My list. Grow yer mind.
they are all very different, but each is essential reading.
on the road- kerouac
dharma bums- kerouac
the divine comedy- dante alhigeri
william faulkner- absalom! absalom!, As I Lay Dying
leviathan- hobbes
the naked and the dead- mailer
beyond good and evil - neitszhe(sp)
a seperate peace- knowles
a farewell to arms- hemingway
the stranger- camus
focaults pendulum- umberto eco
master and margerita- bulgakov
metamorphsis- kafka
atlas shrugged- rand
young mans guide- alcott
siddhartha- hesse
ask the dust- fante
howl- alan ginsberg
naked lunch- burroughs
the power of myth- joseph campbell
the portrait of the artist as a young man- joyce
the drunken boat- rimbaud
ishmael - daniel quinn
the secret history- tartt
the secret teachings of don juan- castaneda
the alchemist- coehlo
the decameron
slaughterhouse 5- vonnegut
plato republic
the brothers karamazov- dosteyevksy
the catcher in the rye- salinger
the wealth of nations - smith
the picture of dorian gray- oscar wilde
tropic of cancer- henry miller
catch 22- heller
the wind up bird chronicle- murakami
brave new world- huxley
grapes of wrath- steinbeck
iliad/odyssey- homer
Discipline an Punish Michel Foucault
What is Structuralism Gilles Deleuze
Meaning in The Visual Arts Erwin Panofsky
Blue and Brown Books Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ways of Seeing John Berger
What is Philosophy Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari
Seduction Jean Baudrillard
The Metastases of Joy Slovoj Zizek
The Myth of Sisyphus Albert Camus
Language and Thought Noam Chomsky
the prince- machiavelli
lord of the flies- golding
white noise- delilo
portrait of the artist as a young man, ulysses- joyce
young mans guide- alcott
blood meridian- mcarthy
the book of deeds of arms and chivalry-- christine de pizan
east of eden- steinbeck
leaves of grass- walt whitman
the politics- aristotle
the crisis- churchhill
hatchet- gary paulson
infinite jest- david foster wallace
essential manners for men- post
hamlet, king lear, othello- shakespeare
a seperate peace- knowles
a confederacy of dunces- toole
the great railway bazaar- theroux
fear and trembling- kirkegaard
all quiet on the western front- remarq
running with scissors- augusten burrougs
candide- voltaire
sophies world- gaardner
the crucible- miller
the tin drum- grass
night- elie wiesel
the jungle- upton sinclair
for whom the bell tolls- hemingway
the name of the rose- umberto eco
brave new world- huxley