Bibliography (sort of)
A more than less random list of books that
are somehow related to The God Patent
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Books that appear in The God Patent
•
QED by Richard Feynman
•
The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Feynman, Leyton and Sands, all three volumes – especially
Chapter 1 of volume III
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Wrinkles in Time by George Smoot
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The First Three Minutes by Steven Weinberg
•
Fuzzy Thinking by Bart Kosko
Ransom’s favorite Popular Science books
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Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman by Ralph Leighton
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The God Particle by Leon Lederman
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The Quantum Frontier: The Large Hadron Collider by Don Lincoln
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The Quark and the Jaguar by Murray Gell-Man
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Relativity by Albert Einstein
•
Concepts of Particle Physics by Gottfried and Weisskopf
Ransom’s favorite books
Fiction
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PS Your Cat is Dead by James Kirkwood
"I read this book about a gay stoner with bad luck when I was 12. It influenced me in every possible
way: I couldn’t wait to smoke pot, discovered how to enjoy being depressed, and learned the
absurdity of homophobia; each an important lesson for the All American Boy.”
•
The Harp and the Blade by John Myers Myers
“Long out of print, bawdy, packed with morale injustice and drinking songs, this fantasy of a cursed
minstrel is the exception to the rule that a great story requires lots of tension and high stakes.”
•
Call of the Wild by Jack London
"I too raised my muzzle and howled."
•
The Hollow Hills (etc) by Mary Stewart
“My favorite version of my favorite story; every really great tragedy is Arthurian.”
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East of Eden by John Steinbeck
“One day I walked into a bookstore and saw The God Patent a little to the right of East of Eden. I
proceeded directly to a bar, bought a shot of scotch and toasted myself.”
•
The Black Company by Glen Cook
“This fantasy saga breaks the good-evil rules, installs thick rich characters and turns the whole
concept of battlefield magic into something that works.”
•
Exult by Joe Quirk
“Half tragedy half philosophy text and perhaps the most well kept secret in literary fiction.”
•
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
“I put off reading Cryptonomicon despite friends’ suggestions for years and then picked it up when a
guy at the bookstore said, “… this sort of reminds me of The God Patent,” I love that man.”
•
The Afghan by Frederick Forsyth
“Perhaps the best thriller I’ve read. Forsyth, by the way, puts on a plotting clinic in every book he
writes.”
•
The Panther’s Hoard by Nancy Varian Berberick
“Includes one of my all time favorite characters, Lydi, as compassionate and gentle as can be.”
•
All her Father’s Guns by James Warner
“Also from Numina Press. James is one of these talents that’s going to explode on the scene and
people will say he’s an overnight sensation. After decades of hard work.”
Nonfiction
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Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat
“A great story that should be read by everyone who loves dogs.”
•
Mathematical Physics by Eugene Butkov
“I got his beautiful red and gold bound textbook when I was a senior in high school purely for the title
and binding and since then have opened it at every opportunity. It turned out to be pretty good, too.”
•
The Immense Journey by Loren Eisely
•
Mind in the Waters by Joan McIntyre
“Covers dolphins and whales in myth, legend, culture, zoology and biology; I carried it with me
everywhere from age 10 to 18.”
•
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
“Stranded at the Denver airport overnight, I bought this book, read it and saw the life I shared with
my daughter in those pages. Had I not read this book, it’s possible I’d have never written one. I
therefore blame Dave Eggers for everything.”
•
Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby (plus every other book he’s written)
“This is what it’s like to be a fan in the truest sense of the word; Nick breathes Arsenal Red, I sweat
silver and black.”
•
What Do You Care what Other People Think? by Richard Feynman
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Churchill by Martin Gilbert
“Unashamed, uber-patriotic story of the man who won WWII, it’ll bring out the Anglophile in you.”
•
Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention by Elizabeth Drinker Bowen
“Amazingly digestible play-by-play action of how the US government was formulated; if only we paid
closer attention to our ideals.”
Books for writers:
On the Craft
•
The Synonym Finder by J.I. Rodale
“It’s kind of embarrassing, but I couldn’t write a page without this book on the table next to me.”
•
The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White
“Short and simple basics worthy of frequent review, but I didn’t need to tell you that, did I?”
•
Fowler’s Modern English Usage
“If the Oxford English Dictionary defines the language, Fowler defines how it should be used. This
book is the authority, defy it at your own risk; plus, Fowler is so pompous that his demands are
hilarious.”
•
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself into Print by Renni Browne and Dave King
“Far more than a book on editing, I think this is the ultimate book on craft at the sentence-paragraph
level.”
•
Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card
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Writing Novels that Sell by Jack M. Bickham
“In addition to being an awesome training course for developing and writing smooth, professional
stories, this book cracks me up because Bickham is so cranky.”
•
Writing the Blockbuster Novel by Albert Zuckerman
"Big league agent simplifies the elements of the blockbuster guided by specific examples; really
teaches you the craft at the book level.”
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Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass
“Read this one after Zuckerman’s because Maass works through the finer points.”
•
The Art of Fiction by David Lodge
"Relaxing stroll through the craft of the critic.”
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How to Write a Book Proposal by Michael Larsen
“Necessary evil.”
Motivation
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On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
“There are a lot of great craft suggestions too, but mostly I find this book more of a survival guide
than a writing text.”
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Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
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On Writing by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Letters too and from writers and editors of his time.”
•
The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
“Has nothing to do with writing other than what Dennis Lehane calls the writer’s greatest challenge:
fear management.”
•
Your Pursuit of Greatness - a workbook by Ransom Stephens
“This is the workbook that accompanies my career transition speech. It helps people are really going
for it to see their way up the metaphorical hill.”
© Ransom Stephens, 2012.
Like a dragonfly - darting from task to
task and mastering every one.
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