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There are a number of sutras that have been translated. Why not read them? Shambala Press has a bunch of them. Also, Penguin had a collection of Buddhist scripture which was pretty good. "Buddhist Scripture" might have been the title. I particularly liked the dialogue between Buddhists and the Bactrian greeks. (There was some overlap between Buddhist and Greek territory around the time of Alexander the Great).
Keep in mind that there's a huge gap between ancient theory and modern practice. Buddhism as actual social practice is just as corrupt as Christianity and has been satrised as such for centuries.
Of course "Buddhism" in the West means something else, and if that's what you're interested in the founding texts are probably those of D.T. Suzuki and Alan Watts. Watts is kind of interesting if you read it in the context of Beat culture.
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