Last Chance to See

Best book I've ever read - To narrow it down I'm going to pick the best NON-FICTION one because I've only ever voluntarily read exactly one non-fiction book: Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams.

Most people recognize Douglas Adams for his witty Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, and his now slowly mainstreaming Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (which took the world years to catch up on, honestly). As a young student I devoured anything he wrote, and ended up suddenly reading a non-fiction story about the different animal species on the planet going extinct -- and Douglas Adams' adventure trying to get in the "last chance to see" them. The fact that he used to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in a rhino costume for charity makes a lot more sense after reading this book.

It's a sad theme but Mr. Adams' writing lifts it up so well you laugh while you cry. It opened my eyes to the idea that really gifted writers can write about anything if they're passionate enough - and frankly I think this book has some of his best writing in it. My favorite part is probably his interview with one of the world's snake experts:

"So what do we do if we get bitten by something deadly, then?" I asked.

He blinked at me as if I were stupid."Well what do you think you do?" he said. "You die of course. That's what deadly means."

Despite that, it will likely not get the attention of his more light-hearted efforts and if I hadn't done a generic search-by-author in my local library I likely wouldn't have stumbled across this small gem.

Since we have to put a worst book down here I'm just going to throw out The Scarlet Letter because let's face it, the fact that it's still required reading in American schools is ridiculous. Why does a modern society still cling to the faded thrill of a slut-shaming piece of poorly-written prose that just reminds us the world is made up of assholes, a fact every high schooler is astutely aware of? Come on.