Back in my old life there were years in which I'd read 75 books. And like a book dork, I kept a list of them all. I still keep the list, more out of habit than anything else, but the numbers are considerably less impressive.
Looking at it recently, I was surprised at the books that struck the deepest chords.
If, over the years, you'd asked what kind of fiction I prefer, I'd probably have told you that I like short, modern works. The list has books by everyone from Nicholson Baker to Nick Hornby to Jane Hamilton to Patrick McCabe and Scots like Alison Kennedy and Jim Kelman.
In fact, I devoured everything by the crop of Scots authors of the 1980s and '90s: Kelman, Kennedy, Gordon Legge, Duncan McLean, Alan Warner, Alaisdair Gray, etc.
I also liked books that are sometimes called "crime" and other times called "mystery," although they're not always easily fit into those genres. I think of Michael Dibdin, Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall and Janwillem van de Wetering, for example.
If you asked if I enjoyed long, epic, historical works, I'd likely have scoffed, picturing books with cartoon-y covers depicting maidens and sword-bearing lads.
But, it turns out, (generally) long, epic novels set in the past are the books that have touched me most. However, they've never had cartoonish covers with knights and lords.
The first that comes to mind is "The Land of the Leal," written in 1939 by Scottish author James Barke, who is best know for a trilogy of books about Robert Burns -- just the kind of thing that I couldn't get into.
But "The Land of the Leal," set in Scotland at the turn of the 20th century, literally brought tears to my eyes for its tales of hardship and humanity.
The same can be said for Elsa Morante's "History," not generally considered her best work, although possibly her most well-known. But this long novel from 1974 recounting the travails of a mother and her son in Rome during World War II hit me hard and, like "The Land of the Leal," I still recommend it to anyone who dares to ask me about books.
Also from Scotland is George Friel's "A Glasgow Trilogy." Admittedly the three novels -- written between 1964 and 1972 -- that make up this volume are not especially long in and of themselves, as a whole, they're pretty weighty. While Barke took us back to hard times in the Rhinns of Galloway, Friel cataloged the ups and downs of life in the rough and tumble town of Glasgow.
Finally, for now, the book that got me thinking about this. Maria Tarditi's "Life is No Joke" (my translation), also isn't super long (300 pages), but it's another historical novel, and definitely epic -- about an ophaned boy who struggles to make the most of his life but is repeatedly kicked down -- that gripped me by the heartstrings and tugged and tugged and tugged.
"History" is published most recently in the U.S. by Steerforth Press and "A Glasgow Trilogy" and "The Land of the Leal" were re-published by Canongate Classics in U.K. editions that are available in the U.S. Sadly, Tarditi's books are not translated and aren't available in the U.S.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
