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David Bowie's Top 100

Description: David Bowie gives the world a glimpse into what it's like to read as David Bowie with this list of his 100 favorite books. This was released as part of The Art Gallery of Ontario's leg of the David Bowie Is exhibition.

Rank Title Author Added

1

The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

72,607 members

1,176 reviews

3.8

16 Members: aprille, hipdeep, Rtrace, pitjrw, blackdove07, Berly, LovingLit, cej1027, ahef1963, lorannen, kara.shamy, mspixieears, TheFineColumbian, jenniferw88, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

2

by Albert Camus

35,679 members

510 reviews

3.9

13 Members: aprille, pitjrw, blackdove07, Berly, LovingLit, ahef1963, lorannen, kara.shamy, mspixieears, TheFineColumbian, jenniferw88, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

3

by Truman Capote

23,875 members

467 reviews

4.1

13 Members: aprille, Rtrace, crnfva, pitjrw, blackdove07, LovingLit, ahef1963, Michael.Rimmer, lorannen, TheFineColumbian, jenniferw88, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

4

by George Orwell

82,452 members

1,276 reviews

4.2

13 Members: aprille, Rtrace, pitjrw, blackdove07, Berly, LovingLit, ahef1963, lorannen, mspixieears, TheFineColumbian, jenniferw88, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

5

A Clockwork Orange

by Anthony Burgess

25,996 members

389 reviews

4

10 Members: aprille, Rtrace, blackdove07, Berly, LovingLit, ahef1963, Michael.Rimmer, lorannen, mspixieears, TheFineColumbian

6

Lady Chatterley's Lover

by D. H. Lawrence

13,694 members

221 reviews

½ 3.5

9 Members: crnfva, blackdove07, Berly, ahef1963, lorannen, mspixieears, jenniferw88, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

7

A Confederacy of Dunces

by John Kennedy Toole

21,483 members

477 reviews

3.9

10 Members: aprille, hipdeep, Rtrace, pitjrw, lorannen, kara.shamy, RaquelW, TheFineColumbian, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

8

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

13,154 members

489 reviews

3.8

9 Members: aprille, Berly, ahef1963, lorannen, kara.shamy, TheFineColumbian, mindymaybe, jenniferw88, steller0707

9

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

by Muriel Spark

5,255 members

172 reviews

½ 3.7

10 Members: aprille, blackdove07, Berly, elkiedee, ahef1963, Michael.Rimmer, lorannen, TheFineColumbian, jenniferw88, steller0707

