I'm rereading
DAY OUT OF DAYS by Sam Shepard because I'm "teaching" it
this semester - happy to be reminded there is an owl in it, once again confirming
my famous "Owl Theory of Literature." Writes Shepard, "A
barn owl looked straight down at me from the rafters with his big white bib." The owl turns out to be "a dummy, planted to scare away mice and varmints," but I say it counts, especially as Shepard includes some general commentary on actual owls: "A
Tibetan monk once told me that the owl was a portent of death but I've never felt that way about owls." It seems to me that it is time for "Books With Owls In Them" to become the subject of one of our famed "blog"trospectives, which, when completed, will represent all the learning of humankind. Previous subjects include
TOM FRANKLIN,
PHIL OPPENHEIM,
MOVIES,
THE MOON,
SANDWICHES,
THE UNITED STATES,
THE BEACH BOYS, and
ARNOLD STANG. And now we invite you to enjoy BOOKS WITH OWLS IN THEM:
a by Andy Warhol---
ABOUT THREE BRICKS SHY OF A LOAD by Roy Blount Jr.---
THE ACCIDENTAL LIFE by Terry McDonell---
THE ACCURSED by Joyce Carol Oates---
ADVENTURE TIME: THE ART OF OOO by Chris McDonnell---
AGAINST NATURE by Joris-Karl Huysmans---
AGUA VIVA by Clarice Lispector---
ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll---
ALPHABET JUICE by Roy Blount Jr.---
ALWAYS HAPPY HOUR by Mary Miller---
AMERICAN FANTASTIC TALES: 1940s TO NOW---
THE ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY by Robert Burton---
AND WHEN SHE WAS GOOD by Laura Lippman---
THE ANDY WARHOL DIARIES---
APOSTLE by Tom Bissell---
ARTHURIAN ROMANCES by Chretien de Troyes---
AT SWIM-TWO-BIRDS by Flann O'Brien---
BAG OF BONES by Stephen King---
THE BEHAVIOR GUIDE TO AFRICAN MAMMALS: INCLUDING HOOFED MAMMALS, CARNIVORES, PRIMATES by Richard Despard Estes---
BELOVED by Toni Morrison---
BEST POEMS by Stevie Smith---
BEYOND EXPLANATION? REMARKABLE ACCOUNTS ABOUT CELEBRITIES WHO HAVE WITNESSED THE SUPERNATURAL! by Jenny Randles---
THE BIBLE---
BIG SUR by Jack Kerouac---
THE BLACK COUNTRY by Alex Grecian---
THE BLIND OWL by Sadegh Hedayat---
THE BOOK OF LEGENDARY LANDS by Umberto Eco---
THE BOOK OF MAGIC, edited by Brian Copenhaver---
BOY WITH LOADED GUN by Lewis Nordan---
THE BOYS by Ron Howard and Clint Howard---
THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD by Joe Kubert and others---
BRICKTOP by Bricktop, with James Haskins---
BRIGHT ORANGE FOR THE SHROUD by John D. MacDonald---
A BRIGHT RAY OF DARKNESS by Ethan Hawke---
BRIGHTON ROCK by Graham Greene---
BUDDHIST MEDITATION, translated by Kurtis R. Schaeffer---
CAJUN AND CREOLE FOLKTALES: THE FRENCH ORAL TRADITION OF SOUTH LOUISIANA collected and annotated by Barry Jean Ancelet---
THE CANTOS by Ezra Pound---
CARIBOU TRAVELER by Harold McCracken---
CELEBRITY CHEKHOV by Ben Greenman---
CIGARETTES by Harry Mathews---
CITRUS COUNTY by John Brandon---
COMING INTO THE COUNTRY by John McPhee---
THE COMPLETE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON---
THE CONFERENCE OF THE BIRDS by Attar---
COUNT MAGNUS AND OTHER GHOST STORIES by M.R. James---
COUNTERFEIT WIFE by Brett Halliday---
COUNTRY DARK by Chris Offutt---
COUNTRY WISDOM & LORE---
A COUPLE OF COMEDIANS by Don Carpenter---
THE CRY OF THE OWL by Patricia Highsmith---
THE DAIN CURSE by Dashiell Hammett---
DARE ME by Megan Abbott---
DAREDEVIL by Stan Lee, Bill Everett and Jack Kirby---
DARKER THAN AMBER by John D. MacDonald---
THE DAY OF THE OWL by George Scialabba---
DAY OUT OF DAYS by Sam Shepard---
DEAR WEATHER GHOST by Melissa Ginsburg---
DEATH ON THE INSTALLMENT PLAN by Celine---
THE DEMON by Jack Kirby---
