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Mark Manson

Author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck and Everything Is F*cked; writes essays and book reviews at markmanson.net.

19 books on the record · 1 Mar 2021 – 1 Mar 2021 · @markmanson

The bar next to each date shows how long ago it was said: 6d is days, 4yr is years.

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Becoming by Michelle Obama

Former first lady. Well written. Some really interesting parts. Some not-so-interesting parts. What else is there to say?

on markmanson.net · 1 Mar 2021

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Educated by Tara Westover

Don’t get me wrong, it’s very good and a great story. But much like Hillbilly Elegy a few years ago, I was left wondering, “What’s everyone going on about?”

on markmanson.net · 1 Mar 2021

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Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker

Optimism porn. I’m a bona fide Pinker fanboy, but was disappointed with this, for a few reasons.

on markmanson.net · 1 Mar 2021

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Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang

And the title story, “Exhalation,” is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read.

on markmanson.net · 1 Mar 2021

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Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey

I was impressed with the depth and insight in this memoir. I hate to say it, but you rarely expect much from celebrity books. This one delivered though.

on markmanson.net · 1 Mar 2021

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Isaac Newton by James Gleick

Just a really, really well-written biography. And of arguably the most important man in history.

on markmanson.net · 1 Mar 2021

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Lost Connections by Johann Hari

Useful and interesting read. Touching at times. But as an academic work, it’s flawed.

on markmanson.net · 1 Mar 2021

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Obliquity by John Kay

One of those business books (and there are many) that you can get the main idea within the first 20 pages and can stop reading there. I skimmed through most of it.

on markmanson.net · 1 Mar 2021

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Payback by Margaret Atwood

Brilliant for stretches but also kind of weird and rambly for stretches as well. A very uneven book, but the great moments make the others worth it

on markmanson.net · 1 Mar 2021

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Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

A must-read for anyone who wants to start a business, has started a business, wishes they started a business or has ever thought about starting a business.

on markmanson.net · 1 Mar 2021

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Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Strangely, it’s in maybe Taleb’s worst book that I found him the most tolerable?

on markmanson.net · 1 Mar 2021

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The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt

This is the only one I’m not crazy about. My academic BS detector got tripped a few times while reading it, and it turns out that there are a number of better measurements emerging in moral psychology.

on markmanson.net · 1 Mar 2021

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The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin

It’s one of the best fiction experiences I’ve ever had in my life. A stunning achievement. And a must-read for anyone who is even remotely into sci-fi or nerdy space science stuff.

on markmanson.net · 1 Mar 2021

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Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick Deneen

Brilliant but flawed. Deneen tried to argue that the ideals of the western enlightenment are ultimately self-defeating. I think he was onto something, but I don’t think he totally got his argument straightened out.

on markmanson.net · 1 Mar 2021

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Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

A flawed but really useful book. Some of the data here is exaggerated, it appears.

on markmanson.net · 1 Mar 2021

Everything Mark Manson recommends — not just books — on rcmnd →

That little bar

It says how long ago something was said, so you can tell last month from 2014 without doing the arithmetic. Full and green is recent; it drains and cools as the date gets older, and empties completely at about 6 years.

A striped bar means the date itself is an estimate — the source did not carry an exact one. An entry with no date at all gets no bar.