Guest on How I Write
2 books recommended · 1 episode
Books they recommend that someone else wrote.
“And that goes back to my parents, when I was like 13, gave me a copy of a book by George Plumpton called Paper Lion. George Plumpton founded the Paris Review, but he was also a really fine kind of literary sports writer for Sports Illustrated mostly.”
Why: It reinvents sports writing and gives a vivid experience of awe.
Paper Lion by George Plimpton
Guest on How I WriteMichael Pollan's Best Writing Advice | How I Write
“and I read William James, who talks about mystical experiences in varieties of religious experience. And he said, we can't judge the truth value of these things because we don't know enough.”
The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James
Guest on How I WriteMichael Pollan's Best Writing Advice | How I Write
Their own books, or books they discussed with the author. Not counted as recommendations.
“So on The Worst Dilemma, what I wrote for the question was, how do we get so confused about eating? And then on the back, right at the top of the blurb, it says, America is suffering from what can only be described as a national eating disorder.”
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Guest on How I WriteMichael Pollan's Best Writing Advice | How I Write
“So, for an example, it's a book very much about building, but it doesn't actually give you the blueprint or tell you how to build. It's not a how-to book. It's a how-to-think-about-it book.”
A Place of My Own by Michael Pollan
Guest on How I WriteMichael Pollan's Best Writing Advice | How I Write
“I wrote about it in Botany of Desire when I was writing about cannabis. Because one of the things cannabis does is cause us to forget.”
The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan
Guest on How I WriteMichael Pollan's Best Writing Advice | How I Write
Named without an opinion attached.
“beginning in 2002 and I can date this to when Eric Schlosser published Fast Food Nation, which was a surprise bestseller.”
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Guest on How I WriteMichael Pollan's Best Writing Advice | How I Write
“There's a distinction that I draw in the consciousness book between, it's not mine, it's Alison Gopnik's psychologist and philosopher, between spotlight consciousness and lantern consciousness.”
Consciousness by Susan J. Blackmore
Guest on How I WriteMichael Pollan's Best Writing Advice | How I Write