Durfee's top 5 ways to achieve greatness in the arts through ambition countdown

As an artist and writer ( www.brianleedurfee.com ) I continually get asked the question "where do you get your ideas?". My answer is always been "how does a person NOT have ideas!". My mind is bursting with so many ideas for paintings and n...ovels i wanna write I'd have to live ten lifetimes to accomplish it all. I think most folks have good 'ideas'. The question they are really asking is "where do you get your ambition?" so my next few Facebook posts are going to be titled 'Durfee's top 5 ways to achieve greatness in the arts through ambition" or something like that.

#5) YOUR SOCIAL LIFE MUST BE CUT BY 90%! It just does. And in one fell swoop I just eliminated 99.9999% of the world's population. If you are truly passionate about art, writing, music, ect (and becoming truly great at it) you understand this. Why? Because when the rest of the world is out partying, you find you'd rather be perfecting your art. Why? Because it's just WHAT YOU DO!

#4) DON"T BECOME PARALIZED BY YOUR FEAR OF FAILURE, RIDICULE, OR REJECTION. The facts are: you can toil your life away to perfect your craft and the odds that the world as a whole will notice our care about what you've created are slim, and there is no guaruntee that anyone will pay you a billion $$ in the end. But still you create. Because THAT IS WHAT YOU DO! You have to define your own success. Don't let anyone else define it for you.

#3) WORK HARD AND DON'T QUIT. Do not be a lazy ass in any facet of your life. If a person works their tail off at their day job, be it diggin ditches, flippin burgers, cleaning carpets, nursing, doctering, lawyering, that will translate to a great work ethic in their creative life. You just get shit done no matter what cuz THAT IS WHAT YOU DO! A lazy ass is just a lazy ass and never amounts to diddly poo. Oh, and lazy asses are quiters. So DON'T QUIT!

#2) BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! When it comes to what you create always trust your own instincts above anyone elses. Be willing to listen to advice, take criticism, and incorperate the 'good' ideas others may offer. But be smart enuff to spot bad advice. Because this is your art, it is WHAT YOU DO! However, if someone's gonna pay you a billion$$$ to turn your Pulitzer prize winning novel into a sock puppet show, or commision you to paint pink ninja unicorns doing battle in in a butterfly fairy gladiator arena, then by all means DO IT!!! Don't be an idiot.

#1) DO NOT LISTEN TO ANYTHING DURFEE HAS TO SAY!!! Now that is some sound advice, brutha. Everyone's path is their own. And thank you very much for your participation

Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown.

Here is my Facebook daily countdown of the "Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books of all time." This is how it appeared on Facebook, spelling mistakes and all.




#51 MAYFLOWER: A Story Of Courage, Community, And War by Nathaniel Philbrick: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. And we're off again on another of Durfee's popular literary countdowns. So let's kick it off with the voyage of the Mayflower. The ship that started it all. AMERICA!!!
#50 THE HIDDEN REALITY: Parallel Universes And The Deep Laws Of The Cosmos by Brian Greene: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. We exist in over a trillion different parallel universes (in billions of those universes I'm married to Scarlet Johansson, in a billion others I'm married to YOU!). Scientifically; it's as probable as evolution. Logically; makes as much sense as Jesus.
#49 SCHULZ AND PEANUTS: A Biography by David Michaelis. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. The story of the quirky and slightly disturbed genius who created Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy, and the gang. The greatest cartoon strip ever. None other compare. I dare you to doubt me or think of one better
#48 GOD IS NOT GREAT: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. The title says it all. I love watching (on youtube)Hitchens' many morality debates with the world's 'intellectual' religious leaders and also his various interviews with the likes of Hannity and Bill O'Rielly. It's like watching 5 year olds debate Einstein.
#47 WASHINGTON: A Life by Ron Chernow. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. A substantial, detailed, epic story of George Washington. At almost 1000 pages this tome covers every last detail of the man's life. There is however, one other Washington biography I like more than this (yet to be revealed).
