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David Maraniss's Top Book Recommendations

Want to know what books David Maraniss recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of David Maraniss's favorite book recommendations of all time.

1

The Return of the Prodigal Son

A Story of Homecoming

Henri J. M. Nouwen | 4.54

A chance encounter with a reproduction of Rembrandt's The Return of the Prodigal Son catapulted Henri Nouwen on a long spiritual adventure. Here he shares the deeply personal and resonant meditation that led him to discover the place within where God has chosen to dwell.

In seizing the inspiration that came to him through Rembrandt's depiction of the powerful Gospel story, Henri Nouwen probes the several movements of the parable: the younger son's return, the father's restoration of sonship, the elder son's vengefulness, and the father's compassion. In his reflection on... more
Recommended by David Maraniss, and 1 others.

David Maranissshe was trying to emphasize the role that her faith, as a Methodist, has played in her ability to keep going. (Source)

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2

Play It As It Lays

Joan Didion, David Thomson | 3.94

A ruthless dissection of American life in the late 1960s, Play It as It Lays captures the mood of an entire generation, the ennui of contemporary society reflected in spare prose that blisters and haunts the reader. Set in a place beyond good and evil - literally in Hollywood, Las Vegas, and the barren wastes of the Mojave Desert, but figuratively in the landscape of an arid soul - it remains more than three decades after its original publication a profoundly disturbing novel, riveting in its exploration of a woman and a society in crisis and stunning in the still-startling...
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Recommended by David Maraniss, and 1 others.

David MaranissThe book has a bleak aspect to it, in terms of marital relations. (Source)

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3

The Feminine Mystique

Betty Friedan, Gail Collins, Anna Quindlen | 4.13

Landmark, groundbreaking, classic—these adjectives barely do justice to the pioneering vision and lasting impact of The Feminine Mystique. Published in 1963, it gave a pitch-perfect description of “the problem that has no name”: the insidious beliefs and institutions that undermined women’s confidence in their intellectual capabilities and kept them in the home. Writing in a time when the average woman first married in her teens and 60 percent of women students dropped out of college to marry, Betty Friedan captured the frustrations and thwarted ambitions of a generation and showed... more
Recommended by David Maraniss, and 1 others.

David MaranissThere is always that tension between family and career. Hillary’s life represents that. Betty Friedan’s book explains it. (Source)

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4

First in His Class

A Biography of Bill Clinton

David Maraniss | 4.22

Who exactly is Bill Clinton, and why was he, of all the brilliant and ambitious men in his generation, the first in his class to reach the White House? Drawing on hundreds of letters, documents, and interviews, David Maraniss explores the evolution of the personality of our forty-second president from his youth in Arkansas to his 1991 announcement that he would run for the nation's highest office. In this richly textured and balanced biography, Maraniss reveals a complex man full of great flaws and great talents. First in His Class is the definitive book on Bill Clinton. less
Recommended by David Maraniss, and 1 others.

David MaranissFrom the time they first met at Yale Law School, in 1971, they saw that together they could get places that they could not get to apart. (Source)

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5

West with the Night

Beryl Markham | 4.39

West with the Night is the story of Beryl Markham--aviator, racehorse trainer, beauty--and her life in the Kenya of the 1920s and '30s. less
Recommended by David Maraniss, Cal Fussman, and 2 others.

David MaranissShe’s always been attracted to flying and space, she grew up near O’Hare Airport. (Source)

Cal Fussman"I [note: Tim Ferriss] asked Cal, "If you were a billionaire and could give 2 to 3 books to every graduating high school senior in the country this year, what would they be?" His answer (updated since the podcast) is: "For everyone: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. For females: West with the Night by Beryl Markham. For males: The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. That's a good... (Source)

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