THE DHARMA BUMS by Jack Kerouac---
DHARMA-SHASTRA by Manu---
DIARY OF A MAD PLAYWRIGHT by James Kirkwood---
DICTIONARY OF ANCIENT DEITIES by Patricia Turner and Charles Russell Coulter---
THE DICTIONARY OF SYMBOLS by Hans Biedermann---
THE DISASTER ARTIST by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell---
DOCTOR FAUSTUS by Thomas Mann---
DR. SAX by Jack Kerouac---
DOCTOR SLEEP by Stephen King---
THE DOG OF THE SOUTH by Charles Portis---
DOLCE VITA CONFIDENTIAL by Shawn Levy---
DON'T LET THE DEVIL RIDE by Ace Atkins---
DRACULA by Bram Stoker---
DREAM CABINET by Ann Fisher-Wirth---
DRESS HER IN INDIGO by John D. MacDonald---
DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT by Lucy Ellmann---
THE DUD AVOCADO by Elaine Dundy---
DUNE by Frank Herbert---
DUNGEON MASTER: BOOK ONE by Joe Daly---
THE DYING ANIMAL by Philip Roth---
THE DYING GRASS by William T. Vollmann---
EARLY HAVOC by June Havoc---
ELVIS AND GLADYS by Elaine Dundy---
THE ENCHANTERS by James Ellroy---
THE EPODES by Horace---
ESCAPE VELOCITY: A CHARLES PORTIS MISCELLANY---
ETHEL MERMAN by Brian Kellow---
FABLES FOR OUR TIME by James Thurber---
THE FAEIRE QUEENE by Edmund Spenser---
FAIRY LAMPS: EVENING'S GLOW OF YESTERYEAR by Amelia E. MacSwiggan---
FATALE by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips---
FEBRUARY HOUSE by Sherill Tippins---
THE FINAL CLUB by Geoffrey Wolff---
FINAL CUT by Steven Bach---
FINNEGANS WAKE by James Joyce---
THE FIRST FOLIO of William Shakespeare---
FLAUBERT'S PARROT by Julian Barnes---
FLYING SHOES by Lisa Howorth---
FOR A LITTLE WHILE by Rick Bass---
FORGIVE US OUR DIGRESSIONS by Jim and Henny Backus---
FRANK: THE VOICE by James Kaplan---
FRIDAYS AT ENRICO'S by Don Carpenter (finished by Jonathan Lethem)---
FUNNY MAN by Patrick McGilligan---
GARGANTUA AND PANTAGRUEL by Francois Rabelais---
GAZETTEER OF BRITISH GHOSTS by Peter Underwood---
GHOST STORY by Peter Straub---
GHOSTS by Cesar Aira---
GIANT: THE MAKING OF A LEGENDARY AMERICAN FILM by Don Graham---
THE GLASS HARMONICA by Barbara Ninde Byfield---
THE GO-BETWEEN by L.P. Hartley---
GOLDELINE by Jimmy Cajoleas---
GONE WITH THE MIND by Mark Leyner---
GRAVESEND by William Boyle---
GRAVITY'S RAINBOW by Thomas Pynchon---
GREAT DREAM OF HEAVEN by Sam Shepard---
THE GREAT HUNT by Robert Jordan---
GREEN'S DICTIONARY OF SLANG---
GRINGOS by Charles Portis---
HAMLET by William Shakespeare---
HARLOT'S GHOST by Norman Mailer---
THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson---
HENRY VI by William Shakespeare---
THE HINDUS: AN ALTERNATIVE HISTORY by Wendy Doniger---
HISTORY, MYTHS, AND SACRED FORMULAS OF THE CHEROKEES by James Mooney---
HOLLYWOOD: THE ORAL HISTORY edited by Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson---
HOPE: ENTERTAINER OF THE CENTURY by Richard Zoglin---
THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR by Anne Rivers Siddons---
THE HOUSE ON THE STRAND by Daphne Du Maurier---
HOW TO BUILD A GIRL by Caitlin Moran---
HOWARD HUGHES: HIS LIFE AND MADNESS by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele---
HUNGER by Knut Hamsun---
HUSH HUSH by Laura Lippman---
I OWE RUSSIA $1200 by Bob Hope---
IF IT BLEEDS by Stephen King---
ILLUSTRATED ANTHOLOGY OF SORCERY, MAGIC AND ALCHEMY by Emile Grillot de Givry---
IN A GLASS DARKLY by Sheridan Le Fanu---
IN MY OWN FASHION by Oleg Cassini---
IN THE LAND OF TIME by Lord Dunsany---
INDIGNATION by Philip Roth---
THE INVISIBLES by Grant Morrison---
IVORY SHOALS by John Brandon---
J R by William Gaddis---
JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte---
