Merry Xmas

Have to disagree with Wm. here. I don't think Steve should start with -Peace-. That is not the sort of book that gets people fascinated with Wolfe; it's the one they tackle when they are already hooked, and I think it's rather off-putting to a beginner (I confess that I've never been much of a fan).. I strongly suggest 5HC as your starter, that you should take your time with it, and then dip into the short stories in the other books at random as they catch your attention. But 5HC is a truly fascinating book that holds seeds of all the themes Wolfe would later explore more thoroughly. Happy hunting! And Happy New Year! -alga

While this doesn't serve as an argument against following the estimable alga's advice, Peace is the first book I read by Wolfe and it did get me hooked. It did and does continue to fascinate me and is still my favorite Wolfe novel. And, yes, I am a fan. 8-> I think Peace also contains seeds of all of the themes Wolfe uses in his later works, although they may be harder to spot. Then again any novel length (or greater) work by Wolfe is probably going to contain all of his "pet" themes. By all means start with The Fifth Head of Cerberus if you don't start with Peace. It is, in many ways, a more typical Wolfe novel, if such a phrase is not oxymoronic. Obviously, both alga and I are expressing subjective opinions and your experience is likely to differ, Happy reading.