Thursday, December 18, 2008

The Trail of Books

I've been waiting for The Books of the States to make its way across the country since I first read of it, and today the series – which chooses a number of classic books for each state equal to that state's electoral college count – finally delivers, with 11 books the editors feel are exemplary of Washington State's general history, temperament, etc. If that sounds a little confusing and nebulous, or if I do, well, fine – so does the electoral college. That's no reason not to pay attention. Check out Books of the States: Washington at Omnivoracious.

I don't read so good, so what the heck do I know, but I was surprised they didn't include Murray Morgan's Skid Road or William Speidel's Sons of the Profits – still the classic histories of Seattle – or Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums, a huge part of which takes place in and on the way to the North Cascades. Still, it's a great list, and worth a look.

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