Austin Kleon
Writer and artist, author of Steal Like an Artist; publishes a weekly newsletter and an annual list of the books he read.
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Where they publish
Recommends rcmnd
What they recommendrcmnd 18 things — each backed by an exact quote.
Compiled by rcmnd.app, not by them: the quotes are theirs, and each links to the post it was copied from.
Recent
Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska Liked
I love the beginning of the book when Zane just lists the stuff that Springsteen was into while he was making Nebraska
austinkleon.com 2026-01-14
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What others say about Deliver Me From Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska →
Love is a Mix Tape Read
Several people recommended this memoir to me after learning about my monthly mixtape project.
austinkleon.com 2026-01-14
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Art Work: On The Creative Life Mixed on
This book has more of a DGAF tone than Hold Still, I think, and it works best for me when Mann is telling stories instead of trying to extract a lesson for the reader.
austinkleon.com 2026-01-14
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The Hedgehog and The Fox Loved
Probably the most illuminating thing I read about Tolstoy was Isaiah Berlin's long essay, The Hedgehog and The Fox.
austinkleon.com 2026-01-14
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On Conan Doyle Liked
I also read critic Michael Dirda's On Conan Doyle, a lovely short book I'd never heard of that I spotted on the shelf at the library — hooray for the serendipity of the stacks!
austinkleon.com 2026-01-14
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Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties Loved
I think the absolute best book I've ever read about The Beatles is Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties.
austinkleon.com 2026-01-14
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What others say about Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties →
Processing: 100 Comics That Got Me Through It Liked
Booth's formally trained (and her grandparents are watercolor artists!) but her use of color is just so free and unexpected, it makes you want to experiment yourself and join along in the fun.
austinkleon.com 2026-01-14
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What others say about Processing: 100 Comics That Got Me Through It →
Train Dreams Loved
It's as sad and beautiful as I remembered, but also funnier.
austinkleon.com 2026-01-14
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The Grammar of Fantasy: An Introduction to the Art of Inventing Stories Loved
One of the most gorgeously-produced books I read, with illustrations by Matthew Forsythe.
austinkleon.com 2026-01-14
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What others say about The Grammar of Fantasy: An Introduction to the Art of Inventing Stories →
A Great and Glorious Game: Baseball Writings of A. Bartlett Giamatti Recommends
That's the opening of "The Green Fields of the Mind," collected in this slim, wonderful volume. Recommended if you like thinking about America, baseball, and The Odyssey.
austinkleon.com 2026-01-14
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What others say about A Great and Glorious Game: Baseball Writings of A. Bartlett Giamatti →
Tolstoy: A Biography Loved
Anna Karenina Loved
I love Tolstoy because you get a third of a way into his book about a lady having an affair and the best chapter is about a dude experiencing a state of "flow" while mowing a field with his country peasants.
austinkleon.com 2026-01-14
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War and Peace Loved
While reading War and Peace, I marveled over and over again at how something written so long ago can be so applicable to our times while still being very much of its own time.
austinkleon.com 2026-01-14
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Muybridge Loved
I think this book is a contemporary masterpiece? A cartoonist at the top of his game, a perfect meeting of subject and medium, and beautiful book design by Drawn and Quarterly.
austinkleon.com 2026-01-14
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Four Quartets Loved
A re-read of one of my favorite books of poetry, and an excellent traveling companion
austinkleon.com 2026-01-14
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Story of A Poem Loved
Could a book be more up my alley? The way he unpacks his feelings about giftedness, overachieving, language, disability, and difference really spoke to me.
austinkleon.com 2026-01-14
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Brothers Liked
Alex Van Halen's memoir Brothers is the 3rd good book I've read about Van Halen.
austinkleon.com 2026-01-14
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Written Lives Liked
I had a lot of fun reading it, thanks to Elisa Gabbert's annual year-end list of every book she read.
austinkleon.com 2026-01-14
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