Nationally syndicated gossip columnist and author Liz Smith chooses six of her favorite books. Her memoir, Natural Blonde (Hyperion, $20.76), was published last year.
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (Simon & Schuster, $20.40). This is an almost perfect novel, with great events and great characters. What would we have done without it?
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
Kitty Foyle by Christopher Morley (out of print). Back in 1936, this book opened a world to me, a world where a woman could be independent and successful in her “white collar” dress. The male author put himself into the body and soul of a young Irish girl from the wrong side of the tracks. She falls for a scion of the Mainline. Disaster—but she goes on to success in New York. This inspired me to get my act together and leave Texas.
A World Lit Only by Fire by William Raymond Manchester (Little Brown & Co., $12.80). This author, who also wrote The Death of a President (JFK) and a wonderful biography of Winston Churchill, never misses. His story of Vasco de Gamo in A World is just wonderful.
Act One by Moss Hart (St. Martin’s Press, $13.56). Hart’s theater autobiography was a model for all aspiring talents for the stage. And now Stephen Bach’s biography of Moss Hart, Dazzler (Knopf, $23.96), provides more lore. I love both Moss’ version of himself and Bach’s version of Moss.
A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman (Ballantine, $12.80). All of Tuchman’s histories are just wonderful, but this is a favorite—the story of life in the Middle Ages and during the Black Death. It makes you very glad to be alive in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Patricia Cornwell, Jeffrey Deaver, Kathy Reichs. Any book by these writers and their imitators. I love serial-killer, forensic-science stories and find them now my most relaxing and favorite reading.
-
‘Social media is the new tabloid’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Can the NBA survive FBI’s gambling investigation?Talking Points A casualty of the ‘sports gambling revolution’
-
How are ICE’s recruitment woes complicating Trump’s immigration agenda?TODAY’S BIG QUESTION Lowered training standards and ‘athletically allergic’ hopefuls are hindering the White House plan to turn the Department of Homeland Security into a federal police force
-
Gilbert King’s 6 favorite books about the search for justiceFeature The journalist recommends works by Bryan Stevenson, David Grann, and more
-
Nathan Harris’ 6 favorite books that turn adventures into revelationsFeature The author recommends works by Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McGuire, and more
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Lou Berney’s 6 favorite books with powerful storytellingFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Dorothy B. Hughes, James McBride, and more
-
Elizabeth Gilbert’s favorite books about women overcoming difficultiesFeature The author recommends works by Tove Jansson, Lauren Groff, and more
-
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imaginationFeature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is moreFeature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
-
Keith McNally's 6 favorite books that have ambitious charactersFeature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
