Person
Every book Paul Harding recommended on podcasts
Paul Harding’s most recommended books
- Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
- Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
- Ironweed by William Kennedy
- MOBY-DICK; or, THE WHALE by Herman Melville
- Terra Nostra by Carlos Fuentes
- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Paul Harding appeared on podcast interviews to discuss the craft of writing, sharing references to classic literature and contemporary novels that influenced his creative process. He discussed the opening scene of his own debut novel, Tinkers, and referenced Marilynne Robinson's novel Housekeeping, specifically highlighting the word co-extensivity to explore the blurred boundaries between interior and exterior spaces. Drawing parallels regarding early publishing rejections before achieving literary acclaim, Harding mentioned William Kennedy's novel Ironweed. To illustrate complex literary meaning and linguistic depth, he analyzed William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! and Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, noting how Melville achieves a state of supersaturation in his language. Furthermore, Harding spoke about his personal reading preferences, naming Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace and Carlos Fuentes's Terra Nostra as standout examples of the large-scale blockbuster books that he thoroughly enjoys reading.
Books recommended by Paul Harding
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Absalom, Absalom!
Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner is a monumental American novel exploring family trauma, ambition, race, and the heavy burdens of the past in the deep South.
Discussed“Um, one of the things that I love is that you you can't get the whole thing the first time you read Abselum Abselum.”
Where to get it
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Housekeeping
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson is a celebrated debut novel that explores themes of grief, transience, and the profound, haunting isolation experienced by two orphaned sisters raised by eccentric relatives in a remote Idaho town.
Discussed“one of my favorite words from my fave rave writer teacher friend Marilyn Robinson that's in her first novel housekeeping is co-extensivity I just thought what if I just don't think of there being any difference between the interior or the exterior”
Where to get it
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Ironweed
Discussed“I actually remember at the time thinking about you know William Kennedy and Ironweed his novel Ironweed. It was another thing like he he couldn't get it published.”
Where to get it
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MOBY-DICK; or, THE WHALE
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville is an epic American novel that chronicles the obsessive, self-destructive quest of Captain Ahab to hunt down the giant white whale that maimed him.
Discussed“you get that with Melville, too. you know, Moby Dick, like the language is so it hits this super saturation point”
Where to get it
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Terra Nostra
Discussed“my favorite books to read are the big blockbusters, War in Peace and Carlos Fentes Teranostra.”
Where to get it
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Tinkers
Tinkers by Paul Harding is a critically acclaimed debut novel that explores memory, mortality, and the life of a dying clockmaker.
Discussed“let's say like the opening of um of my first novel Tinkers.”
Where to get it
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War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace is a monumental historical novel blending grand military strategy with intimate domestic life against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars.
Discussed“my favorite books to read are the big blockbusters, War in Peace and Carlos Fentes Teranostra.”
Where to get it
Books Paul Harding wrote
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Harding: A New Way To Think About Writing | How I Write | How I Write | 2025-06-11 | 7 |
Other mentions (2: passing, ad reads, own books)
“So, I just kept refreshing the page and I think it was it was Elizabeth Stout was Olive Kitridge. So, you know, I was like, you know, I was just doing something getting ready and all of Kitridge and you know, getting all of Kitridge all of that's who won the year before.”
“If you don't, you won't be excluded from any of the meaning. How about Shakespeare? Um there's something very democratic about not only the fact that he's always writing about all different classes of people”