JOHN AUBREY: MY OWN LIFE by Ruth Scurr---
JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS by Thomas Mann---
JULIUS CAESAR by William Shakespeare---
JUNIOR MISS by Sally Benson---
JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL---
KALILA WA-DIMNA---
KID COLT OUTLAW---
KING LEAR by William Shakespeare---
THE KINGDOM OF SPEECH by Tom Wolfe---
LABRAVA by Elmore Leonard---
LAKOTA AMERICA by Pekka Hämäläinen---
THE LEOPARD by Giuseppe di Lampedusa---
LETTERS FROM AN ACTOR by William Redfield---
LIBRA by Don DeLillo---
THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF ALEXANDER WILSON---
THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON by James Boswell---
LIFE'S WORK by David Milch---
LINCOLN IN THE BARDO by George Saunders---
LITTLE DORRIT by Charles Dickens---
LITTLE SISTER DEATH by William Gay---
LIVES OF THE NECROMANCERS by William Godwin---
LO! by Charles Fort---
THE LORE AND LANGUAGE OF SCHOOLCHILDREN by Iona and Peter Opie---
LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST by William Shakespeare---
LULU IN HOLLYWOOD by Louise Brooks---
LUSH LIFE: A BIOGRAPHY OF BILLY STRAYHORN by David Hajdu---
MACBETH by William Shakespeare---
MADAM by Debby Applegate---
THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN by Thomas Mann---
MAGPIE MURDERS by Anthony Horowitz---
THE MAN WHO COULD CALL DOWN OWLS by Eve Bunting---
A MANUAL FOR CLEANING WOMEN by Lucia Berlin---
MARK TWAIN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1910-2010 by Michael Kupperman---
MASTERS OF ATLANTIS by Charles Portis---
MCSWEENEY'S #36---
THE MESSENGERS: OWLS, SYNCHRONICITY AND THE UFO ABDUCTEE by Mike Clelland---
MESSIAEN by Peter Hill and Nigel Simeone---
METAMORPHOSES by Ovid---
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM by William Shakespeare---
MILTON CROSS ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE GREAT COMPOSERS AND THEIR MUSIC---
A MIRACLE OF CATFISH by Larry Brown---
MISCELLANIES by John Aubrey---
MOONFLOWER MURDERS by Anthony Horowitz---
THE MOST DANGEROUS THING by Laura Lippman---
THE MOVIE MUSICAL! by Jeanine Basinger---
MUSIC OF THE SWAMP by Lewis Nordan---
MY ANTONIA by Willa Cather---
MY FATHER, THE PORNOGRAPHER by Chris Offutt----
MY LUCKY STARS by Shirley MacLaine---
MY NAME IS BARBRA by Barbra Streisand---
MY SIDE by Ruth Gordon---
MY WICKED, WICKED WAYS by Errol Flynn---
THE NAKED AND THE DEAD by Norman Mailer---
THE NAME OF THE GAME IS DEATH by Dan J. Marlowe---
NANCY: A COMIC COLLECTION by Olivia Jaimes---
NATIVE AMERICAN FOOD PLANTS: AN ETHNOBOTANICAL DICTIONARY by Daniel E. Moerman---
NATURAL HISTORY by Pliny the Elder---
NAVAHO WITCHCRAFT by Clyde Kluckhohn---
THE NEW LAROUSSE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ANIMAL LIFE, consultant editor Maurice Burton---
NIGHT SIDE OF THE RIVER by Jeanette Winterson---
NIGHTMARE IN PINK by John D. MacDonald---
NIGHTWOOD by Djuna Barnes---
NO HEROES by Chris Offutt---
NORMAN MAILER: A DOUBLE LIFE by J. Michael Lennon---
NORWOOD by Charles Portis---
NUTSHELL by Ian McEwan---
THE OBSCENE BIRD OF NIGHT by José Donoso*---
OF A FIRE ON THE MOON by Norman Mailer---
OMINOUS WHOOSH by John Thorne---
ON RARE BIRDS by Anita Albus---
ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac---
THE ONE INSIDE by Sam Shepard---
ORSON WELLES, VOLUME 1: THE ROAD TO XANADU by Simon Callow---
OSCAR WILDE by Richard Ellmann---
THE OTHER by Thomas Tryon---
OUR STRANGERS by Lydia Davis---
OUT OF THE WOODS by Chris Offutt---
THE OWL by Siegel & Gill (?)---
OWLS IN FOLKLORE AND NATURAL HISTORY by Virginia C. Holmgren---
A PARISIAN AFFAIR AND OTHER STORIES by Guy de Maupassant---
THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ by L. Frank Baum---
THE PERSONAL MEMOIRS OF ULYSSES S. GRANT---
THE PICKWICK PAPERS by Charles Dickens---
PINOCCHIO by Carlo Collodi---
THE QUICK by Lauren Owen---
RAGE FOR FAME: THE ASCENT OF CLARE BOOTHE LUCE by Sylvia Jukes Morris---
RAMAYANA, adapted by William Buck---
REBELLION by Peter Ackroyd---
THE REDEEMERS by Ace Atkins---
REPROBATES: THE CAVALIERS OF THE ENGLISH CIVIL WAR by John Stubbs---
RICHARD II by William Shakespeare---
RIDES OF THE MIDWAY by Lee Durkee---
ROTH UNBOUND by Claudia Roth Pierpont---
RUM PUNCH by Elmore Leonard---
SAINT OF THE NARROWS STREET by William Boyle---
'SALEM'S LOT by Stephen King---
THE SCARLET RUSE by John D. MacDonald---
SELECTED CRONICAS by Clarice Lispector---
SELECTED POEMS by Christopher Smart---
SELECTED POEMS of Lord Byron---
SELECTED PROSE AND DRAMATIC WORK by John Lyly---
SHADOW BOX by George Plimpton---
SHAKESPEARE by Mark Van Doren---
SHAKESPEARE: MAN AND ARTIST by Edgar I. Fripp---
SHIRLEY JACKSON: A RATHER HAUNTED LIFE by Ruth Franklin---
SHOOT THE MOONLIGHT OUT by William Boyle---
SHOOTING MIDNIGHT COWBOY by Glenn Frankel---
SHY by Mary Rodgers---
THE SINNERS by Ace Atkins---
640 OF MY COLLECTIONS by Dr. Harold Wallman---
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO LIE by Leslie Brody---
THE SONG OF THE LARK by Willa Cather---
SOUR BLUEBERRIES---
SOUTHERN LADY CODE by Helen Ellis---
SPACE ODYSSEY by Michael Benson---
SPY OF THE FIRST PERSON by Sam Shepard---
STANLEY KUBRICK: A BIOGRAPHY by Vincent LoBrutto---
STROHEIM by Arthur Lennig---
THE SUMMER BOOK by Tove Jansson---
SWAMP THING by Alan Moore---
SWEETHEARTS by Sharon Rich---
TALES DESIGNED TO THRIZZLE, VOL. 1 by Michael Kupperman---
TECHNICIANS OF THE SACRED, edited by Jerome Rothenberg---
THE TEMPEST by William Shakespeare---
THE TEMPTATION OF SAINT ANTONY by Gustave Flaubert---
A TERRIBLE LIAR by Hume Cronyn---
THAT IS ALL by John Hodgman---
THE THREE MUSKETEERS by Alexandre Dumas---
TILL EULENSPIEGEL---
TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY by John le Carre---
TOM STOPPARD: A LIFE by Hermione Lee---
TREASURE ISLAND by Robert Louis Stevenson---
TRUE GRIT by Charles Portis---
THE TURQUOISE LAMENT by John D. MacDonald---
TWELFTH NIGHT by William Shakespeare---
THE TWO NOBLE KINSMEN by John Fletcher and William Shakespeare---
TWO-GUN KID by Larry Lieber and Dick Ayers---
ULYSSES by James Joyce---
UNCLE SILAS by Sheridan Le Fanu---
THE UNFORTUNATE TRAVELLER AND OTHER WORKS by Thomas Nashe---
THE UNSPEAKABLE CONFESSIONS OF SALVADOR DALI---
VISIONS OF GERARD by Jack Kerouac---
A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD by Jennifer Egan---
VULGAR ERRORS by Sir Thomas Browne---
THE VULGAR TONGUE: GREEN'S HISTORY OF SLANG by Jonathon Green---
WALT DISNEY: THE TRIUMPH OF THE AMERICAN IMAGINATION by Neal Gabler---
WARHOL by Blake Gopnik---
WEIRD WESTERN TALES by Cary Bates and Neal Adams (and others)---THE WHITE PEOPLE AND OTHER WEIRD STORIES by Arthur Machen*---
THE WILD BUNCH by W.K. Stratton---
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: A COMPACT DOCUMENTARY LIFE by S. Schoenbaum---
WISE BLOOD by Flannery O'Connor---
THE WITCHING HOUR by Bob Haney, Pat Boyette, and others---
WITHOUT FEATHERS by Woody Allen.---
THE WOMAN WARRIOR by Maxine Hong Kingston---
THE WONDERFUL YEAR by Thomas Dekker---
WORLD'S FINEST COMICS---
THE YEAR OF LEAR by James Shapiro---
YEVONDE: LIFE AND COLOUR by Clare Freestone---
YOU WILL KNOW ME by Megan Abbott---
YOUR BODY IS CHANGING. And that is every book with an owl in it.
