I get a lot of emails from people who don’t read fiction asking for recommendations of good fiction books to read. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to start recommending a few great fiction books that are impossible to put down. Starting with The Painted Bird.

The Painted Bird is a dark book about the violence of human beings, especially when faced with strangers and the unknown. Some say the book is semi-autobiographical; others say it is not at all. Either way, it’s a great and disturbing read, but be forewarned that some images will be impossible to get out of your head. Kosinski (who also wrote Being There) later committed suicide by wrapping a plastic bag around his head. His last work was his suicide note, which read: ” “I am going to put myself to sleep now for a bit longer than usual. Call it Eternity.”

You can read a few pages of the book through Amazon’s browse inside feature here:

The Painted Bird on Amazon