‎#46 A GATHERING AF SAINTS: A True Story Of Money, Murder, and Deceit by Robert Lindsey. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. The riveting account of master forger and bungling car bomber Mark Hofmann. I asked one of the lead investigators in the case which (of the 3 books written about Hofmann) was the most fair and accurate. He chose GATHERING OF SAINTS over THE SALAMANDER LETTER and THE MORMON MURDERS
#45 1776 by David McCullough. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Here is the Revolution as experienced by American Loyalists, Hessian Mercenaries, politicians, preachers, traitors, and spies. Read this and you will soon realize not every Colonist wanted to break from England. Yes, there were pacifist liberals as far back as 1776
#44 THE QUIET WORLD: Saving Alaska's Wilderness Kingdom by Douglas Brinkley. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. A detailed history of our greatest, grandest state. THE QUIET WORLD is populated with such characters as John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, Rockwell Kent, Dwight D Eisenhower, and Ansel Adams
#43 CITIZEN SOLDIERS: by Stephen E. Ambrose. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. A great look at the U.S. Military advance through France and Germany during World War II and the liberation of the Jewish internment camps. I always love well done works on World War II.
#42 JOSEPH SMITH: ROUGH STONE ROLLING by Richard Lyman Bushman: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. A fair look at the life and times of founder of the Mormon church. Less anti-Mormon than Fawn Brodie, but not so blatently faith-promoting and dishonestly apoligetic as Bio's written by other Mormon scholars
#41 WHERE MEN WIN GLORY: The Pat Tilman Story by Jon Krakauer: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Tilman, a pro football player, gives up his career in the NFL to join the Army Rangers after 9/11. This is not only a superb look at the life of a great American, but also a harrowing account of his tragic death in combat. As for writing, Krakauer is a national treasure
#40 THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH: The Evidence For Evolution by Richard Dawkins: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. There is no evidence of God. There is some evidence for evolution however. So i know which side I am gonna throw in with. Just sayin folks...
#39 THEMES: A Biography by Peter Ackroyd: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Everything you wanted to know about the river Themes. The exciting part of the story is when the Themes makes its lazy way through London...well, exciting for doods like me i supose
#38 THE GREAT BRIDGE: The Epic Story Of The Building Of The Brooklyn Bridge by David McCullough. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Everything you wanted to know about the building of the Broooklyn Bridge by the worlds leading historical writer. Awesome
#37 THE EXECUTIONERS SONG by Norman Mailer. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Okay I know this one won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. But anyone who has read it can clearly see it is NOT a novel. And the 1980 movie (filmed in Provo at the Utah State Prison) starring Tommy Lee Jones and Rosanna Arquette is worth watching
#36 CONFEDERATES IN THE ATTIC: Dispatches From The Unfinished Civil War by Tony Horwitz. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. A funny look at the modern guys (and gals) who re-create Civil War battles. It is also a great lesson on the Civil War itself
#35 EINSTEIN: His Life And Universe by Walter Isaacson. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countown. A great lesson on physics and all that other crap Einstien was good at. But the book's main theme. Relationships are hard. Even Einstein got divorced. So what, all you married people think you're smarter than Einstein?
#34 JESSIE JAMES: Last Rebel Of The Civil War by T. J. Stiles. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. This is the Bio of the real Jessie James, not the Bio of that idiot reality TV jackass who married Sandra Bullock. In this Bio, Stiles shows us the what a cold-blooded and murderous coward Jessie James really was. He was a true terrorist of the old south not to be admired.
#33 THE DISCOVORIES: A History Of Man's Search To Know His World And Himself by Daniel J. Boorston. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Pretty much a history of everything in the world (a very thick book needless to say).
#32 NOTHING LIKE IT IN THE WORLD: The Men Who built The Transcontinental Railroad by Stephen E. Ambrose: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Everything you wanted to know about laying railroad tracks from one coast to the other. The books main theme--if you want it done fast, let the chinese do most of the work.
#31 JIMMY STEWART: A Biography by Marc Elliot: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Who's seen the movie Harvey? One of my favorites. This book is a great look at the life of one of Hollywood's best actors. Plus he was a World War II hero. Jimmy Stewart is an American treasure
#30 Guns, Germs, And Steel: The Fates OF Human Societies by Jared Diamond: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Diamond traces the rise and fall of human societies through DNA evidence and other factors. And no, there is no DNA support for the Book Of Mormon's claim that the Aztecs, Mayans, Mowhawks, and Navajos were Jewish
#29 FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS by James Bradley: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. If you dont wanna read this then just watch the movie. I know how lazy ya'll are.
