What book changed your life?

Der Struwwelpeter

“My mother gave it to me as a child when we lived in South Africa and I can honestly say that, because
of this book, I have never played with matches, sucked my thumb or been mean to animals and take
great pains to groom myself and clearly always eat my soup because I am, well…still alive.”
— Gabe Doppelt, West Coast Bureau Chief, The Daily Beast

Atlas Shrugged

“Ayn Rand’s philosophy really spoke to me. It justified and clarified a lot of things that I’d felt for a long time.”
— Jessica Rowe, Blogger, The Aestate

Hollywood Wives

“By Jackie Collins — need I say more?”
— Nathan Turner, Interior Designer

A Reader’s Manifesto

“B. R. Myers certainly got me thinking about what good writing is and what it isn’t. I still respect and admire
many of the very famous writers he blasts, but Myers’ incisive critiques of their celebrated prose certainly
encouraged me to read book reviews — and lavish praise — with several grains of salt. “
— Laura Moriarty, Author

The Great Gatsby

“It made me have an appreciation for American literature. Up until that point it was
all Emerson and Thoreau, who are great, but Fitzgerald really broke through.”
— Edward Barsamian, Fashion Associate, T: The New York Times Style Magazine

One Hundred Years of Solitude

“I love anything Gabriel García Márquez wrote.”
— Lauren Bush, Co-Founder and Chief Feeder, Feed Projects

Écoute-moi

“It’s an amazing little French book. The writer is Margaret Mazzantini, who is half-Irish and half-Italian.”
— Virginie Mouzat, Fashion Director, Le Figaro

Frankenstein

“In the last decade, that would be a tie between Oh, the Glory of It All by Sean Wilsey and A Heartbreaking
Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. In earlier decades: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, which is
so good, so fast and scary and reveals to us how we create our own monsters.”
— Alex Kuczynski, Journalist and Author

The Sun Also Rises

“An Ernest Hemingway classic.”
— Geoffrey Zakarian, Chef and Partner, New York’s The Lambs Club
and The National and Miami’s Tudor House

American Psycho

“Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho.”
— Anna Dello Russo, Editor-at-Large, Vogue Nippon

The Catcher in the Rye

“I first read it at the beginning of high school and it made me feel like the hardships of adolescence
were not on my shoulders alone. It was the first time I felt truly connected to a literary character.”
— Emily Schuman, Blogger, Cupcakes and Cashmere

Autobiography of a Yogi

“It’s about being present and not taking life for granted. By Paramahansa Yogananda.”
— Dree Hemingway, Model

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

“It was just unlike anything I had ever read before. I was totally transfixed.”
— John DeLucie, Chef and Owner, New York’s Crown and The Lion

See all our tastemakers’ book suggestions from seasons past and present here.