If the first session of USSR was about the act of reading, this one is about the names on the spine. I still remember those hours in school where we all had to be quiet and at least pretend to read while the teachers took a breather. I still try to knock out at least one book a week, though the reading glasses make it a chore these days. This run gets heavy fast, moving from the Americana of Kerouac and Whitman into a dark basement with Sylvia Plath followed by a double-shot of Hemingway. That Blue Clocks Green track is the real jolt—it’s got a happy synth-pop rhythm, but the lyrics are essentially a suicide note. This Pick is for the next time you feel like digging through the library instead of the crates.
Uninterrupted Silent Sustained Reading 2 (Authors)
Uninterrupted Silent Sustained Reading 2 (Authors)
24 The Rolling Stones - Victor Hugo
25 10,000 Maniacs - Hey Jack Kerouac
26 Billy Bragg & Wilco - Walt Whitman's Niece
27 Graham Parker - Just Like Hermann Hesse
28 The Smiths - Shakespeare's Sister
29 The Pogues - Lorca's Novena
30 The Mountain Goats - Lovecraft In Brooklyn
31 Lou Reed - Edgar Allan Poe
32 Modest Mouse - Bukowski
33 Ryan Adams - Sylvia Plath
34 Kenny Chesney - Hemingway's Whiskey
35 Blue Clocks Green - Hemingway (12 Version)
36 Serge Gainsbourg - Baudelaire
37 James Brown - Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf
38 Blood, Sweat & Tears - The Modern Adventure Of Plato
39 Life In Exile - Ayn Rand
40 Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers - Hey Kafka
41 Steve Hackett - Jane Austen's Door
42 Golden Earring - Orwell's Year
43 Elton John - Oscar Wilde Gets Out
