Comparing apples and oranges
December 2, 2022 3:53 AM

My wife has a copy of Oranges by John McPhee next to "oranges are not the only fruit" by Jannette Winterson. What cheap paperback fiction books could I buy her that could add to this conversation?

Is there a book called:
"How about them apples though?"
or
"Oranges are the best fruit"
or
"Have you considered pears?"

and so on....
posted by Just this guy, y'know to Grab Bag (46 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
Here's a Goodreads list that might be helpful.
posted by uncleozzy at 4:08 AM on December 2, 2022


It Might Be An Apple
posted by Mizu at 4:18 AM on December 2, 2022


The color rather than the fruit, but how about Bright Orange for the Shroud, a Travis McGee novel by John D. MacDonald?

A Clockwork Orange, though, has to be the right answer. There are several really good covers out there in its paperback publication history, too.

With a What If in between?
posted by redfoxtail at 4:27 AM on December 2, 2022


Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown.

a) Also about fruit

b) Just like Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, Rubyfruit Jungle is also about lesbians.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 4:29 AM on December 2, 2022


Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell.

Bonus: It's actually a really good book, well written, enjoyable, witty and clever.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 4:32 AM on December 2, 2022


(I feel I have to say, for the record, since I said something in mine "has to be the right answer" that "It Might Be an Apple" is a way better answer! Respect.)
posted by redfoxtail at 4:32 AM on December 2, 2022


Jeanette Winterson also wrote Sexing the Cherry.
posted by dr. boludo at 4:46 AM on December 2, 2022


Current attempt:

Oranges
Oranges are not the only fruit
It might be an apple
Never count apples
Apples should be red
Bring Me some apples and I'll make you a pie
Apples never fall

it's a bit apple heavy though. Might need to swerve into another fruit.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 4:52 AM on December 2, 2022


What about There There by Tommy Orange. The paperback cover is ever orange colored!
posted by saladin at 4:58 AM on December 2, 2022


Grapes of Wrath, man
posted by nouvelle-personne at 5:00 AM on December 2, 2022


So you're looking for more of an exchange/conversation, not just other books about fruit. Maybe Code Name: Bananas?
posted by nkknkk at 5:05 AM on December 2, 2022


Oh, this is fun. How about The House On Mango Street or When Life Gives You Mangos (another orange fruit!)?
posted by Empidonax at 5:17 AM on December 2, 2022


Something by Banana Yoshimoto
A Mango-Shaped Space – Wendy Mass
Each Peach Pear Plum – Janet Alhberg
Tangerine – Edwin Bloor
Ritual Papaya - Yaissa Jimenez
posted by mr. remy at 5:26 AM on December 2, 2022


If you wanted to swerve at the end to another food, I submit:
Fortunately, The Milk by Neil Gaiman
So Long and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams
posted by carrioncomfort at 5:46 AM on December 2, 2022


I think Bitter Lemons by Lawrence Durrell should go at the end.
posted by protorp at 5:54 AM on December 2, 2022


And Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucía by Chris "Genesis" Stewart.
posted by BobTheScientist at 6:06 AM on December 2, 2022


When Life Gives You Lemons by Fiona Gibson
Oranges and Lemons by Christopher Fowler
Apples, Oranges and Lemons: Surviving the Automobile Business by Phillip James Grismer.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 6:12 AM on December 2, 2022


Came here to also say something by Banana Yoshimoto, specifically Kitchen, which is a wonderful book and also a small paperback.
posted by happy_cat at 6:17 AM on December 2, 2022


Fruit of the Lemon by Andrea Levy
The House of Blue Mangoes by David Davidar
posted by basalganglia at 6:20 AM on December 2, 2022


Orange is the New Black?
posted by XtineHutch at 6:28 AM on December 2, 2022


The Oranging of America is a book of short stories, and the author's name is for real Max Apple.
posted by FencingGal at 6:30 AM on December 2, 2022


This conversation is all in my amazon basket right now. (Except the first two).