#28 SEABISCUIT: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Who woulda thought a biography of a horse could be so gripping and moving. And yes, for my lazy facebook friends, feel free to just watch the movie.
#27 THE DEVIL'S TEETH: A True Story Of Obsession And Survival Among America's Great White Sharks by Susan Casey: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Everything you wanted to know about great white sharks. And if you live near San Fransisco, I suggest that you do NOT go in the water
#26 THE GOD DELUSION by Richard Dawkins. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. I think the title of this book speaks for itself. If my imaginary friend ever asks me to preform blood sacrifice in his honor I will respectfuly say f$%#k you! This post also officially counts as 'Durfee's Angry Atheist Facebook Rant Of The Month'
#25 AMERICAN SPHYNX: The Character Of Thomas Jefferson by Joseph J. Ellis. It has been a LOOONG time since i read this. But i just remember i really dug it. In fact I think another book by Jseph Ellis made my list somewhere coming up.
#24 BAND OF BROTHERS by Stephen E Ambrose: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Or if you're one of my lazy facebook friends you can just watch the mini-series I posted below, thank you very much
#23 LINDBERGH by A Scott Berg. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. I loved this Pulitzer Prize winning Bio of Charles Lindbergh. His flight over the Atlantic in the Spirit of St Louis---harrowing
#22 BLUE BLOOD by Edward Conlon: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. The best (and maybe only) real-life look at a NYC cop's life on the job. About 500 pages of gripping, and oft times, hillarious stories
#21 NELSON"S TRAFALGAR: The Battle That Changed The World by Roy Adkins: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Ever wanna know what it's like to be on a wooden battle ship being blasted by cannonballs? Well, here ya go. Turns out it ain't all that fun
#20 NO MAN KNOWS MY HISTORY: The Life Of Joseph Smith by Fawn M Brodie: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Sure most Mormons think this book is an anti-Mormon look at Joseph Smith, but then again, most Mormons have never read it, nor have they ever read much of anything about their own religion
#19 FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS by H G Bissinger: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Yup, before there was the movie or the TV show there was the book. And it was a perty darn good one too
#18 JOHN ADAMS by David McCullough. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Winner of the Pulitzer prize. I just like everything by this writer. Plus this is the book was the inspiration for the greaat HBO series on John Adams
#17 UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN: A Story Of Violent Faith by John Krakauer. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Yes, it's about the dangers of religion, Mormonism to be specific. That is all I will say. I consider Krakauer to be an American treasure. 3 of his books made my non-fiction list.
#16 A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING by Bill Bryson: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. This book is basically a short history of nearly everything. And Bryson has a way of explaining Everything in a very understandable and funny way
#15 D-DAY by Stephen E Ambrose: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Reading this was seriously more gripping, shocking, and moving than the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan. No Horror novel could ever eclipse this for shear terror. The men who fought in World War II, heros all
#13 OVER THE EDGE OF THE WORLD: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation Of The Globe by Laurence Bergreen. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. I apologize if i spelled terrifying, circumnavigation, magellan, or opologize wrong
#12 MANHUNT: The Twelve Day Chase For Lincolns Killer by James L Swanson: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Ever wanted to know why Lincoln was assassinated, who planned it, how they pulled it off, well here ya go.
#11 THE FIRST AMERICAN: The Life And Times Of Benjamin Franklin by H W Brands. Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. About 700 pages, but reads like an adventure novel. Fantastic
#10 UNBROKEN: A World War II Story Of Survival Resilience And Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. This great story by the author of Seabiscuit should be required reading for every American
#9 THE END OF FAITH: Religion, Terror, And The Future Of Reason by Sam Harris: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Unlike me, Sam Harris is not an bitter angry atheist loon. He's just a guy who just makes common sense arguments for using reason and logic in matters of faith.
#8 FLYBOYS by James Bradley: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. The most haunting and gruesome World War II book ever written. The harrowing story of a group of pilots shot down near an enemy-occupied Pacific island. By the author of FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS. Ever wanted to know the fate of George Bush Sr's squadron, or how he escaped capture? Well here you go
#7 THE MORMON MURDERS: A True Story Of Greed, Forgery, Deciet, And Death by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Second book about Mark Hoffman's forgeries, murders, and bombings in SLC that made my list. Was obsessed with this subject whilst in college. Gordon B Hinckley and Dallin H Oaks true colors shine through here. Oh, and Mark Hoffman, a bit of a con-man too.
