Best of All

Some are fair...Some are good...And then there are those that are the "Best of All."

When you visit the "Best Of All" page, you are in the presence of greatness. "Best Of All" is that special place where the true shining lights of the creative world get their due. It is a "Hall of Fame" for the greatest achievements in literature, film, television and music. All of those works and artists listed in the "Best Of All" are pure, certified gold--you won't find works better than what you see right here. So step inside these spacious quarters and savor the brilliance.

Books | Film | Music | Television

Unlike many monuments to greatness, the "Best Of All" is a living, breathing institution--the doors are not closed to new inductees. Those worthy on inclusion among such august company will be enshrined as they come to the attention of the Induction Committee. And of course, any visitor is welcome to suggest potential honorees--nominations are gladly accepted. But remember, Malchats Matters is a dictatorship, and the Fearless Leader will act as judge, jury, and executioner for all nominees; most will not make the cut.

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Books

You know 'em, you love 'em--or at least you should. Here's an all too brief list of the best authors ever to put their words into print.

The titles listed under "The Essential Work" represent each author's single best work (in a few cases, multiple works are listed, usually collected volumes of a series). Naturally, the one "essential" work included here is not the only book by the author worth reading--this list merely names the finest works, the ones you simply must read unless you wish to doom yourself to absolute ignorance and churlishness. Readers are encouraged to check out as many works by these authors as possible.

The entries are subdivided into Fiction and Nonfiction categories; authors are listed in alphabetical order by surname. Works that are generally catalogued as Children's Literature are marked with an asterisk (*).

Fiction

Writer / The Essential Work

Douglas Adams / The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
Richard Adams / Watership Down
Dante Alighieri / Inferno
Charles Dickens / A Christmas Carol
Arthur Conan Doyle / The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes
Harlan Ellison / Angry Candy
Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) / Oh, The Places You'll Go!*
William Goldman / The Princess Bride
Kenneth Grahame / The Wind In The Willows*
Robert A. Heinlein / The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress
Stephen King / The Stand
C.S. Lewis / The Chronicles Of Narina (7 Vol.)*
A.A. Milne / Winnie-The-Pooh & The House At Pooh Corner*
Ann Rice / The Vampire Lestat
William Steig / Abel's Island*
Robert L. Stevenson / Treasure Island
J.R.R. Tolkien / The Lord Of The Rings
David Wiesner / Tuesday*

Nonfiction

Writer / The Essential Work

Joseph Campbell / The Hero With A Thousand Faces
Noam Chomsky / Manufacturing Consent
Stephen Jay Gould / Ever Since Darwin
James Herriot / All Creatures Great And Small
Benjamin Hoff / The Tao Of Pooh
Carl Sagan / The Demon-Haunted World
Hunter S. Thompson / Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas
Lao Tzu / Tao Te Ching

Film

Grab the popcorn, dim the lights--movies don't get any better than this! If you haven't seen at least half of the movies listed below, you are in dire need of a playback machine and a free month and a half. Visit, or revisit, these dreamlands as soon as humanly possible.

Titles (in alphabetical order)

2001: A Space Odyssey
The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen
Airplane
Aladdin
A League Of Their Own
Alien
Amélie
Apocalypse Now
Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery
Beetlejuice
Bowling For Columbine
Bull Durham
Casablanca
Chasing Amy
Clueless
The Commitments
Dogma
Fairy Tale
Fight Club
Ghostbusters
Ghost World
Goldfinger
Hamlet (1996)
Heathers
Inherit The Wind
Jurassic Park
L.A. Confidential
The Maltese Falcon
The Mask
The Matrix
Monty Python And The Holy Grail
Monty Python's Life Of Brian
Moulin Rouge!
(Tim Burton's) The Nightmare Before Christmas
North By Northwest
The Philadelphia Story
The Princess Bride
The Princess Diaries
Pulp Fiction
Raiders Of The Lost Ark
The Right Stuff
The Road Warrior (Mad Max II)
Stalag 17
There's Something About Mary
This Is Spinal Tap
25th Hour
Unforgiven
When Harry Met Sally...
Young Frankenstein


Music

Lend us an ear! Forget Cleveland--this page is the location of the real Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

Below is the list of the "Best Of All" from the world of music--plenty of all-time rockers, with a few other more expansive selections from across the musical spectrum to give our collection just the right amount of variety. As with other "Best Of All" lists, the "essential works" named below are only a starting point--interested souls should listen to every album by each performer as time and resources allow.

In every case, I have tried to select for "The Essential Work" each artist's best complete album; in a few cases (particularly with performers from the pre-album era), a Greatest Hits (GH) collection has been selected as most representative of the artist's work.



Artist / The Essential Work

The Beach Boys / Pet Sounds
The Beatles / Rubber Soul
Nat King Cole / The Greatest Hits
Sam Cooke / The Man And His Music (GH)
Crowded House / Temple Of Low Men
Dave Matthews Band / Under The Table And Dreaming
The Eagles / Hotel California
Genesis / Genesis (self-titled album)
Green Day / American Idiot
John Hiatt / Perfectly Good Guitar
Chris Isaak / Forever Blue
Billy Joel / The Stranger
Elton John / Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
K.D. Lang / Shadowland
Led Zeppelin / Led Zeppelin (boxed set)
Marillion / Misplaced Childhood
John Mellencamp / Scarecrow
Pink Floyd / Dark Side Of The Moon
The Police / Synchronicity
Prince (by name or glyph) / Sign O' The Times
The Rolling Stones / Some Girls
Paul Simon / Graceland
Bruce Springsteen / Tunnel Of Love
Steely Dan / Aja
Sting / Mercury Falling
Talking Heads / Little Creatures
Toad The Wet Sprocket / Dulcinea
U2 / The Joshua Tree
Violent Femmes / Violent Femmes (self-titled album)
The Who / Quadrophenia
XTC / Nonsuch