I think the narrative holds together
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 6:35 AM on December 2, 2022


The Art of Peeling an Orange

Note: It's largely lesbian erotica surrounded by a psychological thriller. The only reason I read it is because it popped up as a free offer on BookBub, and I think I got out of it about as much as I paid.
posted by fuse theorem at 6:54 AM on December 2, 2022


I think there's more than one book called Comfort Me With Apples.
posted by BibiRose at 7:07 AM on December 2, 2022


Personally, I'd put Dr. Seuss's classic 10 Apples Up on Top! laying supine across the stack.
posted by Mchelly at 7:31 AM on December 2, 2022


Following Apples Never Fail you could have If These Apples Should Fail but it might descend into some sort of meditation on crop failure which would be a bit depressing.
posted by Erinaceus europaeus at 7:33 AM on December 2, 2022


Not to be all epony-something but I can immediately think of two candidates.
posted by tangerine at 7:34 AM on December 2, 2022


Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch by Henry Miller
posted by cubeb at 7:51 AM on December 2, 2022


Tropic of Orange by Karen Yamashita!! Bonus: it's a very good book.
posted by kensington314 at 7:52 AM on December 2, 2022


The Perfect Fruit
Epitaph for a Peach
posted by jocelmeow at 8:03 AM on December 2, 2022


I think there's more than one book called Comfort Me With Apples

...because it's a line from the bible (Song of Solomon 2:5). Catherynne M. Valente's comes up first while searching but the one I've read was by Peter DeVries (and despite that generally positive review, not recommended; and I've never seen it in paperback).
posted by Rash at 8:32 AM on December 2, 2022


If she enjoys food essays, _Comfort me with Apples_ by Ruth Reichl is charming.
posted by The Devil's Grandmother at 9:06 AM on December 2, 2022


If you need more apples, or something to pair with Apples Never Fall...

Three Apples Fell from the Sky by Narine Abgaryan.

It's quite good!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 10:09 AM on December 2, 2022


Oranges in the book is sometimes a pun on origins; these are not fiction and may or may not be available in paperback, but among many other books with "origins" in the title there are books called The Origins of the Labour Party, The Origins of Christian Art, The Origins of European Dissent, and The Origins of Modern Science, any of which would send the conversation in different ways. There are also a couple of books called The Origins of Fruit(s).

Also, you could go non-book; scented rubbers in the shape of fruit, for instance. Or, and I do see this might take longer than you want to spend on it, stitch a sampler of Matthew 7:16.
posted by paduasoy at 10:10 AM on December 2, 2022




Apples and Pears and Other Stories
The Orange Eats Creeps
Into The Orange Grove (poems)
James and the Giant Peach
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:44 AM on December 2, 2022


Apples of Uncommon Character by Rowan Jacobsen
posted by kschang at 11:28 AM on December 2, 2022


What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:21 PM on December 2, 2022


Just for the visual iconography, maybe a printing of Freakonomics with the orange-inside-an-apple imagery on the binding.
posted by cortex at 1:56 PM on December 2, 2022


Gilbert Sorrentino's The Orangery is a must.
posted by dizziest at 7:08 PM on December 2, 2022


Unfortunately, Frank O'Hara never actually wrote twelve poems called ORANGES, as far as I know. But Why I Am Not a Painter is a fantastic poem and maybe you can work it in somehow.
posted by aws17576 at 9:15 PM on December 2, 2022


Bliss Montage by Ling Ma (look at the cover) here
posted by Violet Hour at 11:35 PM on December 2, 2022


I don't know if you want to add a kids book (the spine isn't very thick anyway) but The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Pinkwater is great!
posted by vespabelle at 9:13 AM on December 3, 2022


My Sweet Orange Tree
posted by SyraCarol at 12:13 PM on December 3, 2022


Marmalade & Rufus is a mere 84 pages. There was a TV series about the main character.
posted by Calvin and the Duplicators at 12:31 AM on December 4, 2022


You are Eating an Orange. You are Naked. Sheung-King

My Life in Orange Tim Guest

The Orange Eats Creeps Grace Krilanovich

The Art of Peeling an Orange Victoria Avilan

Farewell, My Orange Kei Iwaki

Out of Orange Cleary Wolters

Actually, I may read several of theses!
posted by BlueHorse at 8:07 PM on March 1, 2023


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