#6 IN THE HEART OF THE SEA: The Tragedy Of The Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. The most harrowing sea adventure i have ever read. And all you ever wanted to know about whaling too
#5 THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY: Murder, Magic, And Madness At The Fair That Changed The World by Erik Larson: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown: One man is working for the Amercian dream, another man is creating a serial killing empire, all within blocks of each other. EVERYONE I have ever recommended this book to has LOVED it. A must read.
#4 INTO THIN AIR: A Personal Account Of The Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. The third Krakauer book to make my list. As i said before, as a writer, Krakauer is an American Treasure. I read Into Thin Air in one sitting, fingers gripping the book, knuckles white with tension and strain. This is why I love great books written by great writers.
#3 BADASSES: The Legend Of Snake, Foo, Dr Death, And John Maddens Oakland Raiders by Peter Richmond: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. Did anyone ever think I wouldnt be mentioning the RAIDERS at some point.
#2 THE DIRT: Confessions Of The Worlds Most Notorious Rock Band MOTLEY CRUE by Neil Strauss: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. After reading this you will need to take a shower just to clean off. THEE dirtiest book ever written. Thus the title. UNPUTDOWNABLE!!! I pray to Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, and Mick Mars.
#1 ON WRITING: A Memoir Of The Craft by Stephen King: Durfee's top 50 non-fiction books countdown. If you are a writer this is a must read. If you are a writer and you havent read it, well, then you are prolly not a very good writer. And thus, my non-fiction books countdown comes to a close. Thanks for your participation.

Durfee's top 50 novels of all time countdown

I did a daily countdown on Facebook of my top fifty novels of all time. Here it is in all of it's glory (spelling mistakes and all).

#51 TIGANA by Guy Gavriel Kay: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. I know, I promised only 50. But narrowing down that last ten novels was a beyahtch. This book just couldn't be left out. And considering 9 of my top fifty are epic fantasies, TIGANA seems like an appropriate way to kick things off.
#50 NORTH AND SOUTH by John Jakes: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Sure it's mostly poorly written melodrama, but you'll never have more fun learning all you ever wanna know about the Civil War. And the 1980's mini series starring Patrick Swayze wasn't bad either.
#49.5 LES MISERABLES by Victor Hugo: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Okay, here is one of a handful of pretentious 'classics' that somehow found their way to the list. Of course, one's reading pleasure depends on the translation. The 1200pg collectors edition is a bit flat and uninspired, while the 1500pg paperback is translated with a bit of flare and grace.
#49 PRINCE OF THIEVES by Chuck Hogan: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. U will know this book by its other equally crappy title 'THE TOWN'-- movie directed by and starring Ben Affleck. As for the novel; gripping writing, frightening thug characters, and everything u want to know about bank robbery! A great book saddled with a terrible title...twice
#48 EXECUTIVE ORDERS by Tom Clancy: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Prophetic novel written 6 years before 9/11. A terrorist crashes a 747 into the nations capital killing every last government official except Jack Ryan. Ryan assumes the presidency using his executive powers to fix everything wrong with big government.
#47 PAWN OF PROPHECY by David Eddings: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. The first (and best) in a ten book fantasy series about Garion, C'Nedra, Silk, Polgara, Belgarath and the crew adventuring across many a fantasy land. (spoiler alert) By about book 5 the reader begins to realize that NONE of the main characters will ever die, thus killing any suspense/ drama for the remaining books.
‎#46 THE HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE by John Irving: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. U gotta Love John Irving author if CIDER HOUSE RULES, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP an many others. But my favorite Irving novel has always been THE HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE. The definition of quirky weird storytelling.
‎#45 GORKY PARK by Martin Cruz Smith: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. The first in Smith's Arkady Renko mystery series set in Moscow. Cold War Russian Socialist paranoia at its nail-biting finest. POLAR STAR, the second book in the series, is equally as awesome.
#44.5 LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Mainly because I love saying "Can't wait till they go all 'Lord of the Flies' on each other." In fact, the tv show LOST shoulda ended with all the characters going 'Lord of the Flies' on each other.
