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Jess Walter's Reading List

“Maybe it’s fatigue with social media and the confessional tone of reality television,” says the author of the new novel “The Cold Millions,” “but I get claustrophobic spending too much time in the head of another writer.”

By the Book: Jess Walter (2020)

NYT By the Book column (2020-12-17).

Source: www.nytimes.com

Wolf Hall

Hilary Mantel · 2009 · Buy on Amazon

"I finally read Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall" this summer. (Sometimes, when everyone is reading a book, I avoid it like it's a trendy restaurant. Now, 10 years later, I can't find anyone to talk about it. I sure hope there's a sequel.)"

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde · Buy on Amazon

"Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray" ("Twilight Zone" with brandy)."

The White Album

Joan Didion · Buy on Amazon

""The White Album," by Joan Didion and "Giovanni's Room," by James Baldwin."

American Pastoral

Philip Roth · 1997 · Buy on Amazon

""American Pastoral," by Philip Roth, immediately upon turning 40."

Caste

Isabel Wilkerson · 2020 · Buy on Amazon

"In America, you can't disentangle class from race, as Isabel Wilkerson's "Caste" makes devastatingly clear."

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