Gilbert is the best-selling author of Eat, Pray, Love and The Last American Man. Her novel Stern Men has just been reissued by Penguin.
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (Dover, $5). I divided my six favorite books into six genres, to make the choosing somewhat tidier. So we shall begin with fiction—and my favorite novel. David Copperfield was Dickens’ own favorite among his novels—no better recommendation than that!
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $15). This is a masterpiece of compassion—the fascinating true story of a Hmong immigrant family with an epileptic daughter, struggling through the American health-care system. In nonfiction, it’s the book I most deeply admire.
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Three Dog Life by Abigail Thomas (Harvest, $13). The best American memoir of late. With frank simplicity, Thomas remembers her husband, whose sudden debilitating brain injury left her with a man who was both there and not there. Neither maudlin nor shallowly “triumphant,” Thomas’ writing shines with honest intelligence.
Refusing Heaven by Jack Gilbert (Knopf, $16). Gilbert (no relation to me, though I wish he were) is my favorite poet, and Refusing Heaven is his greatest volume. If you’ve never read Jack Gilbert, find him. He is timeless, bold, sly, magical, fearless.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Dover, $3). For anyone interested in self-help, I’d suggest this slim, readable book, which still holds up nicely after almost 2,000 years. There are days when we all need the clear-headed advice of a dead Roman emperor.
The Wizard of Oz series (Books of Wonder, $210) by L. Frank Baum. The most important category is children’s literature. I am a writer today because I learned to love reading as a child—and mostly on account of the Oz books. After The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum wrote more than a dozen other tales about Dorothy’s continuing adventures, and these lushly illustrated epics have been republished in their original form. If you have a child and a lap, you really should own the entire set.
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October 13 editorial cartoonsCartoons Monday's political cartoons include Donald Trump's consolation prize, government workers during shutdown, and more
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Can Gaza momentum help end the war in Ukraine?Today's Big Question Zelenskyy’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles hints at ‘warming relations’ between Ukraine and US
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The Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners being releasedThe Explainer Triumphant Donald Trump addresses the Israeli parliament as families on both sides of the Gaza war reunite with their loved ones
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Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
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Elizabeth Gilbert’s favorite books about women overcoming difficultiesFeature The author recommends works by Tove Jansson, Lauren Groff, and more
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Keith McNally's 6 favorite books that have ambitious charactersFeature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
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Garrett Graff's 6 favorite books that shine new light on World War IIFeature The author recommends works by James D. Hornfischer, Craig L. Symonds, and more
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Helen Schulman's 6 favorite collections of short storiesFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Raymond Carver, James Baldwin, and more
