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24
The Bare Necessities—Jay Varner (NOTHING LEFT TO BURN)
2010 at 5am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
The Bare Necessities is a series in which writers and book industry professionals share annotated reading lists of the books they love.
Jay Varner is the author of Nothing Left to Burn, a fascinating memoir about a family connected by a legacy of fire.
Sometimes I’ll meet people who don’t read. Books are never something that crosses their minds. And that never ceases to amaze and shock me. I was lucky to grow up in a family where everybody read something—novels, history, the Bible. And through the years, I accumulated like-minded friends. I love books the same way I love water or oxygen—not having any of them would bring about a slow death.
Throughout high school, I read Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Vonnegut, and Plath. I was particularly fond of reading books that were looked down on at school. Anything counter-cultural that challenged the establishment. Catch-22, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Bell Jar, 1984, and In Cold Blood. These were violent, impure books! And I loved them. After that, I fell down the rabbit hole, so to speak. One led to the other, and continues to do just that.
Below are some books that inspired me
The Stories of Breece D’J Pancake – Breece D’J Pancake. No other writer has influenced me as strongly as Breece Pancake. Tom Bailey, one of my writing professors in college, mentioned this guy and I had to ask twice just to make sure the name was right. His stories are rich in language, strong in place. Most of all, they are about rural, hardscrabble people. It was the first time I realized that the little spot in Central Pennsylvania that I called home could be explored through writing—Pancake beautifully captured West Virginia with heartbreaking empathy. To this day, whenever I see a copy of the book in a used bookstore, I always buy it to give to a friend like it’s some kind of prescription. Here, I’ll say, you won’t know how great writing can be until you read “Trilobites,” my favorite of Pancake’s tragically brief collection of short stories.
Back Roads – Tawni O’Dell. During college, every writing major heard that old adage of “write what you know.” What did I know? I was from a tiny blink-and-you-miss-it Pennsylvania town. The biggest event all year was Cornstalk, a concert Dunmire’s Dairy threw every August in a pasture. I wanted nothing more than to leave that place behind for somewhere with culture. At that point in my life, culture meant independent movie theaters, concert venues, and restaurants without a drive-thru window. I had read few books about Central Pennsylvania, or really any part of Pennsylvania that was outside Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, and I wondered who would want to read about what I knew? How could you make art out of that place? Then I read Back Roads one spring Saturday afternoon. I was hooked from the first page—that detail of a police officer whose breath smelled of Skoal. I know that guy. I recognized the lives in this book, the places, the characters, the jobs. Everything felt authentic. And I realized that maybe there was something to this whole write what you know stuff.
Straight Man – Richard Russo. I’d buy a few copies of the phone book if Richard Russo wrote it. He captures those dying northeastern industrial towns so well. And Straight Man is no different. Russo the action at a mediocre state school set in a thinly veiled version of Altoona, Pa. and gets every detail pitch-perfect—from the trains to the icy hills. However, even with the comedy, Russo touches upon very serious subject matter here. That’s a winning combination: the absurdities of life mixed with the tragedy. It’s like hitting your funny bone with a hammer—do you laugh or cry? Despite the satire—and many of the details prove too painfully true to even be considered satire—I still thrive in a collegial setting. And I can’t help but feel that undying love of academia swell even more each time I read this novel.
The Canals of Mars – Gary Fincke. The fact that I studied under him while in college has nothing to do with the inclusion of his latest book. Fincke has written sixteen books, one of which won the 2003 Flannery O’Connor award. Quite simply, Fincke is one of the best essayists working today—and his poetry and short stories are worth seeking out as well. Originally, I wanted Nothing Left to Burn to be structured just like The Canals of Mars—a memoir told through essays. Kind of a straight nonfiction version of The Things They Carried. Ultimately, another structure felt more right to me, but Fincke’s essays weave together and create a tapestry of his life, allowing him to jump foreword and back again. He’s a master of pacing and language, and the metaphors he pulls into his writing can take your breath away. I had the pleasure to work as managing editor of Ecotone: Reimagining Place when we published “The Handmade Court,” my favorite essay in this book. Like much of this book, that essay focuses on the relationship between fathers and sons, and that’s a theme that strikes at the rawest nerve in my body.
