Which book has affected you profoundly and why?

My vade mecum is Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. I first read it during a summer of my college years and was greatly moved. Pynchon has taught me to look at life askew. Don’t look at it head on. Tilt your head slightly. You get a better perspective.

TS Eliot’s Four Quartets may be a very close second. The fifth stanza of “Burnt Norton” particularly speaks to me. I have a spiritual life partially because of this book.

You?

Special thanks to @stanleybmanly for inspiring this question.