Post by Joshua Gibbs

There are few characters in fiction whose lack of self-awareness is quite so painful as Mr. Collins in "Pride & Prejudice." Austen seems to suggest that one reason he lacks self-awareness is that he “never read novels.” Fiction isn’t just a diversion. It can save you from embarrassing yourself in front of a crowd.   The summer has come, and most educators have a bit more free time on their hands, which means it’s time to both give and take fiction recommendations—for fun and profit.   Here’s a list of my ten favorite novels written since 1900.  The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame (1908)  Demian, by Herman Hesse (1919)  Beware of Pity, by Stefan Zweig (1939)  Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh (1945)  Strangers on a Train, by Patricia Highsmith (1950)  Till We Have Faces, by CS Lewis (1956) Stoner, by John Williams (1965)  White Noise, by Don DeLillo (1985)   The Marriage Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides (2011)  My Year of Rest and Relaxation, by Ottessa Moshfegh (2018)    And let me add that I would be very happy to read similar lists of the greatest fiction from Andrew Kern, Trae Bailey, Isak Bond, Chris Stevens, Amy Pember, Randy Aust, (Ben) McGowan, J. Anne "Dusty" R., and Mandi Gerth. Let the recommendations begin.