Episode · How I Write · 2026-09-02
David Perell & R. F. Kuang: books mentioned on How I Write
R.F. Kuang: Meet The Writer Who Sold Millions of Books Before 30 | How I Write
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R.F. Kuang recommended Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg, Steering the Craft by Ursula K. Le Guin, A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler, and The Field by Robert Seethaler, and discussed The Sovereignty of Good by Iris Murdoch, Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, and A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. David Perell discussed Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Sovereignty of Good
The Sovereignty of Good by Iris Murdoch is a collection of philosophical essays exploring morality, attention, and the elimination of self-centeredness.
Discussed“So Iris Murdoch is this philosopher I admire a lot and she has an essay of sovereignty of good.”
Where to get it
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Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards is a practical guide designed to help individuals learn how to draw by unlocking perceptual skills associated with the brain's right hemisphere.
Discussed“And there's a book called Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.”
Where to get it
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Several Short Sentences About Writing
Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg is a distinctive and meditative craft book that challenges traditional notions of grammar, syntax, and the creative flow of prose.
Recommended“I I learned this attitude from a book called um several very short sentences are writing by Verlin Clinkenborg.”
Where to get it
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Pale Fire
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov is a complex postmodern novel structured as a long narrative poem with an extensive, eccentric commentary and index written by a deranged scholar.
Discussed“you're not going to get your next pale fire from an LLM.”
Where to get it
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Steering the Craft
Steering the Craft by Ursula K.
Recommended“there's this um passage from Ursula Leguin's book on craft steering the craft where she says like imitation is a fantastic exercise.”
Where to get it
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Never Let Me Go
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is a haunting dystopian novel that explores the poignant lives of students at a seemingly idyllic English boarding school who slowly discover a dark and tragic truth about their engineered existence.
Discussed“very influenced by Kazu Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go.”
Where to get it
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A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a classic historical novel set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, exploring themes of sacrifice, resurrection, and extreme societal upheaval.
Discussed“A Tale of Two Cities was one of the Dickens books that I like embarrassingly hadn't read until like two years ago.”
Where to get it
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A Whole Life
A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler is a critically acclaimed biographical novel that traces the humble, solitary existence of an Austrian workman named Andreas Egger as he navigates the sweeping historical changes of the twentieth century.
Recommended“One book is a book I just finished called A Whole Life by Robert Setheller and he's an Austrian writer.”
Where to get it
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The Field
The Field by Robert Seethaler is a poignant novel that captures the interconnected lives, secrets, and quiet tragedies of ordinary individuals buried in a small-town Austrian cemetery.
Recommended“he has another book called The Fields, which is about all of the gravestones in the cemetery”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (7) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“So with um Babel, it was reading the Victorian cannon and sitting a lot with Dickens and mirroring their”
“And then when I was writing Yellowface, that was very much written in the tone of a online flame war.”
“So, with Taipei story, the voice is ry.”
“And people who then read Babel were like, "This sounds too modern.”
“latest novel Taipei story is actually what are the virtues of getting everything wrong.”
“And even in an earlier book like Babel, it is about mastery of a language and and using it and making magic with it.”
“now I've moved on in Taipei's story to questions about language”