Hacker News Books

Published in 2018? I liked The Outsider by Stephen King

Hunger by Knut Hamsun,
Wait Until Spring by John Fante,
Post Office by Charles Bukowski,
The Horse's Mouth by Joyce Cary,
The Outsider by Colin Wilson,
The Price of Greatness by Arnold M. Ludwig,
Touched With Fire by Kay Redfield Jamison

Just off the top of my head without any ordering.

>>>I'd like to imagine that most artists are relatively well-adjusted.

Keep imagining. But great ones aren't. Go read:

Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament by Kay Redfield Jamison
http://www.amazon.com/Touched-With-Fire-ebook/dp/B001D1YCM2

The Outsider by Colin Wilson
http://www.amazon.com/The-Outsider-Colin-Wilson/dp/087477206...

The Price of Greatness: Resolving the Creativity and Madness Controversy by Arnold M. Ludwig
http://www.amazon.com/The-Price-Greatness-Creativity-Controv...

EDIT to add: Why Jobs stood out is because the closest equivalent to what he was is a film director. But business is not set up to hand out accolades like Hollywood does. So instead of everyone learning who did what in Apple -- as with film we find out about sound editors, foley artists, etc, etc. -- we just get the face of Jobs.

Some that come to mind:

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
https://www.amazon.com/Fear-Loathing-Las-Vegas-American/dp/0...

Under the Volcano
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/05/100-best-novel...

All the kinds horses
https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/all-kings-horses

The Sorrows of Young Werther
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sorrows_of_Young_Werther

The Catcher in the Rye
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Catcher_in_the_Rye

The Outsider
https://www.amazon.com/Outsider-Colin-Wilson/dp/0874772060

Meetings With Remarkable Men
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3064956-meetings-with-re...

On the road
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Road

Fight Club
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_Club

Naked Lunch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_Lunch

Ham on Rye
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_on_Rye

Jonathan Livingston Seagull
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Livingston_Seagull

Another Roadside Attraction
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_Roadside_Attraction

Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand.
Story of human grit and survival in the Pacific WWII theater that I hadn't heard of before. I was blown away by the story, and about what I learned about the War that I didn't already know.

Creativity Inc. Re-read it this year, re-inspired.

The Outsider - Stephen King.
Well written, engrossing but a typical Stephen King novel

Shoe Dog - Phil Knight.
Story of Nike. Phenomenal.

Bad blood - John Carreyrou.
Story of Theranos. Absolutely crazy read.

7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy - Hamilton Helmer.
Good insights on strategy

The Outsider - Albert Camus
Galapagos - Kurt Vonnegut
On the Road - Jack Kerouac
Animal Farm - George Orwell

"The Calm Technique" which is the best no fluff guide to meditation. Note the author's other works are distinctly more woo.

"Structure of Scientific Revolutions" which is critical for understanding how long change really takes, and spotting areas where revolutionary change is overdue.

"Pritikin's Testament" (also published as "Jesus was an Ad Man") which is The Bible on human communication from one of the original Mad Men. The original name was just to attract controversy, it's not a Parable of Jesus the Advertiser or anything dumb like that. The author worships the three martini lunch.

"Angel Tech" by Antero Alli for it's devastating analysis of what makes people tick, and how to rework your own clockwork. Owes more to improv theatre than shamanism, regardless of its name.

"The Outsider" by Colin Wilson. This book has aged strangely, and it's up to you if he's describing adolescence or asberger's syndrome, but you can't get your head around social difference through the ages in an easier way.

$0.02 etc.