One of the first Jim Harrison books I ever read was Warlock and I remember loving it. In the fall of 1993 I went to Bordeaux as an ignorant young wine writer for Wine & Spirits magazine and had dinner at a modest chateau in one of the more modest appellations of the region–Cotes de Bourg or Cotes de Castillon or something like that. I learned two things at that dinner that I have never forgotten. One was that butter leaf lettuce drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt makes a delicious, wine friendly (no vinegar) salad. The other was an introduction to the existence of Jim Harrison, an American writer almost more highly regarded in France than in his home country. “You Americans,” the host Denis Dubourdieu fairly sneered, “You don’t even know your best writers!”
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Nine Horses, Billy Collins
The first of three Billy Collins books in my library, Nine Horses was published in 2002. Born in 1941, Collins was Poet Laureate of the US from 2001 to 2003. He was called “the most popular poet in America” by The New York Times, due to his brilliant yet accessible observations of life.
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The Selfish Book Club 