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Really recent, but it made me, and continues to make me question what is right and what is wrong, what is real and what is fake... and most of all, what will die, what is just "kipple"...)

Fuck, YES! I must spread rep. That story can move me to tears, it fucks me up.

I attended the Los Angeles Festival of Books today at the UCLA campus and I saw Ray Bradbury's presentation this afternoon. I would say "Farenheti 451" had a great impact on me, its one of my favorite novels, and this afternoon seeing Bradbury in person was such a treat. He did not read any of his work but instead talked more about influcences, things that influcenced his writing and his experiances early on as a writer. As a unpublished writer myself I found his stories insightful and entertaining. I was throughly impressed with him this afternoon, and experiance I will not soon forget.

since people have been posting non-novel stuff, i'm going to say that this is the book that has had the greatest influence upon me:




i have an older edition with nietzsche's picture on the cover. why was this the most influential book for me? it was a great cleanser-- it help me get rid of the poisons of christian and communist morality (instilled upbringing & education), and the many inner conflicts they had created. i had always been struggling with these things but this book allowed me to make a clear break. it saved me, in this sense.

--
a warning for fools: no, nietzsche wasn't a nazi, if you think so it's because you haven't bothered to read him.

That's right, he was a beautiful soul. Reading "Thus spoke Zarathustra" almost killed me. He was a giant.