I didn't realize how alive and hysterical Dostoevsky's work is until I read this. He's a punk rocker—he just whips the carpet out from underneath society.

I found this novel so surprising. I thought it would be a deep, interesting tale like Anna Karenina; instead it's a giant prose poem that, paragraph by paragraph, has some of the most beautiful writing in the English language. But I won't lie; it's homework.

This is all I have to say about The Grapes of Wrath: The girl who gave it to me said, "I don't believe in God. I believe in G-O-W. Grapes of Wrath."

Why he chose it:A lot of people don't know about this memoir, and it gives such a unique perspective on one of the most dramatic periods of human history. Also, Lusseyran had a very clear moral compass; he risked his life for the benefit of other people.

Why he chose it:Like all great short-story writers, he cuts to the essence of the thing. Some of his stories are ten pages long, and some are two pages. They all penetrate. There's a great line in "Gary Cooper, or The Landscape": A woman asks the narrator whether he avoids highways to take the more authentic roads. And he says, "They're all authentic." That line really struck a chord with m

Why he chose it:I've always related to Danny Deck. I've probably read this book more than any other. I love how it just drifts along, and its characters make me laugh.

Why he chose it: The great power of literature is to expand our vision. Go Tell It on the Mountain is a case in point. You feel as if Baldwin bled over this book, that this book hurt to write. It's not a memoir; it's somebody taking very real feelings and turning them into art. He writes evocatively, but you don't need to have a graduate degree to understand his books—you just need to have a heart.