Winter’s Bone – Daniel Woodrell. Woodrell has named his genre of writing “country noir,” which is apt. He’s really claimed his own piece of America—the next time I think of Arkansas or Missouri, I’ll think of Daniel Woodrell. The prose practically rips from the page—this is a great writer who can flex his muscles, but the writing never feels like pyrotechnics. This is a novel about seventeen-year-old Ree Dolly and her search to find her father in a stark patch of the Ozarks. Nothing fancy there, but her odyssey is captivating, peeling back layers of family drama, poverty-stricken landscapes, and a tight-knit community fearful of outsiders. There’s a movie of this film, though I’ve not seen it. Part of me doesn’t want to. Woodrell’s imagery and language are so evocative, I’m not sure another interpretation would pack the same punch as the one that played out in my mind.
Among the Missing – Dan Chaon. Really, all of this man’s book should be on here. Await Your Reply, which was released in paperback not too long ago, is one of the finest novels of the past ten years. But Among the Missing was the first book that I read by him and it’s pretty much a perfect story collection. The title story alone is worth the price of admission. So is “Big Me.” But there are details and characters that I’ve never forgotten. There’s a stark loneliness in these stories, a deep empathy for the wrinkles and warts of life, and also a near continual need to discover a better way.
Hornet Homily – Patrick Culliton. It might be hard to find this one—Octopus Press, which does phenomenal work, only published 500 copies of this chapbook. But what a chapbook it is. In high school, when I first thought seriously about writing, I wanted to be a poet. As an act of mercy for readers, I’ve decided to focus more on prose. But I haven’t stopped reading poetry. Patrick and I went to grad school together. We realized pretty early on that we shared a love of Big Ten football, mountains, old-timey sayings, and antique music recordings filled with pops and hisses. During the writing of Nothing Left to Burn, I talked to him pretty much everyday—the excitement, the anxiety, the fear. He heard it all. He’s a great friend and every bit as good of a poet. Witty and full of wonder, the poems in this collection never cease to make me smile or feel the pangs of truth echo through my heart.
Wow, that’s it? I could probably keep this list going for another twenty or thirty pages. It’s tough to pare down everything I’ve read to the essential. But these are some books that inspired me long ago and continue to do so. And hopefully they’ll do the same for others as well.
Related:
Book Review: Nothing Left to Burn by Jay Varner
Other Bare Necessities annotated reading lists
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Rebecca Schinsky
Related posts:
- Book Review: Nothing Left to Burn by Jay Varner
- The Book Lady’s Buzz: Jay Varner’s NOTHING LEFT TO BURN proves that truth really is stranger than fiction.
- I’m bringing out The Bare Necessities! [Feature Announcement]
- The Bare Necessities—Christina Shea (SMUGGLED)
- The Bare Necessities—Michele Filgate (River Run Bookstore)
Well, I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve heard of none of these. I love that he was a literary rebel in high school! See where it got him?
Sandy´s last [type] ..Wordless Wednesday- San Francisco 2
“I’d buy a few copies of the phone book if Richard Russo wrote it.”
I completely agree.
Me too. And if he’d read it aloud to me, that would be icing on the cake.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by AlgonquinBooks, Rebecca Schinsky, Rebecca Schinsky, Rebecca Schinsky, Rebecca Schinsky and others. Rebecca Schinsky said: The Bare Necessities—Jay Varner (NOTHING LEFT TO BURN) http://goo.gl/fb/TxUwD [...]
Ever since I began reading your blog I’ve added authors to my list that I would have previously passed by, and I’ve expanded and grown in my reading appreciation. I thank you for that.
Thanks so much, Beth! (Wish you were here at SIBA!)
I wish I were too! We would have had a blast. I love SIBA events.
[...] [21:15] Jenn – Nothing Left to Burn by Jay Varner [...]