‎#44 HOLLYWOOD STATION by Joseph Wambaugh: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. The first novel in the greatest police series ever. Extremely realistic. Laugh-out-loud funny. Wambaugh, a former LAPD, understands cops, cop humor, and the inner politics and daily running of a law enforcement agency. Other books in the series: HOLLYWOOD MOON, HOLLYWOOD CROWS, HOLLYWOOD HILLS
#43 THE NAME OF THE ROSE by Emberto Eco: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Captivating and shocking murder mystery set in a medieval monastery full of monks. Warning. This atmospheric, slow moving (but well written) novel can only be enjoyed if read by candlelight...preferably while locked inside of a medieval monastery.
#42 KING'S DRAGON by Kate Elliot: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Book 1 in Elliot's 7 volume Crown of Stars. Each novel is a hefty 600-900 pgs. Epic. A vivid and well-written medieval fantasy series complete with invading barbarians, ambitious churchman, brisk pacing, and engrossing characters. So why did I have to read vol 4 and 6 in secret???
#41 THE CALIFORNIOS by Louis L'Amour: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Having read all of L'Amour's 120 some-odd novels THE CALIFORNIOS is my fav. A true western complete with cowboys, indians, gunfighters, mystical medicine-men, Mexican banditos, spanish gold and just a little bit of the supernatural. I also reccomend FLINT, HONDO, UTAH BLAINE, KID RODELO, OVER ON THE DRY SIDE.
#40 IN PURSUIT OF THE PROPER SINNER by Elizabeth George: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. I think they call these murder mysteries English Cozies. This book was so good, makes me wanna go out and murder someone. But in a cozy way. You know, like luring Professor Plum into the Library and then braining him over the head with the Candlestick Holder.
#39.5 MOBY DICK by Herman Melville: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Another of my 'pretentious classics' picks. This supposedly daunting novel is actually quite well written and easy to read. The alternating chapters, story/history-of-whaling, are engaging. Oddly enough, I enjoyed the history-of-whaling chapters most. "ESKIMO" in what 1989 teen movie was the word "ESKIMO" from Moby Dick inserted into the plot?
#39 BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES by Tom Wolfe: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Tom Wolfe is just good old-fashioned writing. A gripping story of 1980s excess and greed set in Manhattan. The book is un-put-downable. The underrated 1990 movie starring Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis was not as awful as people remember.
#38 HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE by J K ROWLING: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Why this one? Certainly the most exciting of the series. And the death of Dumbledore far more poignant here that the wholesale slaughter of the remaining characters in book 7. And for the record, I was rooting for Voldemort the whole time. Pesky do-gooder protagonists spoil the ending of every story. Damn them.
#37 BIRDS OF PREY by Wilbur Smith. Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. I've read all 40 of Wilbur Smith's African Adventure novels. *Warning* If you like animals DO NOT read a Wilbur Smith novel. Much bloody slaughter of African beasts in a Wilbur Smith. I also highly recommend RIVERGOD, MONSOON, and A FALCON FLIES.
#36 COLD MOUNTAIN by Charles Frazier: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. The little novel that could. A surprise bestseller from a relatively unknown southern writer. Gripping adventure. Haunting ending. Beautiful writing. And then Frazier got an unprecedented 13 million $ advance for his second novel THIRTEEN MOONS that tanked. Makes me wonder.
#35.5 THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO by Alexandre Dumas: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Yet another in my 'pretentious classics' picks. I finally read this not long ago. With hefty classics like Dumas I go with UNABRIDGED only. Plus I read the first chapter of several different translations to get the feel of the writing style before I choose which copy to buy.
#35 THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. A murder mystery involving charismatic yet eccentric young misfits at an elite New England college. And elegant new-age/gothic drama of obsession. I always considered Donna Tartt kinda the female Robert McCammon. If you've read both writers you may agree.
#34.5 THE KILLER ANGELS by Michael Shaara: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. A superb re-creation of the Battle of Gettysburg. Battle scenes that are vivid and unsparing. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
#34 THE GATES OF ROME by Conn Iggulden: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. The 1st novel in Iggulden's 4 book series on the life and death of Julius Caesar. Includes all the great historical characters and events of Caesar's life. Even better than the HBO series ROME.
