Episode · How I Write · 2024-02-07
David Perell & Steven Johnson: books mentioned on How I Write
Steven Johnson Explains How He Helped Build NotebookLM
David Perell discussed The Infernal Machine by Steven Johnson. Steven Johnson discussed If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino, Enemy of All Mankind by Steven Johnson, The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson, Where good ideas come from by Steven Johnson, The Devil In The White City by Erik Larson, and The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Infernal Machine
Discussed“and I want to talk about your new book The Infernal machine and how you think about these elements of surprise these surprising stories as you begin to weave together this tapestry of vignettes what are you reading for to find these surprises and then thinking through what actually makes it into a final book”
Where to get it
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If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
Discussed“it's a reference by the way to the Italo calino novel if on a winter sign a traveler which I'm sure 1% of the readers actually got that too but it it's uh for people who are really into meta fiction from the 1960s it had added meaning”
Where to get it
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Enemy of All Mankind
Enemy of All Mankind by Steven Johnson is a riveting true story of piracy, power, and history's first global manhunt during the seventeenth century.
Discussed“well another great editor story is um so I wrote a book um maybe my favorite book of all of them except for the new one which is is the new one always the favorite book it is a little bit because you're not sick of it yet you know um but I wrote this book called enemy of all”
Where to get it
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The Ghost Map
Steven Johnson's The Ghost Map investigates the devastating 1850s cholera outbreak in London through a gripping, detective-style narrative.
Discussed“um and the the the first one is uh my book The Ghost map which is actually the despite the fact that it's about chera is actually the best selling of all my books um I think it part because it has this kind of detective story structure”
Where to get it
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Where good ideas come from
Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson is an insightful non-fiction book that explores the historical and environmental patterns that foster innovation, such as the concept of the slow hunch and serendipitous collisions.
Discussed“so that the spark file comes out of um the book I wrote where good ideas come from which the opening chapter which is called the slow hunch”
Where to get it
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The Devil In The White City
The Devil In The White City by Erik Larson is a celebrated work of popular narrative nonfiction that chronicles the 1893 Chicago World's Fair alongside the chilling simultaneous crimes of serial killer Dr.
Discussed“and so I remember thinking that I remember um before I wrote ghost map I read uh Devil in the White City by Eric Larson and which was kind of like I was reading it somewhat to prep myself to write it was the first book that I'd written in kind of historical narrative mode”
Where to get it
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The Splendid and the Vile
The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson is a gripping historical non-fiction account of Winston Churchill and London during the Blitz.
Discussed“and so I went back to lon's book actually The Splendid in the vile that he just came out with because um infernal machine has a lot of dialogue because there's so many”
Where to get it