10

by Vladimir Nabokov

31,847 members

565 reviews

4.1

10 Members: aprille, pitjrw, Berly, LovingLit, lorannen, kara.shamy, RaquelW, jenniferw88, ManWithAnAgenda, steller0707

11

by Jack Kerouac

28,022 members

387 reviews

½ 3.6

9 Members: aprille, pitjrw, Berly, LovingLit, Michael.Rimmer, lorannen, mspixieears, TheFineColumbian, jenniferw88

12

by Sarah Waters

7,880 members

287 reviews

4.1

8 Members: aprille, LovingLit, lorannen, kara.shamy, mspixieears, TheFineColumbian, jenniferw88, steller0707

13

by Gustave Flaubert

26,355 members

390 reviews

½ 3.7

8 Members: aprille, crnfva, Berly, LovingLit, ahef1963, lorannen, TheFineColumbian, steller0707

14

Master i Margarita. Sobach'e Serdce

by Mikhail Bulgakov

15 members

5

8 Members: aprille, pitjrw, blackdove07, LovingLit, Michael.Rimmer, lorannen, mindymaybe, steller0707

15

1,051 members

24 reviews

4

7 Members: aprille, hipdeep, ahef1963, Michael.Rimmer, lorannen, kara.shamy, mspixieears

16

by William Faulkner

14,851 members

218 reviews

3.9

7 Members: aprille, blackdove07, Berly, elkiedee, LovingLit, lorannen, TheFineColumbian

17

40,253 members

387 reviews

4

8 Members: aprille, Rtrace, pitjrw, Berly, Michael.Rimmer, lorannen, mspixieears, jenniferw88

18

by Dante Alighieri

24,121 members

213 reviews

4.1

7 Members: aprille, hipdeep, Rtrace, crnfva, pitjrw, Berly, lorannen

19

by Nella Larsen

2,733 members

104 reviews

3.8

7 Members: aprille, pitjrw, Berly, elkiedee, lorannen, jenniferw88, steller0707

20

by Peter Ackroyd

1,869 members

42 reviews

½ 3.5

6 Members: Rtrace, pitjrw, lorannen, TheFineColumbian, jenniferw88, steller0707

21

11,060 members

173 reviews

3.8

5 Members: aprille, LovingLit, lorannen, mspixieears, TheFineColumbian

22

The Day of the Locust

by Nathanael West

1,868 members

49 reviews

½ 3.6

5 Members: aprille, pitjrw, lorannen, kara.shamy, ManWithAnAgenda

23

by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

6,596 members

151 reviews

4.1

5 Members: aprille, pitjrw, LovingLit, lorannen, steller0707

24

Flaubert's Parrot

by Julian Barnes

3,952 members

73 reviews

½ 3.7

5 Members: aprille, pitjrw, LovingLit, lorannen, TheFineColumbian

25

5,218 members

61 reviews

½ 3.7

5 Members: pitjrw, Berly, LovingLit, lorannen, TheFineColumbian

26

by Michael Chabon

4,325 members

104 reviews

4

4 Members: hipdeep, Rtrace, lorannen, TheFineColumbian

27

Berlin Alexanderplatz

by Alfred Döblin

2,728 members

40 reviews

3.8

4 Members: crnfva, lorannen, TheFineColumbian, mindymaybe

28

A People's History of the United States

14,858 members

160 reviews

4.2

4 Members: pitjrw, elkiedee, lorannen, jenniferw88

29

1,198 members

23 reviews

4.1

4 Members: pitjrw, elkiedee, lorannen, steller0707

30

The Gnostic Gospels

by Elaine Pagels

4,926 members

51 reviews

3.9

4 Members: pitjrw, lorannen, kara.shamy, TheFineColumbian

31

The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea

by Yukio Mishima

3,028 members

56 reviews

3.8

4 Members: Berly, LovingLit, Michael.Rimmer, lorannen

32

The Fire Next Time

by James Baldwin

4,841 members

132 reviews

½ 4.4

4 Members: aprille, lorannen, kara.shamy, steller0707

33

by Evelyn Waugh

3,509 members

61 reviews

3.8

4 Members: Rtrace, pitjrw, lorannen, jenniferw88

34

Mr Norris Changes Trains

by Christopher Isherwood

1,058 members

27 reviews

½ 3.7

4 Members: aprille, Rtrace, pitjrw, lorannen

35

Last Exit to Brooklyn

by Hubert Selby Jr.

3,019 members

34 reviews

3.8

3 Members: LovingLit, lorannen, RaquelW

36

The Divided Self: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness

1,374 members

14 reviews

3.9

3 Members: Berly, Michael.Rimmer, lorannen

37

The Bird Artist

by Howard Norman

1,058 members

34 reviews

3.8

3 Members: LovingLit, lorannen, TheFineColumbian

38

In Between the Sheets

898 members

12 reviews

½ 3.3

3 Members: blackdove07, lorannen, TheFineColumbian

39

The Age of American Unreason

by Susan Jacoby

1,357 members

47 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: lorannen, kara.shamy

40

by Bruce Chatwin

3,558 members

59 reviews

3.9

3 Members: pitjrw, LovingLit, lorannen

41

Silence: Lectures and Writings

841 members

3 reviews

4.2

2 Members: gothrabbit, lorannen

42

Inside the Whale and Other Essays

by George Orwell

802 members

6 reviews

4

3 Members: Berly, lorannen, TheFineColumbian

43

Into the Whirlwind

by Eugenia Ginzburg

829 members

14 reviews

4.2

3 Members: pitjrw, lorannen, TheFineColumbian

44

A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924

by Orlando Figes

1,708 members

19 reviews

4.2

2 Members: pitjrw, lorannen

45

by Rupert Thomson

411 members

5 reviews

½ 3.5

2 Members: lorannen, TheFineColumbian

46

Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson

by Camille Paglia

2,048 members

17 reviews

3.8

2 Members: pitjrw, lorannen

47

The 42nd Parallel

by John Dos Passos

1,641 members

24 reviews

3.8

2 Members: pitjrw, lorannen

48

Nights at the Circus

by Angela Carter

2,686 members

52 reviews

3.9

2 Members: LovingLit, lorannen

49

Metropolitan Life

by Fran Lebowitz

497 members

6 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: aprille, lorannen

50

Money: A Suicide Note

3,309 members

56 reviews

½ 3.6

2 Members: lorannen, TheFineColumbian

51

by Keith Waterhouse

633 members

14 reviews

3.9

2 Members: Michael.Rimmer, lorannen

52

1,027 members

9 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: lorannen, jenniferw88

53

The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll

by Charlie Gillett

255 members

1 review

4.2

2 Members: pitjrw, lorannen

54

by Colin Wilson

1,217 members

14 reviews

3.9

2 Members: Berly, lorannen

55

269 members

2 reviews

3.8

2 Members: pitjrw, lorannen

56

Peking Story: The Last Days of Old China

211 members

6 reviews

4.2

2 Members: pitjrw, lorannen

57

by Comte de Lautreamont

76 members

½ 4.3

2 Members: pitjrw, lorannen

58

Darkness at Noon

by Arthur Koestler

5,408 members

101 reviews

4

2 Members: pitjrw, lorannen

59

The Coast of Utopia: Voyage, Shipwreck, Salvage

by Tom Stoppard

395 members

2 reviews

4

Member: lorannen

60

Teenage: The Creation of Youth Culture

267 members

4 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: lorannen

61

The Trial of Henry Kissinger

by Christopher Hitchens

877 members

17 reviews

3.9

Member: lorannen

62

Mr. Wilson's Cabinet Of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology

