Bookcases: Nonfiction

Herewith begins my nonfiction collection of books.

Bookcase no. 16

Essays, and biographies of nonauthor-types. Bill Bryson's work is the centerpiece of this shelf. Fire and Ice, by Sasha Cohen, was given to me by my future wife, as a token of her indulgence in my love of figure skating (though that love has been tempered significantly since Sasha's retirement from professional competition in 2010; and I never actually read the book).

Essays and nonauthor bios, continued. Nicholas Schaffner's Saucerful of Secrets was invaluable to this Pink Floyd-obsessed youth. But what a bummer to learn your hero is a bit of a jerk.

David Foster Wallace's A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again is the best nonfiction book ever published. Most of the rest of this shelf is taken up by a ridiculous number of Marilyn Monroe biographies. If only this were the end of it.

...but as you can see here, it's not. This shelf rounds out my collection of books about Marilyn Monroe. Does it go without saying that she's one of my favorite actors?

Bookcase no. 17 (top two shelves)

My first shelf of author biographies and autobiographies (and journals, and notebooks, and diaries). Bob Dylan probably belongs on one of the earlier shelves. I just noticed that.

The remainder of my author bios, leading into the Paris Review interview series, Writers at Work. (The remainder of these, and other books of author interviews, can be found on the first shelf featured in my "Bookcases: Fiction" post.)

Bookcase nos. 18 - 19

Books about books. I used to consult Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature allll the time before the Internet effectively replaced it. Clute's encyclopedias of science-fiction and fantasy have also been replaced, somewhat, but I still use them every once in a while. More Tolkienana here. I should mention that, though I've not read The Lord of the Rings all the way through, I loved The Hobbit as a kid--and again more recently, when I reread it in preparation for the movies.

Books about writing, and some Eastern philosophy (plus Philip K. Dick's exegesis).

More books about writing, and some Western philosophy.

More books about books, and some books about movies and TV shows. If you felt like it, you could glean my three favorite TV shows from this shelf.

Some more books about books (on the left), and books about movies (on the right). The Videohound, like the Encyclopedia of Literature mentioned above, used to be a lot more important to me before the Internet (and Netflix). I used to buy the new edition every year, until 2005 (as evidenced by this one's spine). Danny Peary's Cult Movies series was extremely important to me when I was younger and on the lookout to discover great movies. I still enjoy reading his essays.

Reference on the left, Star Wars and Star Trek (plus a few other franchises) on the right.

Bookcase no. 20

The first of two history shelves. Not a lot here, I grant you. Truth be told, a lot of these are leftover from college.

The remainder of my history books, plus my science/astronomy books. On the far right are some didn't-know-where-else-to-put-them titles.

Books about comics, mostly.

Some more books about comics, and then a bunch of unclassifiable junk (photo albums, etc.).

Bookcase no. 21

Poetry, Shakespeare, and...video game guides?

Art books, part one.

Art books, part two.

Art books, part three.

Art books, part four.