I've always been curious about Neil Peart. You could say he's the George Harrison of the band Rush. He's the quiet one, but he is anything but silent. In addition to the complex time keeping duties the drummer extraordinaire is also the band's lyricist. With the song's varied themes ranging from philosophy to fantasy you have to assume he is well read.
As a librarian I am always fascinated to learn what books are the favorites of certain individuals. If you're familiar with Rush's music then there are certain books such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the work of Ayn Rand that you'd expect to find on Neil Peart's bookshelf, but what else is there?
Lucky for us Neil Peart maintains "Bubba's Book Club," a section of his website where he provides profound and insightful reviews for recently read fiction and non-fiction. His review for Jimmy Buffet's A Salty Piece of Land will make you laugh out loud. His comments on David Foster Wallace and Virginia Woolf are thought provoking. Take a look at all of his reviews. You will not be disappointed.
Below I have collected all of the books mentioned or reviewed by Neil Peart on his site with links to the Library's catalog. I've also included links to his reviews. Click here to see books by or about Neil Peart that are available at The New York Public Library. Lastly at the end I have provided a few "Billy's Book Club" recommendations for "Bubba's Book Club."
You may never be able to play drums like Neil Peart you can now at least read like him!
Enjoy!
Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe
The Man With the Golden Arm, by Nelson Algren
Inés of My Soul, by Isabel Allende (review)
Scattered Suns, by Kevin J. Anderson (review)
Metal Swarm, by Kevin J. Anderson (review)
Resurrection Inc, by Kevin J. Anderson
The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, by Ayi Kwei Armah
Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War, by Joe Bageant (review)
The Book of Ten Nights and a Night, by John Barth
More Die of Heartbreak, by Saul Bellow (review)
Henderson the Rain King, by Saul Bellow
The Adventures of Augie March, by Saul Bellow
Humboldt's Gift, by Saul Bellow
The Inner Circle, by T.C. Boyle
Drop City, by T.C. Boyle
Bill Bruford: The Autobiography, by Bill Bruford (review)
A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson
A Salty Piece of Land, by Jimmy Buffett (review)
The Art of Travel, by Alain de Botton (review)
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon (review)
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, by Michael Chabon
Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of A Husband, Father, and Son, by Michael Chabon
The Republic of Nothing, by Lesley Choyce
The Secret Agent, by Joseph Conrad (review)
Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad
Victory, by Joseph Conrad
The Deptford Trilogy, by Robertson Davies (review)
The Old Curiosity Shop, bt Charles Dickens
Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Brothers K, by David James Duncan (review)
The River Why, by David James Duncan
The Alexandria Quartet, by Lawrence Durrell (review)
What is the What, by Dave Eggers (review)
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers
You Shall Know Our Velocity, by Dave Eggers
How We Are Hungry, by Dave Eggers
Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers (review)
The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot
As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner
The Last Tycoon, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer
Brighton Rock, by Graham Greene (review)
Journey Without Maps, by Graham Greene
The Lawless Roads, by Graham Greene
The Heart of the Matter, by Graham Greene
The Power and the Glory, by Graham Greene
Our Lady of the Forest, by David Guterson (review)
Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson
Rebuilding the Indian, by Fred Haefele (review)
Late Nights On Air, by Elizabeth Hay (review)
Under Kilimanjaro, by Ernest Hemingway (review)
To Have and To Have Not, by Ernest Hemingway
Islands in the Stream, by Ernest Hemingway
Green Hills of Africa, by Ernest Hemingway
A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway
The Garden of Eden, by Ernest Hemingway
Pike's Folly, by Mike Heppner (review)
The Man Talking Project, by Mike Heppner (review)
A Long Way Down, by Nick Hornby (review)
How to Be Good, by Nick Hornby
Songbook, by Nick Hornby
The Polysyllabic Spree, by Nick Hornby (review)
A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World, by Tony Horwitz (review)
After Many A Summer Dies the Swan, by Aldous Huxley
Frank Lloyd Wright, by Ada Louise Huxtable (review)
Until I Find You, by John Irving (review)
A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
The World According to Garp, by John Irving
The Cider House Rules, by John Irving
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, by Wayne Johnston (review)
The Custodian of Paradise, by Wayne Johnston (review)
Ulysses, by James Joyce
Critique of Religion and Philosophy, by Walter Kaufmann (review)
The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver (review)
The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver
High Tide in Tucson, by Barbara Kingsolver
Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee (review)
This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of A Human Obsession, by Daniel J. Levitin (review)
The Call of the Wild, by Jack London
The Way the Crow Flies, by Ann-Marie MacDonald (review)
Fall on Your Knees, by Ann-Marie MacDonald
No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy (review)
Child of God, by Cormac McCarthy
Blood Meridian, or, The Evening Redness in the West, by Cormac McCarthy
The Border Trilogy, by Cormac McCarthy
Atonement, by Ian McEwan
Long Way Round: Chasing Shadows Across the World, by Ewan McGregor
The Good Life, by Jay McInerney (review)
Bright Lights, Big City, by Jay McInerney
The Story of My Life, by Jay McInerney
Uncommon Carriers, by John McPhee (review)
Greasy Rider: Two Dudes, One Fry-oil-powered Car, and A Cross-country Search for A Greener Future, by Greg Melville (review)
Unfinished Journey: Twenty Years Later, by Yehudi Menuhin (review)
The Emperor's Children, by Claire Messud (review)
A Fine Balance, by Rohinton Mistry (review)
Fool, by Christopher Moore (review)
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore
French Revolutions, by Tim Moore
Paradise, by Toni Morrison (review)
Pale Fire, by Vladimir Nabokov
The Big Year, by Mark Obmascik
Going After Cacciato, by Tim O'Brien
The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien
In the Lake of the Woods, by Tim O'Brien
This Is Your Life, by John O'Farrell (review)
In the Skin of a Lion, by Michael Ondaatje (review)
There's a Trick With a Knife I'm Learning To Do, by Michael Ondaatje
Coming Through Slaughter, by Michael Ondaatje
The English Patient, by Michael Ondaatje
The Motor Cycle Chums of the Northwest Patrol, by Howard Payson
The Perfect Vehicle: What It Is About Motorcycles, by Melissa Holbrook Pierson
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig
Zen and Now: On the Trail of Robert Pirsig and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Mark Richardson (review)
Barney's Version, by Mordecai Richler (review)
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, by Mordecai Richler
St. Urbain's Horseman, by Mordecai Richler
Birdwatcher: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson, by Elizabeth J. Rosenthal (review)
An Equal Music, by Vikram Seth (review)
Jupiter's Travels, by Ted Simon
So You Want to be a Rock and Roll Star, by Jacob Slichter (review)
The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein (review)
The Winter of Our Discontent, by John Steinbeck (review)
The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
East of Eden, by John Steinbeck
Steinbeck: A Life in Letters, edited by Elaine Steinbeck and Robert Wallsten
Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness, by William Styron
Blinding Light, by Paul Theroux (review)
A Complicated Kindness, by Miriam Toews (review)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, by David Foster Wallace (review)
The Broom of the System, by David Foster Wallace
Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace
The Architects Are Here, by Michael Winter (review)
Billy's Book ClubThe Poetics of Space, by Gaston Bachelard
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, by Raymond Carver
House of the Sleeping Beauties, and Other Stories, by Yasunari Kawabata
Soul of the Night, by Chet Raymo
The Braindead Megaphone, by George Saunders
Pastoralia, by George Saunders