Episode · How I Write · 2024-03-27
David Perell & Neil Strauss: books mentioned on How I Write
Has He Cracked The Bestseller Formula? | Neil Strauss | How I Write Podcast
Neil Strauss recommended Ask the Dust by John Fante, and discussed Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, The Stranger, The Plague (Coles Notes) by Albert Camus, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby and others, and Hunger by Knut Hamsun.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel depicting a totalitarian regime characterized by extreme surveillance, psychological manipulation, and the rewriting of history.
Discussed“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. And it's such a good line because you're like, wait, what?”
Where to get it
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The Stranger, The Plague (Coles Notes)
The Stranger by Albert Camus is a foundational philosophical novel that explores themes of existentialism, absurdism, and alienation through the experiences of its protagonist, Meursault.
Discussed“Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday; I can't be sure. It's great. It's so good. It's so good.”
Where to get it
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Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston's classic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God tells the impactful story of Janie Crawford and her journey toward self-realization and independence in the American South.
Discussed“Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. What does that mean to you? Right, it makes you go... That's interesting.”
Where to get it
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Last Exit to Brooklyn
Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr.
Discussed“There's another writer named Hubert Selby, the same genre though, but who wrote Last Exit to Brooklyn, and his typewriter was broken.”
Where to get it
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Ask the Dust
John Fante's celebrated novel captures the grit, struggles, and desperation of a young, aspiring writer navigating the harsh realities of Depression-era Los Angeles.
Recommended“I love John Fante's Ask the Dust. It's one of my favorite books ever. Do you know that book? No. It's great. You've got to read it.”
Where to get it
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Hunger
Hunger is a classic psychological novel by Knut Hamsun that chronicles the desperate experiences of a starving writer wandering through the streets of Christiania, the old name for Oslo.
Discussed“And there's an older work by Norwegian writer called Knut Hamsun called Hunger, and I think that's what John Fante took for his thing.”
Where to get it
