Just recently finished these books:
John Barth, The Sot-Weed Factor
Joesf Skvorecky, The Engineer of Human Souls
Don Carpenter, Hard Rain Falling
Yann Martel, Life of Pi
I just started Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita on the recommendation of my girlfriend. Of the above, I enjoyed Don Carpenter's the most. If any other FOT has read any of these, I'd love to hear others' opinions on them. Also, if anyone has any book discussion suggestions for the small Midwestern public library at which I work, I'd love to hear that too!
Thanks for the tip on Hard Rain Falling. It does look like something I would really enjoy. I'll check it out.
I'm currently giving Donald Barthelme another shot. I just finished The Dead Father and I'm halfway through Forty Stories. They're both more enjoyable than Sixty Stories, but there are still moments when the silly gets the best of him.
Others have said this, and it's true - there are parts of Hard Rain Falling that are a really tough slog - the solitary confinement episode in the middle of the book is a brilliant exercise in interiority, but it's an abrupt change in rhythm from the more Beat-inspired freewheeling cadences that precede it. But I was able to read the thing in under 9 hours, so in the end, it's a quick, sad, sometimes bittersweet read.
Agreed on the Barthelme, too - I loved parts of Sixty Stories, but sometimes you get the feeling that he's just spinning his wheels. Guy writes some very pretty language sometimes, though, and I always enjoy aphorisms that are more absurd than wise.
Thanks for the feedback, everyone!