Books for Living

Books for Living is a book by Will Schwalbe about the many books that shaped his life and his understanding of the world. In each chapter in this non-fiction book, he writes about a single book, in a wide variety of genres, that changed the way he thinks about the world, or which imparted a life lesson. Many of these books lead to stories about people, moments, or circumstances in his life, shaping each chapter into a mini-memoir that comes together to give a larger view of the role that literature has played in Schwalbe's life.

Over the course of Books for Living, Schwalbe considers a number of existential questions about life, literature, and the intersections of the two. He wonders why we read, what reading offers us, and how reading particular books can give us insight into large questions that many of us share. By asking these questions, Schwalbe fosters discussion about books, not just as an art form, but also as a way of living, and navigating this distracting, violent, and noisy world.

Schwalbe covers a huge array of books in this volume, from classics in both adult and children's literature to contemporary thrillers, cookbooks, and much more. He moves from pulp novels to literary fiction, and back again, without missing a beat. Each book has a lesson that it imparts, and people and places that are associated with it. For each book, Schwalbe also reveals the way the book came into his life, as if each story and its subsequent lesson was part of a larger, spiritual message from the gods of literature.



Many of the lessons Schwalbe learns are broad in scope. For instance, when reading the classic Melville novel Bartleby, the Scrivener, about a Wall Street lawyer who hires a clerk that refuses to do any of the tasks that he has been hired to complete. This book, Schwalbe says, teaches us lessons about quitting, and the role that it plays in our modern lives.

Other books include the classic Orwell novel 1984, which has become more and more relevant in the modern age. Schwalbe sees this science fiction novel as a reminder to disconnect from technology and other electronics, and to rely on ourselves above all else. Similarly, the book Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin speaks to our need to find one another in the chaos of life, and to connect with one another despite all odds.

Schwalbe continues on in his crusade to make meaning from literature. The Little Prince, the classic children's book about a boy from a small, isolated planet who travels the galaxy making friends and trying to understand the world of adults, speaks to the importance of friendship. The best-selling thriller Girl on the Train is a book about the importance of trust. Anne Lamott's book Bird by Bird is all about being sensitive to the world around us, noticing, and empathizing with each other and creatures everywhere.



Some other titles include books by Daphne du Maurier, Charles Dickens, E.B. White, and many others. The book as a whole serves as both a wonderful and exploratory reading list and a book of lessons on living, from centuries of humans who have not only learned these lessons, but recorded them on the page.

Will Schwalbe is the author of The End of Your Life Book Club, and co-authored the book Send, about email culture. He grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts and attended school in New Haven, Connecticut. After college he worked in publishing, as a substitute teacher, and in a number of other careers before starting the start-up Cookstr, which was purchased by MacMillan in 2014. Schwalbe now lives in New York City with his husband, and works in publishing.