The Writer's Library

Twenty-three of today's living literary legends, including Donna Tartt, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Andrew Sean Greer, Laila Lalami, and Michael Chabon, reveal the books that made them think, brought them joy, and changed their lives in this intimate, moving, and insightful collection that celebrates the power of literature and reading to connect us all.

Before Jennifer Egan, Louise Erdrich, Luis Alberto Urrea, and Jonathan Lethem became revered authors, they were readers. In this ebullient book, America’s favorite librarian Nancy Pearl and noted playwright Jeff Schwager interview a diverse range of America's most notable and influential writers about the books that shaped them and inspired them to leave their own literary mark.

Illustrated with beautiful line drawings, The Writer’s Library is a revelatory exploration of the studies, libraries, and bookstores of today’s favorite authors—the creative artists whose imagination and sublime talent make America's literary scene the wonderful, dynamic world it is. A love letter to books and a celebration of wordsmiths, The Writer’s Library is a treasure for anyone who has been moved by the written word.

The authors in The Writer’s Library are:

Russell Banks

TC Boyle

Michael Chabon

Susan Choi

Jennifer Egan

Dave Eggers

Louise Erdrich

Richard Ford

Laurie Frankel

Andrew Sean Greer

Jane Hirshfield

Siri Hustvedt

Charles Johnson

Laila Lalami

Jonathan Lethem

Donna Tartt

Madeline Miller

Viet Thanh Nguyen

Luis Alberto Urrea

Vendela Vida

Ayelet Waldman

Maaza Mengiste

Amor Towles