#33.5 THE ALIENIST by Caleb Carr: A murder mystery set in 1896 Manhattan. Unfortunately Carr only wrote this novel and a sequel plus a weird little sci-fi novel. THE ALIENIST was a huge hit in the late 1990's perhaps some of u read it.
#33 THE PHOENIX GUARDS by Steven Brust: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. A swashbuckling mash-up of Dumas' THREE MUSKETEERS and Brust's DRAGAERAN fantasy novels. In fact I enjoyed Brust's fantasy version of the Musketeers more so than the original. Brust is one of my all-time fav fantasy writers.
#32 CHUNG KUO: THE MIDDLE KINGDOM by David Wingrove: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. The first book in a bloody, byzantine, intriguing 8 volume Sci-Fi epic. Part Blade Runner, part Star Wars, part Shogun. What Sci-fi should BE! But I don't know how it ended.
#31.5 THE LAST COYOTE by Michael Connelly: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Book four in Connelly's L.A.P.D detective, Harry Bosch, series. For outright coolness nobody beats Detective Bosch. Ya'll can keep yer Spenser's, Linley's, Robicheaux's, Rebus's, Phillip Marlow's, Elvis Cole's, Alan Banks', Lucas Davenport's, Jack Reacher's and even your Kenzie's and Gennaro's...cuz Harry Bosch will always be THE MAN!!
#31 THE ILLEARTH WAR by Stephen R. Donaldson: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. This is Bk#two in the CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT (nine bks and counting) in the series. I actually equally liked Donaldson's sci-fi GAP series and his MIRROR OF HIS DREAMS Series. I chose ILLEARTH WAR for my list cuz I liked the blind-man character Hile Troy.
#30 A SIMPLE PLAN by Scott Smith: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. A plane crashes in the woods. Two brothers find a bag of cash in the wreckage. Mayhem ensues. Perhaps you all saw the movie staring Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thortan. Well, the old cliche, the book was better.
#29.5 DON QUIXOTE by Miguel De Cervantes: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. In medieval Spain a mentally disturbed fellow dubs himself Knight Errant and sets off rid the world of all wrongs. Insane mayhem ensues. The nonsensical dialogue between Quixote and Sancho is surprisingly funny and delightfully modern for a novel written 500 years ago.
‎#29 THE SHADOW RISING by Robert Jordan: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. bk#4 in Jordan's massive 14 volume WHEEL OF TIME fantasy series. bk#4 is where Jordan really hits his stride in this series and shows us it's potential. Oh, but then somewhere around bk#7 something goes horribly wrong and he runs this series off into the ditch for good.
‎#28 SHARPE'S TIGER by Bernard Cornwell: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Good with a rifle, quick on his feet, and bloody fearless, Richard Sharpe is the Napoleonic James Bond with a cavalry sword. 21 novels in the Sharpe series. SHARPES TIGER my fave. This update dedicated to MR. Dave Wall.
‎#27.5 THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck. Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Another one of those 'pretentious classics' that made my list. Akin to Stephen King's THE STAND, this is simply a road novel, perhaps even a quest novel, where the search is for human dignity. Truly the most American of the great American novels.
‎#27 THE REALITY DYSFUNCTION by PETER F. HAMILTON: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. A space opera that is big, boisterous, and has something for everyone: aliens, ghosts, mobsters, genetically alive space ships, smugglers, thieves, serial killers, even Indiana Jones-type characters who scavange exploded planets for ancient relics. Massively great!
‎#26.5 ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT by Erich Maria Remarque: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. The greatest war novel of all time. This book is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it.
‎#26 CLOCKERS by Richard Price: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Set in a NYC housing project, CLOCKERS is an explosive murder mystery set among fast-talking street-corner cocaine dealers. Richard Price (sometimes screenwriter of HBO's THE WIRE) gives voice to the harrowing but vital landscape of poverty and the inner city that few of us know of.
‎#25.5 THE GREAT SANTINI by Pat Conroy: Durfee's top fifty novels countdown. Robust and vivid. Shocking and tender. Ben Meecham has to stand up to, even fight, against a father who doesn't give in. Bull Meecham is all Marine, fighter pilot, and absolute ruler of his family, a father u should hate, but a man u will admire in the end.
‎#25 FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. "I'm seventeen and I'm crazy." My fave line in any novel. Books were burning, along with the houses in which they were hidden. A classic novel of censorship and defiance. I've read this 3 times. Still don't completely understand it.
