London Calling, the Clash

Too bad the greatest album of the 1980s arrived at the beginning of the decade; way too damned eclectic (reggae, horns, straight ahead rock) to be labeled "punk," true power pop at its finest.

Rating: Grapes of Wrath

Catch-22, by Joseph Heller

World War II satire in which war is not only hell, but eminently corrupting; at least the absurdity of it all is occasionally humorous.

Rating: Grapes of Wrath

Touching the Void (film)

Touching the Void is a gob-smackingly harrowing tale of best-laid plans gone disastrously awry, of friendship and abandonment, and of survival against all odds.

Rating: Grapes of Wrath

Ulysses, by James Joyce

About some Irish bloke that has a seriously trippy day; anybody who claims they like this book is either: a) a english major flunky looking for hipster cred, or b) lying through their damned teeth.

Rating: Ulysses (what, you were expecting Hot Tub Time Machine?)