Four books that changed Simon Winchester

Simon Winchester is a best-selling British author, living in Massachusetts and New York City. His newest book is The Pacific: The Ocean of the Future. One of four books that changed the author, as shared at the Sydney Morning Herald:

Life A User's Manual
Georges Perec

Perec, famed for writing one novel (La Disparition) without the letter "e" and another (Les Revenentes) with "e" the only vowel, plays mischievously with the minds of those who read him. No cleverer book has ever been written than Life, and it set the bar for me in all my writings: I have never been able even to approach it, but for all my life thus far, and for whatever remains, I keep on trying.

Read about the other books on the list.

Also see: Winchester's list of five great American journeys in literature, five top novels about the social history of America's expanding frontiers from the late 19th century to the Great Depression, and six favorite books about sailing.

--Marshal Zeringue