№ 01
“Twain has been turned into kind of an emoji, you know, the white suit, the cigar, the aphorisms that we see all over the place on coffee mugs. This book shows you that his life is, I mean, it's an epic life.” source
Comedian and podcaster
Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien is a comedian, late-night host, and host of the podcast Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. He studied history and literature at Harvard, is a self-described Robert Caro superfan, and devoted a podcast series to The Power Broker. Picks below come from his podcast and thesis.
5
Recommendations
2025
Most recent list
Literary Fiction
Most-recommended
On the record
All Conan O'Brien book recommendations.
№ 02
“Twain hated bullies. He populated his works with abusers, such as Huck Finn's alcoholic father.” source
№ 03
“You will be enveloped by this incredible story about how power works and what one person can do to completely change the face of an American city.” source
№ 04
“The difference with O'Connor is that the discrepancy she seeks to capture is not between the Old South and the New South but between the Christian promise of Redemption and a modern nihilism, and as a result her 'old children' suffer both a spiritual and physical progeria.” source
№ 05
“By establishing a close correlation between such disparate Southern Renaissance writers as Faulkner and O'Connor we can begin to appreciate the power of the 'old child's' significance. This motif merits our closer examination, first because it is a figure which recurs throughout the literature of this period.” source
Readers with overlapping taste
