University Times

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested."

— Francis Bacon

In the literary-gastronomic spirit of Bacon, the University Times asked some of Pitt's more voracious readers to name books they're currently devouring, as well as books that changed their lives.

We also asked people to 'fess up about their "guilty pleasure" consumption — reading material of minimal intellectual and artistic merit, in which they indulge when colleagues aren't looking.

Survey respondents had the option of adding written comments.

Kathleen M. Blee Director, Women's Studies Program

Current reading:

"The Map of Love" by Ahdaf Soueif

Book that changed my life:

"Living My Life" by Emma Goldman

Guilty pleasures:

Anything on the Oprah book list.

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E. Maxine Bruhns Director, Nationality Rooms Programs

Current reading:

"After the Wall — Germany, the Germans and the Burdens of History" by Marc Fisher

"Anil's Ghost" by Michael Ondaatje

"Casey — The Lives and Secrets of William J. Casey: From the OSS to the CIA" by Joseph E. Persico

Book that changed my life:

"A Zoo in My Luggage" by Gerald Durrell Bruhns wrote: "This book introduced me to the adventure of animal collecting and set me on the path of volunteer animal research. This led to my participation in two-week animal research projects in Costa Rica (long-tailed manikins), Belize (tropical birds), Madagascar (lemurs), Borneo (orangutans), Venezuela (Capuchin monkeys) and soon, I hope, Uganda (gorillas and chimpanzees). Two years ago, I spent time at Durrell's 'zoo' on the island of Jersey — a superb endangered species conservation effort."

Guilty pleasures:

The Pennysaver and Lonely Planet guidebooks

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William Brustein Director, University Center for International Studies

"If you had caught me three to six months ago, I could have easily answered your questions," Brustein replied. "Since I took on the position of director UCIS [on Jan. 1] I have had no time to read books….Once in a while, I am able to read The Economist, U.S. News & World Report and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

"If I ever find my groove, I will read books with gusto. I have two books currently sitting on my desk to read. They are: "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jered Diamond and "The Prometheus Deception" by Robert Ludlum."

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John M. Burkoff Associate dean and professor of law

Current reading:

"Mohawk" by Richard Russo

"The Romantics" by Pankaj Mishra

"The House of Sand and Fog" by Andre Dubus III

Books that changed my life:

"Catch-22" by Joseph Heller "Simple Justice" by Richard Kluger

Guilty pleasures:

"I love mysteries by Margaret Maron (involving her fictional protagonist, Judge Deborah Knott) and Elizabeth George."

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Lynn C. Emanuel Professor of English, director of Pitt's Writing Program, and director of the Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series

Current reading:

"The Emigrants" by W.G. Sebald (translated by Michael Hulse), linked short stories set in post-war Germany. "Highly recommended," Emanuel wrote.

"Allan Stein" by Matthew Stadler, a novel about Gertrude Stein's nephew.

"Invisible Cities" by Italo Calvino — "a classic."

Books that changed my life:

"The Cantos" by Ezra Pound

"The Metamorphosis" by Ovid

"The Red and the Black" by Stendhal

Guilty pleasures: Mail order catalogues — The Peruvian Connection, Plow and Hearth: Products for Country Living and Teachers and Writers Collaborative: Books to Unlock the Mysteries of Language

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Adolf Grunbaum Andrew Mellon Professor of Philosophy of Science, research professor of psychiatry, and Center for Philosophy of Science chairperson

Current reading: "Die Gestapo" edited by G. Paul and M. Mallmann

"No Single Place" by Richard North Patterson

Book that changed my life: "The Philosophy of Space and Time" by Hans Reichenbach. The original 1928 edition "was of decisive influence on the initial direction of my work in the philosophy of science," Grunbaum wrote.

Guilty pleasure: "Double Cross: The Explosive Inside Story of the Mobster Who Controlled America" by Sam Giancana with Chuck Giancana

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Nathan Hershey Professor of health law

Hershey, president of the University Senate, said his 2001 reading so far has included: "Wartime Lies" by Louis Begley, "Beer and Circus: How Big-Time College Sports is Crippling Undergraduate Education" by Murray Sperber and "Five Days in London, May 1940" by John Lucas."

