Person
Every book Sam Tanenhaus recommended on podcasts
Sam Tanenhaus’s most recommended books
- To the Finland station by Edmund Wilson
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- Dangling man by Saul Bellow
- Engines of Liberty by David Cole
- The end of White Christian America by Robert P. Jones
- Going red by Ed Morrissey
- Herzog by Saul Bellow
- James Joyce by Richard Ellmann
- Jenny Gerhardt by Theodore Dreiser
- Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow
Sam Tanenhaus appeared on The Book Review podcast to discuss various literary classics, biographies, and contemporary political titles. Tanenhaus recommended Edmund Wilson's To the Finland Station, praising it as a fantastic work and an aspirational model for writing. When discussing the literary legacy of Saul Bellow, he advised readers to work chronologically through the author's bibliography starting with the 1944 novel Dangling Man, and he noted that The Adventures of Augie March served as a breakthrough that connected Bellow to Chicago and the broader American style, while Herzog brought him ultimate fame and fortune. In addition to these classics, Tanenhaus highlighted several non-fiction and political books, describing Robert P. Jones's The End of White Christian America as an insightful and persuasive read from a religion think tank CEO, and recommending David Cole's Engines of Liberty as an optimistic look at the power of citizen activists to shape constitutional law. He also engaged in broader literary discussions, recalling an interview with Suzanne Collins regarding her blockbuster young adult novels in The Hunger Games series, and mentioning that he read Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go aloud with his wife.
Books recommended by Sam Tanenhaus
-
To the Finland station
To the Finland Station by Edmund Wilson is a classic work of intellectual history that traces the development of socialist thought and the lead-up to the Russian Revolution through the lives of various European thinkers and revolutionaries.
Recommended“and we're also for me for the um th time reading or rereading Edmund Wilson's to the Finland station which is a fantastic book”
Where to get it
-
The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a young adult dystopian novel set in a post-apocalyptic nation where children are forced to compete in a televised death match.
Discussed“It was Suzanne Collins the children's book or ya author who wrote those hugely successful novels The Hunger Games The Hunger Games”
Where to get it
-
Dangling man
Dangling Man by Saul Bellow is a modernist epistolary novel that chronicles the anxious internal monologue of Joseph, a young man in Chicago waiting to be drafted into the army during the Second World War.
Recommended“if you want to be diligent you'll work your way through chronologically from dangling man published in 1944 all the way through Ravel steam”
Where to get it
-
Engines of Liberty
Engines of Liberty by David Cole is a non-fiction book that explores the profound capacity of ordinary citizen activists to shape and influence constitutional law in the United States.
Recommended“David Cole the author of engines of Liberty the power of Citizen activists to make constitutional law may be the most optimistic book in the group”
Where to get it
-
The end of White Christian America
The end of White Christian America is a sociological and political non-fiction book by Robert P.
Recommended“there is a book called the end of white Christian America by Robert P Jones who is the CEO of a religion Think Tank Institute”
Where to get it
-
Going red
Discussed“one of the books that I review I think it's going red refers to Trump in the past tense”
Where to get it
-
Herzog
Herzog by Saul Bellow is a celebrated modernist novel following a beleaguered intellectual who writes frantic, unsent letters to friends, enemies, and historical figures while suffering a midlife crisis.
Discussed“yes this one concludes with a publication of Herzog which is probably still Bellow's most famous novel and the one that really did bring him Fame and Fortune”
Where to get it
-
James Joyce
Discussed“I'm also rereading uh Richard elman's biography of James Joyce”
Where to get it
-
Jenny Gerhardt
Discussed“theodore drier's novel Jenny ghard one of his forgotten wonderful early novels”
Where to get it
-
Mr. Sammler's Planet
Discussed“your wonderful colleague Elida Becker at the book review retyped one of Bell's greatest manuscripts Mr samer's Planet when she worked at at the Viking press”
Where to get it
-
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“we're alternating two books I had never read uh Never Let Me Go by uh isig Guru which our daughter liked so we're reading that”
Where to get it
-
Nut Country
Discussed“um so the two books I should give their full subtitles are nut country right-wing Dallas and the birth of the southern strategy by Edward H Miller and right out of California the 1930s and the big business rot FRS of modern conservatism by Katherine s Olstead”
Where to get it
-
Poison Tea
Discussed“therefore a book like uh the one on the big money that goes into the the Tea Party on Tobacco poison te how big oil and big tobacco invented the Tea Party and captured the GOP by Jeff NE bit”
Where to get it
-
Raising the floor
Discussed“because those are the issues that speak to the heroes of another book I reviewed called raising the floor by Andy Stern”
Where to get it
-
Ravelstein
Discussed“all the way through Ravel steam which some people love his novel about Alan Bloom is great friend”
Where to get it
-
Right Out of California
Discussed“um so the two books I should give their full subtitles are nut country right-wing Dallas and the birth of the southern strategy by Edward H Miller and right out of California the 1930s and the big business rot FRS of modern conservatism by Katherine s Olstead”
Where to get it
-
Seize the Day
Discussed“for instance it's James Atlas who points out that the famous funeral scene in seiz the day where Tommy wilham and you know sees the day Pamela Tommy willhelm goes to the funeral parlor of a stranger”
Where to get it
-
The adventures of Augie March
Discussed“the most obvious thing about his breakthrough novel The Adventures of Auggie March which was a kind of latterday Huckleberry Finn is that the first three words in the titled are exactly the same”
Where to get it
-
The Way Back
Discussed“let's talk about another book that comes uh from the perspective of the right the way back restoring the promise of America by FH Buckley”
Where to get it
-
Tortilla Flat
Discussed“well it's interesting because his first real success was a novel I don't know if it's much read on more called tortilla flat which was about Mexicans in Monteray you know where he was from”
Where to get it
The other 1 book Sam Tanenhaus recommended or discussed, ranked
- Truman by David McCullough
Appearances
Other mentions (6: passing, ad reads, own books)
“I was looking forward to the hot new history book The Decline and fall of the Roman Empire because I was still convinced it was going strong”
“I was looking forward to the hot new history book The Decline and fall of the Roman Empire because I was still convinced it was going strong”
“it's the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the adventures of Auggie March because he came from Chicago”
“have you read his Oscar wild”
“we're most familiar with them through the novels of John Steinbeck uh The Grapes of Wrath and an earlier one which is Obama's favorite steinback novel in dubious battle which actually figures in olmstead's narrative”
“we're most familiar with them through the novels of John Steinbeck uh The Grapes of Wrath and an earlier one which is Obama's favorite steinback novel in dubious battle which actually figures in olmstead's narrative”