Books Recommended by Donald Knuth
A Dual Autobiography
Will Durant
Source: "Superbly written, a great story about how a man and woman can work creatively and sustainably together despite the mysteries of the human sex drive." - Donald Knuth
Blacklist
Sara Paretsky
Source: "A brilliant characterization of the tragic state of politics and class relations in America that also happens to be an action-packed murder mystery." - Donald Knuth
Feynman
Jim Ottaviani
Source: "Vivid, witty, hilarious, poignant: I laughed, I cried, I learned; demonstrates the unreasonable effectiveness of a graphic novel." - Donald Knuth
America
Jon Stewart
Source: "Has graffiti even better than the marginal notes in 'Concrete Mathematics.'" - Donald Knuth
Blasphemy
Douglas Preston
Source: "The best novel to deal with 'science versus religion' that I've ever encountered." - Donald Knuth
Mountains Beyond Mountains
Tracy Kidder
Source: "About how Paul Farmer's local and global life combines theory and practice." - Donald Knuth
Efronia
Stina Katchadourian
Source: "Diaries and letters of a remarkable Armenian woman." - Donald Knuth
The Travels of Ibn Battutah
Ibn Battutah
Source: "Fascinating and eye-opening journal by a 14th-century Muslim scholar." - Donald Knuth
The Hornet's Nest
Jimmy Carter
Source: "A revolutionary novel about the Revolutionary War at all levels." - Donald Knuth
The Golden Gate
Vikram Seth
Source: "The Great California Novel, entirely in 14-line sonnets." - Donald Knuth
Lifeline Rule
Doug Nufer
Source: "The rule: parity to vowel; an awesome conovowel opus." - Donald Knuth
Food
Waverley Root
Source: "His magnum opus, a wonderful history of everything delicious." - Donald Knuth
Death of a Salesperson
Robert Barnard
Source: "[The author] is at his best in short stories like these." - Donald Knuth
The Age of Faith
Will Durant
Source: "Volume 4 of his series, covers the years 325--1300." - Donald Knuth
The Haj
Leon Uris
Source: "Great to read on a trip to Israel." - Donald Knuth
The Abominable Man
Maj Sjöwall
Source: "One of their brilliantly Swedish detective novels." - Donald Knuth
Hackers
Steven Levy
Source: "Incredibly well written tale of our times." - Donald Knuth
Life
Georges Perec
Source: "Perhaps the greatest 20th century novel." - Donald Knuth
Gaudy Night
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Source: "Captures Oxford high-table small-talk wonderfully." - Donald Knuth
The Man Who Knew Infinity
Robert Kanigel
Source: "Biographies of Ramanujan and Hardy." - Donald Knuth
