Person
Every book David Perell recommended on podcasts
Across 2 podcasts. Every show David Perell appears on, in one place — not just one.
David Perell’s most recommended books
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
- The Elements of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth
- The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
- Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
- The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
- Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham
- The Daily Pressfield by Steven Pressfield
- Rocket men by Robert Kurson
- Excellent Advice for Living by Kevin Kelly
David Perell hosts the How I Write podcast, where he explores the mechanics and habits of memorable storytelling with various authors and creators. In multiple episodes, Perell has shared and endorsed specific titles that have shaped his understanding of prose, rhetoric, and narrative power. While wrapping up interviews, he has recommended Ward Farnsworth's Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric and Farnsworth's Classical English Style, expressing a particular fondness for the volume on style. To demonstrate the use of visual analogies and how to bring numbers to life in writing, Perell has frequently recommended Robert Kurson's Rocket Men, reading excerpts from the book to highlight its craft. He also encouraged listeners to buy Mark Forsyth's The Elements of Eloquence as a closing recommendation. In addition to instructional guides on writing, Perell has brought up gripping fiction and non-fiction works on his show, such as Phil Klay's Redeployment to highlight its intense opening chapter, Richard Powers's The Overstory, noting its Pulitzer Prize win in 2019 and praising its articulation of trees, and various other storytelling masterpieces that provide raw truth and inspiration to aspiring writers.
Books recommended by David Perell
-
East of Eden
East of Eden by John Steinbeck is a sprawling, multi-generational masterpiece that adapts the Cain and Abel story into twentieth-century California.
Discussed“and for an example i want to look at john steinbeck and his book his masterpiece east of eden”
Where to get it
-
The Elements of Eloquence
The Elements of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth is a reference book that breaks down rhetorical figures and patterns of writing designed to make phrasing memorable and impactful.
Discussed“And now what I want to do is go through like 10 or 11 this from your book Elements of Eloquence.”
Where to get it
-
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby by F.
Discussed“So, I read the book, I watched the DiCaprio Gatsby movie, I then watched the Robert Redford Gatsby movie, and then I went to the play.”
Where to get it
-
Atomic Habits
Atomic Habits by James Clear is a widely acclaimed guide on habit formation, personal development, and how minor incremental adjustments yield substantial long-term results.
Discussed“For example, when James Clear when he did Atomic Habits, I think he had like 80 podcasts that launched that week. There's probably things around BookTok and Twitter and like clipping up different things that you've made about your book, that's more kind of guerrilla marketing tactics that are going to end up being more solo.”
Where to get it
-
Tuesdays with Morrie
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom is a bestselling memoir chronicling the author's weekly visits with his former sociology professor who is dying of ALS.
Discussed“Do you know that is? He wrote a book called Tuesdays with Morrie. yeah, yeah.”
Where to get it
-
The 4-Hour Workweek
The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss is a lifestyle design manual that encourages readers to rethink traditional employment, automate income streams, and reclaim ownership of their time.
Discussed“When Tim's writing process and this goes back to his very first book, The 4-Hour Workweek, where he clearly struggled through that book.”
Where to get it
-
Hackers and Painters
Hackers and Painters by Paul Graham is a collection of essays that explores the intersections of computer programming, startup culture, and creative intellectual work.
Discussed“I mean, actually, that's why his book is called Hackers and Painters. Hackers and Painters, sort of that left side of the brain, skepticism, rigor, logic.”
Where to get it
-
The Daily Pressfield
The Daily Pressfield by Steven Pressfield is a structured daily guide and companion journal designed to help writers and creators overcome internal resistance, manage their time effectively, and maintain disciplined creative habits.
Discussed“What had happened was before the episode, Pressfield was like, yo, you got to read my new book, The Daily Pressfield.”
Where to get it
-
Rocket men
Rocket Men by Robert Kurson is a gripping narrative nonfiction account detailing the historic Apollo 8 mission and the daring astronauts who journeyed to the moon.
Recommended“And to do that, I'm going to read you a quote from a book that I love called Rocket Men by Robert Kurson.”
Where to get it
-
Excellent Advice for Living
Excellent Advice for Living by Kevin Kelly is a popular book of concise maxims, rules of thumb, and wisdom covering careers, relationships, parenting, finances, and personal innovation.
