What she said.

It perfectly captured the 1980's college experience. Even though Ellis attended a elite liberal arts college in the nor'east and I attended Peau-Dunque Cow College in the South. It is also one of the few novels I've ever read that actually made me have to take a break from it.

Once again, I hearken back to college. I read this when I was a college freshman, and I actually got scared walking back to my car from an evening creative writing class. Perhaps it would seem dated if I went back and read it again now, but at the time, it was what the deluge of vampire novels that have flooded the market should all strive to be.

As someone who spend most of my academic career writing papers based on Joseph Campbell, I once considered this the Great American Novel. In hindsight, I'll just say it is a great American novel.

Peshwar Lancers by S. M. Stirling

The setting alone placed this in my top ten.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Ditto.

King Rat by James Clavell
Once again, a novel that disturbed me so much, the aftertaste has lasted a good twenty-plus years.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

McCarthy's romp through the wasteland. I've always been a fan of the genre, but this one really struck a chord with me. Perhaps it is his treatment of Hope. I don't know if I'd have dug it as much were I not a parent, though.

The Sharpe Series by Bernard Cornwell

"Flawless" in the sense that it does what it sets out to do perfectly, and there is nothing I would ask that Mr. Cornwell do differently.

The Flashman Series by George MacDonald Fraser

Ditto.

I'm sure I left something out so that a week from now I'll be V-8 forehead-slapping and saying, "Oh man, I forgot x."