Episode · How I Write · 2025-12-03
Books mentioned on My Top 10 Writing Lessons from 2025
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David Perell discussed Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane. Jayne Anne Phillips discussed Machine dreams by Jayne Anne Phillips. Dana Gioia discussed The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Is a River Alive?
Discussed“I was going through the book and I remember just being blown away by how vivid his descriptions of rivers were. He had just published a book called Is a River Alive?”
Where to get it
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Machine dreams
Machine Dreams by Jayne Anne Phillips is a critically acclaimed novel that traces the fragmentation of a West Virginia family across several decades against the backdrop of mid-century American history and the Vietnam War.
Discussed“That's the first line of Machine Dreams. Yeah. My first novel.”
Where to get it
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The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck is a classic American novel depicting the hardships of Oklahoma families migrating to California during the Great Depression.
Discussed“John Steinbeck, if you read The Grapes of Wrath, for all of Grapes of Wrath's imperfections, he has written one of the greatest American novels”
Where to get it
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The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R.
Discussed“Tolken, I think The Lord of the Rings is the greatest novel in English written about the First World War”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (2) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
Passing Night Watch
“We recorded in Boston. She was fresh off the Pulitzer Prize for a novel called Nightw Watch.”
Passing Tinkers
“I also recorded with him in Boston. He won the Pulitzer Prize for a novel called Tinkers.”