Recommended“The next is number two, Kevin Kelly, who wrote Excellent Advice for Living, which is a book of maxims and my favorite one is don't aim to be the best, be the only.”
Where to get it
-
A short history of nearly everything
A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson is an engaging and accessible popular science journey that breaks down the vast mysteries of the universe, evolution, and human discovery into terms anyone can understand.
Discussed“You talk to people who like Bill Bryson, Bill Bryson wrote A Short History of Nearly Everything, 1927, The Body.”
Where to get it
-
No Country for Old Men
No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy is a bleak, violent western thriller about a drug deal gone wrong and the relentless hunter pursuing the survivor.
Discussed“And when he started drifting away from that when he wrote No Country or Furlough Men or The Road and great books on their own but I kind of miss the way he used to write”
Where to get it
-
The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R.
Discussed“So, if we both read The Lord of the Rings and you say, "Hey, I'm going to describe the the Shire and then I do the same thing," our descriptions will be very different.”
Where to get it
-
The Talented Mr. Ripley
The Talented Mr.
Discussed“Like So, I I think there's something immensely appealing for readers it of like that that that is what happens. Justice is served. That story is phenomenal. The Talented Mr. Ripley. Holy cow. I haven't read the book, but I've watched the movie and it is so good.”
Where to get it
-
Understanding Media
Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan is a classic media theory text that examines how various communication channels shape human thought, culture, and society.
Discussed“And I had this with Marsh McLennan. I read Understanding Media when I was fresh out of college, and there was something about the way that McLennan explained the similarities”
Where to get it
-
Where the wild things are
Maurice Sendak's Where the wild things are is a beloved children's picture book that follows a young boy named Max on an imaginative journey to a land of fantastical creatures before returning safely to his bedroom.
Discussed“I think about Where the Wild Things Are, obviously that's animals. 100%.”
Where to get it
-
Zero to One
Zero to One by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters is a prominent business and technology book that challenges conventional startup thinking.
Discussed“Peter Thiel wrote Zero to One. But if you actually follow the thread, Zero to One is... A Christian book”
Where to get it
-
The Overstory
The Overstory by Richard Powers is a sweeping, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that intertwines the lives of several Americans whose fates are connected to trees and environmental activism.
Recommended“Richard Powers won the Pulitzer Prize for the over story in 2019 and and I had some friends who recommended it to me”
Where to get it
-
The Wager
The Wager by David Grann is a historical non-fiction book detailing the harrowing 18th-century shipwreck of a British naval vessel and the dramatic mutiny and survival trials that followed.
Discussed“And then there's The Wager. I can't think of a single book that more people I know have said that they just read [music] the entire thing from start to finish in one sitting.”
Where to get it
-
$100M Leads
$100M Leads by Alex Hormozi is a business and marketing guide designed to help entrepreneurs scale their customer acquisition strategies through proven frameworks.
Discussed“take a 100 million doll leads”
Where to get it
- Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte
- Discipline Is Destiny by Ryan Holiday
- Red Notice by Bill Browder
- The Godfather by Mario Puzo
- The Learning Game by Ana Lorena Fábrega
- The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
- The Terminal List by Jack Carr
- Against Method by Paul K. Feyerabend
- Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric by Ward Farnsworth, Cara Van Miriah
- Farnsworth's Classical English Style by Ward Farnsworth
- Read Write Own by Chris Dixon
- Redeployment by Phil Klay
- The Bed of Procrustes by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- The Boron Letters by Gary Halbert, Bond Halbert
- The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius
- The success equation by Michael J. Mauboussin
- “The” History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
- 1927 by Bill Bryson
- A Burglar's Guide to the City by Geoff Manaugh
- A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
- A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
- A Series of Unfortunate Events: Lemony Snicket by Lemony Snicket
- Adult Children of Alcoholics by Janet G. Woititz
- American Work Values by Paul Bernstein
- Angle of repose by Wallace Stegner
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
- Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera
- Bullies and Mean Girls in Popular Culture by Patrice A. Oppliger
David Perell’s latest episodes with books
David Perell’s book recommendations by year
All 137 books David Perell recommended or discussed across 89 episodes, filed by the year each episode came out. Each year goes episode by episode, with the minute every book came up.