Jeff Somers is the author of
Lifers, the Avery Cates series from Orbit Books,
Chum from Tyrus Books, and
We Are Not Good People from Pocket/Gallery. He has published over thirty short stories as well. At the B&N Reads blog Somers tagged ten books to read before traveling to Cuba, including:
The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway
You shouldn’t need much prompting to read a novel that won the Pulitzer Prize and was instrumental in earning its author the Nobel Prize in Literature, but if you’re headed to Cuba then Papa’s classic account of an elderly Cuban fisherman who spends months attempting to catch a giant marlin off the coast of Florida is essential. Hemingway lived in Cuba off and on for two decades and was an avid fisherman, so for all its lyricism and symbolism the book is written from an expert’s point of view, and many feel it captures the spirit of the country.
Read about
the other entries on the list.
The Old Man and the Sea is among
four books that changed Angelica Banks,
Leo Benedictus's five best books for men who never read,
Jung Chang's 6 favorite books,
Kathryn Williams's thirteen best stories about pride,
Scott Greenstone's twenty best books with fewer than 200 pages,
Michael Palin's six favorite books,
Robson Green's six best books, and
Dave Boling's five best examples of how to structure a novel. N.M. Kelby has suggested that
The Old Man and the Sea may be The Great Florida Novel.
--Marshal Zeringue
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