‎#24.5 UTHER by Jack Whyte: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Volume 4 in Whyte's 9 volume CAMULOD CHRONICLES. The best book in a series about King Arthur that started strong and kept getting better. An epic series that provides a gritty historic plausibility to the Arthurian legend. Not for the faint of heart.
‎#24 ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. An anti-socialism, pro-capitalism masterpiece written by an Atheist. What's not to like! I'm an anti-socialist, pro-capitalist atheist. Its not every day someone writes a novel aimed directly at me. Thanks Ayn Rand. This post dedicated to Lisa Marie Bauman.
‎#23.5 CONTACT by Carl Sagan: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Not so much a sci-fi piece, but more a reflection on faith and belief. And a good Hard Science Fiction Novel too. The movie was fairly accurate to the novel, but the novel was much more introspective.
‎#23 DEATHSTALKER by Simon R. Green: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. My one guilty pleasure is the 8 volume DEATHSTALKER series. A strange twisted space opera with a sordid mix of high-tech, swordplay, and wondrously warped and quirky characters. Green blends enough derring-do, space battles, gladiator matches, and wry banter in 100pgs than all of Star Wars n Battlestar Galactica combined.
‎#22 THE GOLD COAST by Nelson DeMille: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. The best mobster book ever. As enthralling a look at organized crime in NY as THE GODFATHER (a novel by Mario Puzo that almost made my top 50). Like THE SOPRANOS, THE GOLD COAST is packed with laugh-out-loud scenes. I love all of DeMille's novels. But this is his best. A classic.
‎#21.5 THE GARDEN OF LAST DAYS by Andre Dubus III: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. A Morality play set in Florida strip club on the eve of 9/11. Like an airplane accelerating at full speed, this novel pulls you along with both curiosity and dread into the club's mugginess, cigarettes, cognac, sweat, and desperation permeating the lives of the 3 main characters: stripper, bouncer, and terrorist.
‎#21 THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA by Scott Lynch: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. The fantasy version of Ocean's Eleven. Follow Locke the Thief and his fellow Gentleman Bastards through one quirky, swashbuckling caper after the next. The action is rogue-ish cunning and never flags. Lynch's debut novel, and I've never been more charmed or impressed.
‎#20 THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. I sat down, opened this book, started reading, and didn't move until the final page was turned. A beautifully haunting tale. This novel is a perfect example of why I LOVE reading.
‎#19.5 WAR AND PEACE by Leo Tolstoy: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Another 'pretentious classics' pick that made my list. Just read this for the first time about 6 months ago. Wished I'd read it sooner. Big, huge, historical, epic, adventure, a bit of melodrama, and sometimes humorous. All things right up my ally.
‎#19 TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY by John Le Carre: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. (he most madly atmospheric literary Cold War British spy novel ever. *warning* Le Carre novels are not for the casual reader. Only serious readers need apply! Or watch the BBC miniseries starring Alec Guinness (my nod to st. pattys day! get it). Better yet, wait for the film version starring Colin Firth to come out.
‎#18 SHOGUN by James Clavell: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. The epic novel of Japan. Set in the year 1600, Shogun is a vibrant portrait of an alien culture seething with savage violence and unexpected humanity and beauty. Blackthorne, the English Sailor, and Toronaga, the Japanese Warlord; two of the great characters ever written.
‎#17 QUICKSILVER by Neal Stephenson: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Volume One in Stephenson's trilogy THE BAROQUE CYCLE. A monumental literary feat that combines history, adventure, science, truth, invention, sex, absurdity, piracy, madness, death, and alchemy. Combined with ANATHEM and CRYPTONOMICON, these books combine to give us every thought to ever cross one author's mind.
‎#16 THE CAINE MUTINY by Herman Wouk: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Winner of the 1952 Pulitzer Prize. Inspired the classic film of the same name starring Humphrey Bogart. Set on a Navy warship during World War II, the novel grapples with the intricacies of leadership, insanity, and the moral complexities of war.
‎#15 DUNE by Frank Herbert. Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Gets better each time I read it. Written over 40 years ago, Herbert's DUNE universe, with its intricate development and analysis of ecology, religion, politics, and philosophy, remains one of the supreme achievements in all of literature. And its a great sci-fi adventure too.
