I'm looking for a book

[Barad Simith]

If you were to recommend one single book to a complete stranger, knowing nothing about the stranger's life or present circumstances ... one book that will benefit the development of the stranger's personal growth more than any other ... doesn't matter if it's fiction or nonfiction ... what title would you recommend?

[datasuspect]

1. discipline and punish

foucault

[Midlodemocrat]

2. "I know this much is true"

author's name escapes me, but what a great read. I hated to see it end.

"I Know This Much is True" by Wally Lamb.
on edit.

[ET Awful]

16. My ex-girlfriend made me read it :) That and "She's Come Undone"

Lamb is an excellent author. One of the few good things to come out of that relationship was that that same ex turned me on to Lamb's books and Ani Difranco's music :).

[Midlodemocrat]

23. Remains my favorite novel to this day.

Growing up in CT, I just loved the way he made it seem so alive. I didn't like She's Come Undone quite as much, but I read it anyway because at the time, I was reading everything Oprah recommended. A lot of misses, but some pretty solid hits along the way.

[BurtWorm]

3. Leaves of Grass

off the top of my head.

[Barad Simith]

9. All I can think of, when I hear that title...

...is Homer Simpson yelling at the top of his lungs: "Leaves of Grass my ass!"

But that's not meant to denigrate your suggestion. I fact, I happen to be in a library right now, and it's popular enough that I'll probably be able to find it.

[ET Awful]

15. LOL . . . Walth Whitman!!!! Walt Whitman???????

Damn you Walt Freakin' Whitman!

LOL . . . I think of it every time too. What's funny is the first time that episode aired, I was laughing like a freakin' loon and nobody else in the room had the foggiest idea who Whitman was. I was getting the weirdest looks because I was doubled over laughing :).

[Liberal Veteran]

4. Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do by Peter McWilliams

Subtitled: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country

It helped shape my views on personal freedom.

[Liberal Veteran]

7. And also: The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan

Which is a nice intro into skepticism and logical thinking.

[Spider Jerusalem]

31. And it's online as an etext, too.

http://www.mcwilliams.com/books/books/aint/

[4_Legs_Good]

5. The Life of Pi

by Yann Martel

Fantastic, entertaining, quick read, and very thought provoking...

david

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. There's a couple of them, both by the same author:

Mitch Albom. He wrote "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "The Five People You Meet in Heaven." Either one is life-changing; both should be read! The guy is a wonder...

:-)

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

20. I second this recommendation

[Roland99]

8. The Stand - Stephen King

:)

[Liberal Veteran]

10. Interesting choice.

One of my favorite books too.

[Roland99]

33. It's a classic tale of good vs. bad...right vs. wrong

Plus, King develops his characters so well you live the novel.

[RebelOne]

12. Definitely and I would recommend the unedited version. n/t

[Barad Simith]

17. When the unedited version was released...

I read it while comparing it chapter-by-chapter with the edited version so I could see what the original readers missed.

[bowens43]

11. The Little Prince

http://www.spiritual.com.au/articles/prince/prince_contents.htm

[Ravenseye]

13. The Tao of Pooh

[hfojvt]

14. The Poverty of Affluence

Paul Wachtel

[ET Awful]

18. "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Heinlein.

Some may object to the way female characters are treated in the book, but it's still one of all time favorites.

[AllegroRondo]

30. Seconded

a great look at the human race from an outside perspective

[Beaverhausen]

19. Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0679732411/qid=1110227955/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-6955220-5611037?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

[Brewman_Jax]

21. Das Energi by Paul Williams

One of my favorites!

[Speck Tater]

22. Illusions by Richard Bach

I keep several extra copies around so I can give them away to anyone who hasn't read it yet.

[Barad Simith]

24. I first read that when I was about 17, and...

...my daughter read it when she was a couple of years younger than that. I loved it.

[HeyManThatsCool]

25. Steven King- Geralds Game

Motley Crue- The Dirt

I saw that Shes Come Undone was already mentioned, as was The Stand.

[mdmc]

26. Fabulous , Small Jews

:kick:

[Eagle_Eye]

27. For Self and Country by Rick Eilert

Go to war
Get blown up
Come home
Get spit on
and wonder what it all was for

[SnowGoose]

28. Ralph Waldo Emerson's complete essays

There are many affordable and portable versions. Sounds stuffy, and I never paid much attention until I read some quote somewhere that made me pick up a copy in a used book store - and then, whoa nelly, I became a fan.

If I could only have one book with me during a life prision sentence, that would be it.

[Bertha Venation]

29. Because I just read it and I'm still inflamed: NICKEL AND DIMED

subtitled On (Not) Getting By In America, by Barbara Ehrenreich.

[Spider Jerusalem]

32. "The Story of B", by Daniel Quinn.

Definitely a book that will change some of the ways you look at the world and your place in it.

[El Fuego]

34. Catch-22

[JitterbugPerfume]

35. A peoples History of the USA

Howard Zinn

A Demon Haunted World

Carl Sagan