A Reader's Book of Days: True Tales from the Lives and Works of Writers for Every Day of the Year
A Reader's Book of Days is filled with memorable and surprising tales from the lives and works of Martin Amis, Jane Austen, James Baldwin, Roberto Bolano, the Brontë sisters, Junot Díaz, Philip K. Dick, Charles Dickens, Joan Didion, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Keats, Hilary Mantel, Haruki Murakami, Flannery O'Connor, Orhan Pamuk, George Plimpton, Marilynne Robinson, W. G. Sebald, Dr. Seuss, Zadie Smith, Susan Sontag, Hunter S. Thompson, Leo Tolstoy, David Foster Wallace, and many more. The book also notes the days on which famous authors were born and died; it includes lists of recommended reading for every month of the year as well as snippets from book reviews as they appeared across literary history; and throughout there are wry illustrations by acclaimed artist Joanna Neborsky.
Brimming with nearly 2,000 stories, A Reader's Book of Days will have readers of every stripe reaching for their favorite books and discovering new ones.
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The world's least useful, most wonderful reference book, a masterpiece with a wry sensibility... Whether you browse at random or read a page a day, this book will delight.--Camila Domonoske
A treasure hunt between book covers -- and my new favorite gift book... This book is a joy... [Nissley] is a marvelous storyteller.--Elizabeth Taylor
Essential... Terrifically fun.--Kate Tuttle
Tantalizing long entries on such writerly topics as day jobs, marriage, mothers, Melville, sports, and suicide.--Mary Norris
Charming, funny, beguiling, this literary miscellany combines true events in writers' lives and fictional events in their books. The perfect gift for any reader.
Finally, a book to live by. Every day will remind me of the few things I've read and all the endless treasures I have to look forward to. How lucky for readers that Tom Nissley has turned his formidable intelligence to the history of literature.--Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder
Oh, this is a true delight!--Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love
Brilliant, fascinating, and fun!--Ken Jennings, Jeopardy! champion and author of Because I Said So!
