I get so many emails asking me the authors that influenced me or what I books I recommend, so I decided to list them here. This is by NO MEANS a comprehensive list, but it is a good place to start. I will add to this constantly, so check back every so often for updates. I also have another list of books I read to learn about Hollywood on the movie blog.

Primary literary influences:

Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole: Best fiction ever. No argument possible.

A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean: The piece of fiction that almost singlehandedly taught me how to write, and what it means to be loyal and to lose a friend. My best friend killed himself in college, and reading this was one of the things that helped me get through it (my friend was very much like Paul, the brother).

This Boys Life, Tobias Wolfe: Great. Simply put, Tobias Wolfe captures the feelings of every kid who feels lonely or shitty. MUCH BETTER than stupid ass Catcher in the Rye. I also highly recommend his other piece, Old School.

The Neon Bible, John Kennedy Toole: An awesome exposition of emotion and honesty.

Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk. This book is one of the main inspirations for my site.

Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence and a Bad Haircut, P.J O'Rourke: He primarily writes non-fiction, but his fiction short stories in this book are awesome. I also highly recommend all his non-fiction books of essays, including All the Trouble in the World, Parliament of Whores, and Eat the Rich. They are really funny and very informative, especially to those who don't have the benefit of a classical education.

General influences:

Sperm Wars, Robin Baker: Quite simply, this book completely changed the entire way I looked at life, at women, and at relationships. I am the person I am today because of this book and the world it opened me up too. The application and digestion of the knowledge is this book revolutionized my life.

48 Laws of Power, by Robert Greene: Crystalized what I knew all along, that to play the game properly, you must understand it.

Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X: I cannot emphasize how much this book moved me and how imporant it was to my development as a man. It has nothing to do with black or white, it is about the internal struggle of a man to overcome his surroundings and deal with his personal demons. I have read this book about 20 times, and still love it. Maybe it's just me, maybe I'm fucked up, but I relate to Malcolm very intensely as a person.

The Crossing, Cormac McCarthy: Captures the loneliness inherent in young adult youth, but does it through the metaphor of chasing a wounded coyote. Really good.

JK Rowling--I'm serious, I like the Harry Potter books. They are very good and well worth reading. Most writers could learn a lot about story telling from her.

Most of Tom Wolfe's stuff, mainly Bonfire and Man in Full. His latest book about college kinda sucked though.

I very much enjoy Pat Conroy's work: The Water Is Wide, My Losing Season, Beach Music, The Prince of Tides especially The Great Santini. I always recommend him to younger readers looking to find a style, as his style is easily imitatible, and the best way to develop your own style is to start by imitating someone else.

I am a big Richard Price fan, The Wanderers, Blood Brothers, Samaritan , especially Clockers and Freedomland. He has an ear for dialogue and the minutae of detail that is amazing to read. And his ability to create incredibly realistic characters is unparalleled.

All of Mario Puzo's work, Omerta, The Sicilian, The Last Don, The Family , Fools Die, The Dark Arena, The Fourth K , especially The Godfather. There is a lot of wisdom in his fiction and he almost single-handedly taught me how to craft a storyline.

All of David Sedaris's essays, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Naked, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Holidays on Ice: Stories, Barrel Fever: Stories and Essays, The Book of Liz especially his essay about being a Macy's elf. Awesome.

All of what Nick Hornby has written, A Long Way Down, The Polysyllabic Spree, Songbook, Speaking with the Angel, How to Be Good, About a Boy, High Fidelity except that stupid soccer book. He writes with ease and creates compelling characters.

Advanced reading: [These are academic and intellectual works that are above the reading level of most people and usually require some basis of knowledge in the field. Many people email me asking how I got so smart or how I got to be me, and the one thing I can point to is my solid classical education, which started in these books]:

Knowledge and Decisions, Thomas Sowell: This, along with my Legal Reasoning class in undergrad, taught me how to think. It is not an easy book, but if you can understand it, you will benefit immensely from reading it. Really, the entire compendium of his work is great, especailly The Vision of The Annointed.

History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides: You almost have to learn this in a classroom setting, because you need some background in ancient Greece to understand it. I had David Bevington teach it to me, and he brought the fucking text alive. But if nothing else, read the Funeral Oration by Pericles. The fucking man INVENTED western style public speaking.

The Moral Animal, Robert Wright: A great intro to evolutionary psychology for the non-scientist. The beginning is boring, but after Chapter One it gets really good.

The Adapted Mind, Cosmides and Toby: The defining book on evolutionary psychology. This is where it all began, but it takes some background before you can really digest their writing.

Intellectuals, Paul Johnson: Every bed-wetting, sanctimonious liberal needs to read this. Really teaches you what is behind the words of some of the great minds of Western thought, and helps you undertand personal context that can color writing.

Economic Analysis of the Law, Richard Posner: This is basically an upper-level law school textbook, but anyone who is reasonably intelligent can read this and gain a VERY solid understanding of the economics behind pretty much the entire body of western law and public policy.

Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman: A very easy and readable introduction to capitalism by the man that literally invented modern economics.

The Iliad, Homer: Again, I would recommend reading in a classroom setting, and YOU MUST get the Fagles translation (or any lyrical translation), but Homer can teach you more about psychology than most any asshole psych professor, especially if you know how to read him.

Why We Get Sick, Neese and Williams. The best book you will ever read on medicine.

Most of Stephen Pinker, Mark Ridley, and Richard Dawkin's work, especially The Red Queen, The Selfish Gene, and The Language Instinct.