From an early age, it became obvious there were two types of people in the world. There were those who played it safe, who sold life insurance or worked for the government, who took their kids to soccer games and dutifully hosted Thanksgiving dinner. Then there were those who were haunted and driven by inner forces they couldn’t begin to understand. After realizing that I fell into the second category, I discovered many kindred spirits who had written books. While some of them sugar-coated their stories into “page-turners” or “beach reads,” the core of human obsession was unmistakable. I resolved to explore the outer edge of that obsession.
I wrote...
Friend of the Devil
By
Mark Spivak
What is my book about?
Joseph Soderini di Avenzano is America's most celebrated chef...Some believe he cut a deal with the Devil to achieve fame and fortune. Whether he is actually Bocuse or Beelzebub, Avenzano is approaching the twenty-fifth anniversary of his glittering Palm Beach restaurant, Chateau de la Mer, patterned after the Michelin-starred palaces of Europe. Journalist David Fox arrives in Palm Beach to interview the chef for a story on the restaurant’s silver jubilee and quickly becomes involved with Chateau de la Mer’s hostess, Alessandra, unwittingly transforming himself into Avenzano’s rival.
When the chef invites David to winter in Florida and write his authorized biography, he gradually becomes sucked into the restaurant’s vortex—shipments of cocaine coming up from the Caribbean; the Mafia connections and unexplained murder of the chef’s original partner; and the chef’s ravenous ex-wives, swirling in the background like a hidden coven. As Alessandra plots the demise of the chef, David tries to sort out hallucination and reality, while Avenzano plays with him like a feline’s catnip-stuffed toy.
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The Books I Picked & Why
Moby Dick
By
Herman Melville
Why this book?
This is the template from which most stories of human obsession are drawn. It starts out simply enough, with a clueless sailor signing on to a whaling expedition to kill a few years of his life. But soon we have a demonically possessed captain on the ultimate revenge hunt, baptizing his harpoon in blood and dedicating it to Satan. It’s pretty obvious that the story grabbed the unsuspecting Melville himself by the throat and took control of him, much as it does for the reader.
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Lolita
By
Vladimir Nabokov
Why this book?
Few obsessions are more compelling than love, and few snacks are more delicious than forbidden fruit. As we follow Humbert Humbert’s quest for his pre-pubescent “nymphet,” we are uncomfortably reminded of our own forbidden desires—passions we may not have admitted to ourselves, much less others. In addition, this book is an absolute delight for anyone who appreciates lyrical and beautiful prose, all the more stunning because it describes an obsession way outside the norms of society.
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The Perfectionist: Life and Death in Haute Cuisine
By
Rudolph Chelminski
Why this book?
Think Friend of the Devil is merely fiction? Consider this: Bernard Loiseau rose from obscurity to the pinnacle of his profession, earning the ultimate accolade of three stars in the Michelin Guide for his restaurant La Côte d’Or in Saulieu, France. Yet in 2003, immediately after the lunch service, this acclaimed chef blew his brains out with a shotgun. The Perfectionist traces his life, obsessions, and insecurities to give us a chilling portrait of why attaining your dreams might be the most dangerous situation of all.
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The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed
By
John McPhee
Why this book?
When most people think of dirigibles, they’re reminded of either the Goodyear Blimp or (if they’re old enough) the crash of the Hindenburg. However, there’s a small band of fanatics who are dedicated to the quest for lighter-than-air flying. For these folks, the subject is more compelling than the Holy Grail, and they devote decades of their lives and the bulk of their resources to prove to the public that dirigibles should come back and replace jet aviation. A true story, and a fascinating read.
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Democracy
By
Joan Didion
Why this book?
Some of us marry our childhood sweetheart, while others carry a lifelong torch for a love that seems unattainable. For Inez Victor—married to a U.S. Senator and failed Presidential candidate, a woman who has spent her entire adult life being photographed—the memories of Jack Lovett come in and out of focus like a camera lens. For decades, the two of them nurture a fantasy that finally explodes into the open with the force of the munitions that Lovett sells to governments around the world.
