Best books ... chosen by Harold Evans
The Week’s editor-at-large and author of The American Century names six favorite­ bio­graphies and memoirs. His autobiography, My Paper Chase, is publishe
Enemies of the People by Kati Marton (Simon & Schuster, $26). A searingly personal memoir of growing up in 1950s Hungary and seeing your journalist parents arrested—pawns of the Cold War. Marton got access to secret police files on her mother and father. Her search for their lost identities pulsates like a thriller, with stunning scenes when she confronts the betrayers.
Eating: A Memoir by Jason Epstein (Knopf, $25). Lunching with this legendary Random House editor, an author never knows whether Epstein will vent on the virtues of St. Thomas Aquinas or a properly prepared artichoke. His memoir, more a collection of amusing short
stories, is stuffed—no, graced—with recipes, and is designed to seduce the most frugal.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Journal of a Disappointed Man by W.N.P. Barbellion (Cornell, $24). A literary sensation in 1919, this vivid memoir-diary has just been reissued. A witty and observant naturalist, its author learned on the day he was declared unfit for service in World War I’s trenches that he was already fatally ill. His diary assumes a dramatic intensity and becomes an uplifting journey.
John Osborne by John Heilpern (Vintage, $17). Osborne revolutionized English theater in 1956 with Look Back in Anger, a play that exposed the raw emotions in class and gender warfare. This hugely enjoyable biography of the original angry young man is in a class of its own as literary biography.
The Education of an American Dreamer by Peter G. Peterson (Twelve, $35). If, as an 8-year-old Greek boy at the cash register of a restaurant in the Great Depression, you can induce a jobless man to spend 10 cents on apple pie, you can do anything. And that is just what Peterson did—business innovator, commerce secretary, Lehman Brothers banker, co-founder of Blackstone, and a billionaire philanthropist to boot. Inspiring, shocking, funny, and immensely readable.
Courting Justice by David Boies (Miramax, $16). The “Michael Jordan of the courtroom” tells the inside stories of some famous cases—cross-examining Bill Gates, acting for Al Gore in the disputed Florida recount—as well as his personal life. The book is quietly persuasive, like Boies in front of a jury.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
The lab-made meat that 'could kill the EU'
Under The Radar Concerned at 'unintended consequences for farming' some farmers are 'turning rabid' over the rise of cultured meat
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Magazine solutions - August 2, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - August 2, 2024
By The Week Staff Published
-
Magazine printables - August 2, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - August 2, 2024
By The Week Staff Published
-
Peng Shepherd's 6 favorite works with themes of magical realism
Feature The author recommends works by Susanna Clarke, George Saunders, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Laura van den Berg's 6 favorite books with hidden secrets
Feature The author recommends works by Patricia Lockwood, Gillian Flynn, and more
By The Week US Published
-
26 of America's most unexpectedly banned books
In Depth From 'Harriet the Spy' to 'Little Red Riding Hood,' these books have all fallen afoul of censors
By The Week Staff Published
-
Conn Iggulden recommends 6 unforgettable books with historical themes
Feature The British author recommends works by Patrick O'Brian, Richard Dawkins, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Five books chosen by Nina Stibbe
Feature The author recommends works by David Sedaris, Alba de Céspedes and more
By The Week UK Published
-
Julia Phillips' 6 favorite books that explore the beauty and brutality of life
Feature The Novelist recommends works by Alice Walker, Colson Whitehead, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Joseph Earl Thomas's 6 favorite books that tackle social issues
Feature The author recommends works by Fernanda Melchor, Adania Shibli, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Ivy Pochoda's 6 favorite books that explore the dark side of human nature
Feature The thriller writer recommends works by Cormac McCarthy, Rachel Kushner, and more
By The Week Staff Published