1. F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby
2. Lewis Hyde: The Gift
3. Robert Adams: Why People Photograph
4. M.F.K. Fisher: The Art of Eating
5. Gaston Bachelard: The Poetics of Space
6. Aleksandr Afanas’ev: Russian Fairy Tales
7. Mary Austin: Land of Little Rain
8. Jun’ichiro Tanizaki: In Praise of Shadows
9. Anton Chekhov: About Love and Other Stories
10.Alice Munro: Friend of My Youth

A universe is contained in each book on my list.

And so dear readers, outside the Bible and Shakespeare, which ten books could you not live without?

Please leave your list on the comment “page.” My own list took some time to compose. I really thought about who, and what, has shaped my thinking about writing, art, and life.