My W131 students asked for it, so I gave it to 'em:
A "brief" list of some of the best sources I know of for and about good writing.
It's not nearly thorough enough, but it's a start

W131, C105 (Fall C2K1) Recommended Reading & Viewing List

WRITING
* _If You Want To Write_
Brenda Euland
* _A Writer's Time_
Kenneth Atchity
* _Walking On Water_
Madeline L'Engle
* _Lives On The Boundary_
Mike Rose

IDEAS
* "Creative Whack Pack"
* _The Call of Stories_
Robert Coles
* _Mind Of The Maker_
Dorothy Sayers
* _Labyrinths_
Jorge Luis Borges
* _We've Had A Hundred Years
Of Psychotherapy And The
World's Getting Worse_
Ventura/Hillman
* _Screwtape Letters_
C.S. Lewis
* _Cruel Shoes_
Steve Martin
* _The Devil's Dictionary_
Ambrose Bierce
* _Poor Richard's Almanack_
Ben Franklin
* _Proverbs_ & _Ecclesiastes_
King Solomon

JOURNALING/AUTOBIO-MEMOIRS
* Reinhold Messner, _The Crystal Horizon_
* Gretel Ehrlich, _The Solace of Open Places_
* Sylvia Plath, _The Unabridged Journals_
* Dietrich Bonhoeffer, _Letters and Papers from Prison_
* Woody Guthrie, _Bound for Glory_ and/or _Pastures of Plenty_
* Flannery O'Connor, _Mystery and Manners_ and/or _The Habit of Being_
* George MacDonald, _Diary Of An Old Soul_
* Blaise Pascal, _Pensees_ or _A Mind on Fire_
* Akira Kurosawa, _Something Like an Autobiography_
* Ingmar Bergman, _The Magic Lantern_
* Farley Mowat, _Never Cry Wolf_ (the Disney movie is a masterpiece, too.)
* Garrison Keillor (take your pick of any of his books and/or cd collections)

STAGE/SCREEN
* David Mamet, _House of Games_, _Oleanna_, _Things Change_
(just about any and everything he's ever done)
* Spaulding Gray, _Monster in a Box_
* Eric Bogosian, _Talk Radio_
* Thornton Wilder, _Our Town_
* Horton Foote, _To Kill a Mockingbird_

DIRECTORS
* Akira Kurosawa, _Ran_
* Wim Wenders, _Wings of Desire_ & _Faraway, So Close_
* Ingmar Bergman, _The Seventh Seal_
* Barry Levinson, _Rain Man_ & _Avalon_
* Frank Capra, _Meet John Doe_ & _It's a Wonderful Life_
* Albert Brooks, _Lost in America_ & _Defending Your Life_
* Terry Gilliam, _Brazil_ & _Time Bandits_
* Coen Brothers, _O Brother, Where Art Thou?_ & _Fargo_

SONG/STRING
* Bruce Cockburn, "Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws" and "Charity of Night"
* Peter Himmelman, "Beneath the Damage and the Dust"
and "From Strength to Strength"
* Counting Crows, "August and Everything After"
* Over The Rhine, "Good Dog Bad Dog"
* Vigilantes Of Love, "Audible Sigh"
* Terry Scott Taylor, "A Briefing for the Ascent"
* Iona, "Beyond These Shores"
* The Waterboys, "Room to Roam"
* Jeff Johnson (Ark Records), "Through the Door"
* Rich Mullins, "Songs"
* Pink Floyd, "The Wall"
* Moody Blues, "Long Distance Voyager"

NO, I'M NOT KIDDING
* _Cerebus_ (Graphic Novel series)
Dave Sim & Gerhard
* _How To Be An Artist_
Eddie Campbell
* _Tales Of The Beanworld_
Larry Marder
* _Cages_ (Graphic Novel series)
Dave McKean
* _Maus_ (Holocaust history comics)
Art Spiegelman
* _Pogo_ (blisteringly beautiful wordplay & socio-political satire)
Walt Kelly
* _Red Storm Rising_ (ever wonder where they got the plan for Desert Storm?)
Tom Clancy
* _Franny & Zooey_ (I'm glad J.D. told me about _The Way of a Pilgrim_)
J.D. Salinger
* _The Stars My Destination_
Alfred Bester
* _Dandelion Wine_
Ray Bradbury
* _The Stranger_ and/or _The Plague_
Albert Camus

TV
* Sports Night
* Powerpuff Girls
* Samurai Jack
* SCTV
* Patrick McGoohan's The Prisoner
* Rod Serling's Twilight Zone