Eric Alterman
A columnist for The Nation, Eric Alterman is most recently the author of It Ain’t No Sin to Be Glad You’re Alive: The Promise of Bruce Springsteen (Back Bay Books, $14).
Lost Illusions by Honoré de Balzac (Viking Press, $14). The best book ever about the contemporary mores of elite American journalism was written in the mid-19th century by a Frenchman. The more things change…
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (Modern Library, $10). War and Peace without the preachy metaphysics. Seriously, to read this book is to fall in love, though not happily. But if you need me to recommend Leo Tolstoy, well, I’m afraid I can’t help you.
Subscribe to 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.
The Counterlife by Phillip Roth (Vintage Books, $14). Roth hit his stride as never before with a book—presented as a kind of postmodern afterthought to the famed Zuckerman trilogy—that looks deep into the hearts and minds of men and finds just more penises. Brilliant, funny, deep, and dirty. A perfect book, really.
Rabbit, Run by John Updike (Ballantine Books, $14). Is it possible to write the great American novel anymore? No, the country is too diverse and its culture too self-contradictory. But John Updike gets an A for effort for spending nearly 40 years trying—as well as for leaving in the dirty (racist, sexist, imperialist) parts.
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby (Riverhead Books, $13). Not everything in life that’s great has to be high-minded. I almost picked Flaubert’s Sentimental Education here, which is undoubtedly a “better” book, but nowhere near as much fun. Maybe it’s a guy thing, but I laughed, I cried, I wished it would never end.
The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume I by Robert Caro (Knopf, $35). This is volume one of a proposed history that will likely run up to more than 4,000 pages. Yet each page is meticulously researched, beautifully written, and frequently both astounding and moving at the same time. A perfect marriage of writer to subject and an archetypal work of historical reconstruction, and written by a nonhistorian. It edges out Caro’s other masterpiece, The Power Broker, only because of its wayyy larger-than-life subject.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Some mainstream Democrats struggle with Zohran Mamdani's surprise win
TALKING POINT To embrace or not embrace? A party in transition grapples with a rising star ready to buck political norms and energize a new generation.
-
How to make music part of your vacation
Let the rhythm move you
-
What is credit card churning and why is it risky?
the explainer Churners frequently open new credit cards with the intent of earning a welcome bonus and accessing other perks
-
Anne Hillerman's 6 favorite books with Native characters
Feature The author recommends works by Ramona Emerson, Craig Johnson, and more
-
John Kenney's 6 favorite books that will break your heart softly
Feature The novelist recommends works by John le Carré, John Kennedy Toole, and more
-
Andrea Long Chu's 6 favorite books for people who crave new ideas
Feature The book critic recommends works by Rachel Cusk, Sigmund Freud, and more
-
Bryan Burrough's 6 favorite books about Old West gunfighters
Feature The Texas-raised author recommends works by T.J. Stiles, John Boessenecker, and more
-
Tash Aw's 6 favorite books about forbidden love
Feature The Malaysian novelist recommends works by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and more
-
Richard Bausch's 6 favorite books that are worth rereading
Feature The award-winning author recommends works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and more
-
Marya E. Gates' 6 favorite books about women filmmakers
Feature The film writer recommends works by Julie Dash, Sofia Coppola, and more
-
Laurence Leamer's 6 favorite books that took courage to write
Feature The author recommends works by George Orwell, Truman Capote and more