Once you read it, Grapes of Wrath will give East of Eden a run for its money, I think, but they’re two totally different novels. Actually, my question (what’s your favorite?) is silly, but it’s fun to talk about.

Dude, you gotta read Kesey at some point. He’s my favorite American author. He only wrote a few books, sadly, but they are so good. “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is a classic, but I’m significantly more fond of his second novel, “Sometimes a Great Notion.” In fact, I like that book so much I generally don’t tell people about it, because I don’t want to share it with them. And I’m usually a pretty generous person. It’s *that* good.

No one writes like Ken Kesey.

If you ever want to read him, I’d recommend starting with Cuckoo’s Nest. It’s sort of like a Ken Kesey primer. If you jump right to Great Notion, you might be scared away. For the first 100 pages of that book, you’re like, wtf? But if you get through that, the last 500 are remarkable.

Ken Kesey was not only an amazing writer, but he was also an enormously influential cultural figure. He sort of bridged the gap between the beat generation and the hippies. I honestly believe that, if not for Ken Kesey, the hippie generation might not have ever occurred. At the very least, without him, it would have been different. And for that story I’d refer you to Tom Wolfe’s “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.”

Sorry this is so long. If I’m going to write comments this long on other people’s blogs, maybe I should just start my own…

In fact, I’m not even fully schooled in Steinbeck. I’m actually holding some books off so I always have some new Steinbeck to read. Grapes of Wrath is one of them.

I really liked Tortilla Flat as well. Of the five I’ve read, it’s hard to pick a second.

I’d like to buck tradition and say I’m enamored over The Winter of My Discontent or The Pearl, but, well, I read The Pearl at Software Etc on a slow Monday when I worked there and I didn’t fully absorb it and I’ve never read Winter.

So, yeah. East of Eden. Followed by Tortilla Flat.

For me, it’s between two obvious choices, but judging by your eclectic taste in music–I was familiar with about 10% of your top 100 songs–I’m thinking you might pick something other than East of Eden or Grapes of Wrath.

Me, I’m going with East of Eden. If forced to choose something other than the obvious, I’d go with Travels with Charlie.

BTW, ever read any Ken Kesey?