Guilty pleasure: "Playing Away" by Adele Parks

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Russell Kierzkowski General book buyer, The Book Center

Current reading:

"The Avengers" by Rick Cohen

"The Arrogance of Power: The Secret World of Richard Nixon" by Anthony Summers

"Code to Zero" by Ken Follett

Books that changed my life:

"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne. "This book turned me into an avid reader at a young age," Kierzkowski wrote. "Verne blends science and adventure into wonderful speculative fiction with great heroes and villains."

"Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor E. Frankl. "When I read this book as a teenager, it made me more acutely aware of the horrors of the Holocaust and the capability that man has for both wonderment and the horrendous. When I read it as an adult, it humbled me and made me better understand how to appreciate all that is right with the world. It continues to inspire."

Guilty pleasures: "Working in a book store, my list is endless and I indulge myself shamelessly. I do enjoy the column that Ed Anger writes for the Weekly World News. It's outrageous and hilarious."

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Rush G. Miller Hillman University Librarian and director of Pitt's University Library System

Current reading:

"I am now reading a Robert Ludlum book, 'The Hades Factor,' in honor of his recent death," Miller wrote. "I generally read books related to history or library science, my twin disciplines….I generally read one or two books a week, mainly late at night.

"My pleasure reading consists mainly of thrillers by Dean Koontz, Anne Rice, Ken Follett, John Sanford and my brother, John Ramsey Miller."

Book that changed my life:

"Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin

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Nicholas Rescher University Professor of Philosophy

Current reading:

"The Dons: Mentors, Eccentrics and Geniuses" by Noel Annan

Book that changed my life:

Benjamin Franklin's "Autobiography" — "It taught me what little I know about practical politics," Rescher wrote.

Guilty pleasures: Civil War history.

"At present, I'm reading John Schofield's 'Forty-Six Years in the Army,' borrowed on inter-library loan from Bryn Mawr College library, whence it has circulated only once since 1964."

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Charles R. Rinaldo Jr.

Professor and chairperson, Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, and professor of pathology

Current reading:

"Flashman at the Charge" by George M. Fraser. "This is the fourth in a series that I have recently begun to read on this rogue coward's fictional role in 19th century history," Rinaldo wrote. "Both highly entertaining and enlightening."

"The Roman Emperors" by Michael Grant. "Short biographies of the 92 emperors. Inspired by my Italian heritage. Commodus, the son of Marcus Aurelius, really was cruel and lecherous, and his sister Lucilla did conspire against him. Although he fought in the arena, he was strangled by his wrestling partner in an assassination plot, not killed by an ex-general gladiator a la Hollywood."

Rinaldo also cited "recent readings that were very rewarding," including Roddy Doyle's "A Star Called Henry" ("a masterpiece on Ireland's 'Troubles'"), Janet Gleeson's "The Arcanum" ("on the bizarre evolution of European porcelain") and Peter Robb's "Midnight in Sicily" ("on Italy's corruption by the Mafia").

Books that changed my life:

"The Carlos Castaneda 'Don Juan' series on becoming a man of knowledge and power through the teachings of a Mexican Indian sorcerer had a great effect in my late 20s. As a budding scientist, it balanced off my educational indoctrination in the basic scientific method and opened one's spirituality."

Guilty pleasures:

"From 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' to 'The Gonzo Papers,' Hunter Thompson's drug-addled masterpieces still pull me away to a gleeful world of pure depravity and destruction. I hope he writes forever."

"Get Shorty" and other crime fiction by Elmore Leonard

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Rosemarie Slezak Director, University Book Centers

Current reading:

"Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping" by Paco Underhill

"The Orchid Thief" by Susan Orlean

Books that changed my life:

Slezak wrote, "For many years I read only nonfiction until I read 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and rediscovered the joy of fiction with this wonderful work. 'The Shipping News' by Annie Proulx was so beautifully written that I now make time for fiction."

Guilty pleasures:

Fiction by Carl Hiaasen, cookbooks, gardening books.