Here at Story Mill Press we look for the kind of books that keep you up all night turning pages. We are drawn to stories of adventure, comedy, freedom, and travel – four things any respectable ski bum craves. I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite books that I’ve read over the past year that share these themes. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Running the Light – Sam Tallent
This is widely considered by comics to be the best depiction of stand-up comedy in literature, ever. Running the Light follows Billy Ray Schafer, ex-inmate, ex-husband, ex-father, comedian over the course of seven spun out days across the American southwest, the last seven days of a long time on the road. This book makes you feel raw emotion. I was sobbing reading this book, and you will too. You will also laugh, hard. It draws you in and keeps you turning pages until they are gone and you wish there were more.
Cherry – Nico Walker
Cherry is based on the true story of a US army veteran’s experiences on a tour of duty in Iraq and his life after he got out. He successfully robbed 11 banks during a four month spree to pay for his horrendous heroin addiction and was eventually sentenced to 11 years in prison. While serving his term he was visited in prison by Giancarlo DiTrapano, a legendary underground NYC indie publisher. Gian tells him to write a few pages and send them to him. A few pages turns into a book and then a movie. The storytelling is like a drug in itself. If you start Cherry, you won’t be able to stop.
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life – William Finnegan
In 1978 William Finnegan sailed west on a fishing vessel headed for Guam. The goal was to find and surf unsurfed waves. When he set foot back on US soil in New York City five years later, he had circled the entire globe. Years full of surfing and pure adventure. Twenty years later Finnegan would pick up a copy of Surfing magazine, turn to the special feature of ‘Ten of the best waves in the world’ and discover he had surfed 8 out of 10 of them on his epic trip. He was the first to surf two of them. Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life chronicles Finnegan’s lifelong passion for surfing and his adventures chasing waves around the world. Be forewarned it will inspire you to invest in your passions and travel the globe.
The Rum Diary – Hunter S. Thompson
The Rum Diary is based on Hunter’s time as a journalist at a Puerto Rican newspaper on the verge of going under. Hunter wrote it when he was 22. Thirty some years later, Johnny Depp, a good friend of Hunter’s, discovered the manuscript in a box in the basement of Owl Creek Farm. The comic cast of characters make it one of the funniest books I have ever read – also dark and compelling like a shot of rum.
Ham on Rye – Charles Bukowski
Ham on Rye chronicles the lonely hardscrabble youth and coming of age story of Henry Chinaski, the alter-ego of Charles Bukowski. It is a savagely funny portrait of an outcast’s experience during the desperate days of the Great Depression. Bukowski was 49 years old, working as a post man, when he walked off the job and decided he would become a writer or starve. A month later his first novel was published. Bukowski is best known for his poetry, but his novels are pure page-turning gold.
The Dharma Bums – Jack Kerouac
The Dharma Bums is sparked by Kerouac’s expansiveness, humor, and a contagious zest for life. It follows the beats along their path to find the Zen Way from the bohemian hills of San Francisco to the High Sierra. It does a better job of encapsulating the values and worldview of a ski bum than quite possibly any other novel I’ve read. So go skiing all day, come home, eat some chili and sourdough, smoke a bowl, and snuggle in next to the fire with The Dharma Bums to complete the perfect day.
Free Doug – J.P. McMurphy
Free Doug is an uncompromising tale of life on the edge, a literary road movie. It includes a colorful cast of characters, underdogs and outcasts from all walks of life, and illuminates how rich and vibrant life can be if we are able to grasp its fleeting and finite nature and live like it will soon be gone. Free Doug is based on a vagabond trip McMurphy went on around the US in the summer of 2015. It’s written 80 percent as it happened and 20 percent fiction, it’s up to you to decide which is what.