by Lawrence Weschler

1,190 members

19 reviews

3.9

Member: lorannen

63

Kafka Was the Rage: A Greenwich Village Memoir

by Anatole Broyard

464 members

7 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: lorannen

64

Beyond the Brillo Box: The Visual Arts in Post-Historical Perspective

by Arthur C. Danto

123 members

2 reviews

3.8

Member: lorannen

65

by Richard Cork

33 members

Member: lorannen

66

Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom

by Peter Guralnick

429 members

4 reviews

½ 4.4

Member: lorannen

67

Nowhere to Run: The Story of Soul Music

by Gerri Hirshey

117 members

2 reviews

3.9

Member: lorannen

68

The Life and Times of Little Richard

by Charles White

157 members

5 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: lorannen

69

Interviews with Francis Bacon

by David Sylvester

319 members

2 reviews

½ 4.4

Member: lorannen

70

Raw No. 1: The Graphix Magazine of Postponed Suicides

by Art Spiegelman

13 members

½ 4.4

Member: lorannen

71

Writers at Work

by Malcolm Cowley

226 members

2 reviews

½ 4.4

Member: lorannen

72

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind

by Julian Jaynes

2,231 members

41 reviews

4.2

Member: lorannen

73

Tales of Beatnik Glory

177 members

3 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: lorannen

74

Mystery train : images of America in rock 'n' roll music

by Greil Marcus

752 members

6 reviews

3.9

Member: lorannen

75

by Frank O'Hara

264 members

2 reviews

4.2

Member: lorannen

76

In Bluebeard's Castle: Some Notes Towards the Redefinition of Culture

by George Steiner

372 members

5 reviews

4.1

Member: lorannen

77

Octobriana, and the Russian underground

by Peter Sadecky

37 members

3

Member: lorannen

78

The Quest for Christa T.

by Christa Wolf

609 members

9 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: lorannen

79

Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock

245 members

7 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: lorannen

80

by Spike Milligan

797 members

14 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: lorannen

81

The American Way of Death

by Jessica Mitford

521 members

10 reviews

3.9

Member: lorannen

82

On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious

by Douglas E. Harding

324 members

5 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: lorannen

83

The Hidden Persuaders

by Vance Packard

878 members

15 reviews

3.8

Member: lorannen

84

Room at the Top

657 members

13 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: lorannen

85

A Grave for a Dolphin

by Alberto Denti di Pirajno

41 members

1 review

4

Member: lorannen

86

by Richard Wright

5,234 members

69 reviews

4

Member: lorannen

87

Transcendental Magic

by Éliphas Lévi

674 members

7 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: lorannen

88

by Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron Lytton

271 members

8 reviews

4

Member: lorannen

89

Before the Deluge: A Portrait of Berlin in the 1920s

by Otto Friedrich

491 members

8 reviews

4.1

Member: lorannen

90

by Anthony Burgess

1,797 members

39 reviews

4.2

Member: lorannen

91

English Journey

by J. B. Priestley

372 members

6 reviews

4

Member: lorannen

92

by Frank Edwards

90 members

1 review

½ 3.6

Member: lorannen

93

McTeague: A Story of San Francisco

by Frank Norris

1,507 members

30 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: lorannen

94

Infants of the Spring

by Wallace Thurman

132 members

1 review

½ 3.7

Member: lorannen

95

by Wyndham Lewis

116 members

1 review

4

Member: lorannen

96

Dictionary of Subjects & Symbols in Art

716 members

3 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: lorannen

97

Complete Tadanori Yokoo (Japanese Edition)

by Tadanori Yokoo

16 members

3

Member: lorannen

About This List

Started: lorannen
October 2013
Type: Numbered

Related Lists

David Bowie's List of Top 100 Books

Books With the Most Memorable Titles

New York Public Library's Books of the Century - All

1960s, Best books published therein

Current Discussions

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(1,648) 1001 books (1,631) 20th century (4,900) American (2,817) American literature (4,204) classic (10,131) classics (11,535) dystopia (4,427) fiction (47,350) French (1,936) French literature (2,064) historical fiction (1,619) history (4,626) literature (10,524) non-fiction (5,346) novel (9,132) own (2,032) philosophy (1,821) poetry (5,972) politics (1,826) read (6,286) science fiction (5,020) to-read (22,312) unread (2,240) USA (1,890)

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