So many books, so little...

I was going through a drawer on my nightstand, looking for -- believe it or not, a two-year-old coupon for a massage that my wife got me for Father's Day -- and I realized I've got a ton (well, not literally, but close) of books sitting there, unread, waiting patiently for me to crack their covers. Some of them have been started -- multiple times, in a few cases -- but the principle's the same: I've got some reading to do. Among the selections...

IT'S SUPERMAN: A NOVEL by Tom De Haven. I started this prose treatment of the Superman story and enjoyed it quite a bit. De Haven's got a comfortable style, and his research into the 1930s (when the story is set) really pays off. Not sure why I never finished it.

THE PUBLIC BURNING by Robert Coover. I got quite a ways into this one, a dense, difficult -- but rewarding -- chunk of surrealism retelling the story of Nixon, the Rosenbergs and the turmoil of the 1950s. It's very, very good, but not an easy read. Uncle Sam is a character -- a main one, in fact -- and much of the novel is told from his oppressively folksy point of view. By the way, if you happened to read this book and the UNCLE SAM two-parter that Alex Ross and Steve Darnell did a few years ago, you might notice some similarities in tone and voice.

(Coover's THE UNIVERSAL BASEBALL ASSOCIATION, INC., J. HENRY WAUGH, PROP., which I have read, is an amazing novel about obsession, fantasy, fandom and a life getting smaller and smaller. It's a great book that predicts the rise of fantasy sports -- and also has a lot to say about, ahem, hardcore comic book fans, even though that's not what it's about. Read it -- it's a lot slimmer than THE PUBLIC BURNING.)

GILLIGAN'S WAKE: A NOVEL by Tom Carson. Another bit of pop cult surrealism, with 20th century culture being seen through the lives of the seven castaways, whose paths cross and re-cross in surprising ways. Never started it, though the idea certainly is right up my alley.

THE THOUGHT GANG by Tibor Fischer. An philosopher turns criminal in this comic novel. Beautifully written and jammed -- maybe even too jammed -- with clever turns of phrase. Not sure why I never finished it.

THE RESCUE ARTIST by Edward Dolnick. Though it focuses on the theft of Munch's "Scream" from Norway's National Gallery, Dolnick's true crime book also serves as an entertaining history of art theft and the stolen art underworld. It's also got a heckuva protagonist in Charley Hill, the Scotland Yard undercover man who specializes in finding stolen pieces. I started this when I was writing CATWOMAN for research, and really enjoyed it. Again, not sure why I never finished it.

CAT'S CRADLE by Kurt Vonnegut. I've read damn near everything Vonnegut wrote up to GALAPAGOS or so, and liked what I read. I also like stories about the end of the world. Why I never even started this one is a mystery.

GLAMORAMA by Bret Easton Ellis. Hell, I liked AMERICAN PSYCHO long before it was a movie, and thought GLAMORAMA sounded like another dark, funny trip down the same trendy corridor. Never started it, though. I'd still like to read it -- and his LUNA PARK where he confronts, what, a fictional version of himself? Anyone read it?

There's more, but that'll do for now. Anyone read any of these? Recommendations? Keep in mind I've got dozens of other books to delve into. This just happens to be a selection of the ones in my nightstand.