‎#14.5 TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. I honestly picked up this novel thinking it was gonna suck. Opened page one, didn't stop reading til the last page was turned. 'Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.'
‎#14 THE DA VINCI CODE by Dan Brown: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Gripping, fascinating, unputdownable. To fully appreciate how brilliant this novel is, try reading one of the hundred or so hack 'conspiracy theory' novels that followed in its wake that tried to replicate its success.
‎#13 ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. I always recommend this book by telling people 'its one of my top ten books of all time'. So imagine my suprise when I compiled this list and it actually came in at #13. And is ENDER'S GAME an analogy for or against gays?
‎#12 THE TERROR by Dan Simmons: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. The 126 men on board the HMS TERROR get stranded in a nightmarish lansdcape of encroaching ice and darkness and endless cold above the Arctic Circle. They fight to survive with poisonous food, dwindling heat, and a ship buckling in the crushing ice. And there is something out there in the darkness clawing to get in.
‎#11 THE SWORD OF SHANNARA by Terry Brooks: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Okay this one made my list (and rated so high) for purely sentimental reasons. This novel above all others got me jazzed about reading when I was 13. I probably read this novel about 15 times as a teenager.
#10 THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING by J. R. R. Tolkien: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Volume One of THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Many of you predicted THE LORD OF THE RINGS would come in at #1 on my top 50 countdown, but alas, there are actually two fantasy series that I like much more (yet to be revealed in my top ten, thank you very much). So why FELLOWSHIP and not TWO TOWERS or RETURN OF THE KING. Just cuz.
#9 LIFE OF PI by Yann Martel: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. A boy. A Bengal tiger. And the vast Pacific Ocean. A ship full of zoo animals sinks and a boy finds himself cast adrift on a lifeboat alone with a zebra, orang-utan, hyana, and a tiger. What ensues over the next few weeks ain't pretty. This is a novel of rare and wondrous storytelling. Every word almost perfect.
#8 MYSTIC RIVER by Dennis Lehane: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. Set in Boston. A wrenching tale of murder, revenge, the meaning of friendship, and the vagaries of fate. Tragic, sad, riveting, elegantly written. The finest mystery novel ever written, by perhaps the greatest writer in America today.
#7 TO GREEN ANGEL TOWER by Tad Williams: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. bk#3 in William's epic MEMORY, SORROW, AND THORN trilogy. A writer who you can tell loves words, how they sound, how they flow together. I have never anticipated the release of a novel more so than this. I haunted the bookstores for years awaiting its arrival.
#6 BOY'S LIFE by Robert McCammon: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. These are the memories of a boy's life, spent in that realm of enchantments. Wonderful. This novel is filled with enough adventure, joy, discovery, and heartache for a dozen boys' lifetimes. With McCammon, every word paints a vivid picture, every word is perfectly placed.
#5 ALASKA by James A. Michener: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. I admit I am partial to this novel because I spent half my youth in Fairbanks AK. Michener takes the reader on an epic journey through one of the bleakest, richest, most foreboding, beautiful, and highly inviting places in the world. U won't escape the allure of ALASKA.
‎#4 PILLARS OF THE EARTH by Ken Follett: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. The building of a Gothic cathedral in England's 12th century sets the stage for an epic story of power, revenge, and betrayal. A rich tapestry where Kings, Knights, and Bishops are corrupt, while the common man shows eternal promise. Plus it was an Oprah selection!!
‎#3 A STORM OF SWORDS by George R R Martin: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. BK#3 in Martin's fantasy masterpiece SONG OF ICE AND FIRE. The best fantasy series ever written. No nerdy magic malarky or talking animals. Just grand, gritty, realistic, adventure writing. And don't forget the HBO series based on these books starting April 17.
‎#2 LONESOME DOVE by Larry McMurtry: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. A love story, an adventure, an epic of the frontier, LONESOME DOVE (winner of the pulitzer) is the grandest novel ever written about the last defiant wilderness of America. Heroes, outlaws, whores, ladies, and Indians. Every word perfect.
‎#1 THE STAND by Stephen King: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. The most American novel of all American novels, written by the most American writer in all America. If you ain't read this book then I reckon you ain't American. And thus the countdown comes to a close. Thank you very much for your participation.