Person
Every book Michael Schur recommended on podcasts
Michael Schur is a television creator, writer, and producer best known for his work on acclaimed comedy series including The Good Place, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. During his conversation on The Tim Ferriss Show, Schur discussed various philosophical texts and rare items from his personal book collection. He mentioned Todd May's book Death as a great work that helped connect him to the author. Discussing his long history with David Foster Wallace's novel Infinite Jest, Schur recalled buying a copy as a college junior in 1996 and noted that an inscribed copy given to him by Wallace would be his choice to rescue in a fire. He also referenced owning a rare, exceptionally well-preserved first edition of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. To illustrate the difficulty of certain philosophical readings, Schur lightheartedly pointed to Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason as an inaccessible text that one would never casually choose to polish off on a beach vacation.
Books recommended by Michael Schur
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Infinite jest
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace is a sprawling, maximalist novel exploring addiction, entertainment, and modern American culture.
Discussed“february of 1996 i am at the end of my junior year in college and infinite just comes out and uh my friend rebecca says to me hey have you heard about this book everybody really likes this book uh we should go buy it we went to the harvard bookstore and we both bought a copy of the book”
Where to get it
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Death
Death by Todd May is a philosophical exploration of mortality that examines what it means for human existence that our lives are finite, drawing on various philosophical traditions to help readers grapple with the reality of dying.
Recommended“and he wrote a book called death a great book”
Where to get it
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Critique of Pure Reason
Critique of Pure Reason is a foundational philosophical work by Immanuel Kant that investigates the limits and structure of human knowledge.
Discussed“like pick up critique of pure reason flip through a couple pages and tell me how psyched you are to polish it off in your free time on the beach like it's forget it”
Where to get it
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MOBY-DICK; or, THE WHALE
Herman Melville's Moby-Dick; or, The Whale explores the obsessive, destructive quest of Captain Ahab to hunt down the white whale that maimed him, weaving a sprawling narrative that blends high-seas adventure, philosophical inquiry, and encyclopedic maritime lore.
Discussed“among the the rarest book i have is i have a first edition copy of moby dick that is in incredibly good shape it's really really a rare copy of that book”
Where to get it
