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Top Ten Books

“I’ve been called ‘transgressive’ during the length of my career—and often ignored as a result,” Bruce Benderson has said (in a conversation for Evergreen magazine). He is also that old-fashioned phenomenon: a writer who is not afraid to have unpopular, often provocative opinions. In his lengthy career he has roamed freely between novels, short stories, essays, and memoir, including The Romanian: Story of an Obsession which won the prestigious Prix de Flore in France. His book-length essay, Toward the New Degeneracy (1997), was a cris de coeur for the lost era of Times Square, when drugs, sex, and commerce commingled. He  has written for the New York Times Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, Libération, and Out, among many other publications, and is a translator of books from French including Alain Robbe-Grillet who appears on this list of ten favorite books. Benderson’s latest publication is Urban Gothic: The Complete Stories. Below are Bruce Benderson's favorite books, available to purchase individually or as a set. See the full list...