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I got an email from longtime 3 Booker Bo Boswell who told me he found an enticingly-titled thread on reddit called\xa0\u201cWhat\u2019s your field or study (hobbyist or professional) and what\u2019s a cornerstone beginners book for that topic/field?\u201d \xa0 \xa0 The most upvoted reply on the thread read: "Librarian here, Susan Orlean\u2019s \u2018The Library Book\u2019 is at first glance a true-crime book about tracking the arsonist who set fire and burned down the main library in Los Angeles, but it also gives a comprehensive glimpse into contemporary libraries and their issues, especially updating a view of them if you haven\u2019t been inside one since you were a kid." \xa0
Bo picked up the book, loved it, and then wrote to me that "the amount of research and bizarre detail\xa0Orlean\xa0puts into her work is so engrossing.\u201d Bizarre detail! I was convinced. I picked up \u2018The Library Book\u2019 and it blew me away. Reading it was like \u2026 wandering a library. Surprising curiosity trails at every turn. I ended up putting the book in my\xa0Best Of 2023\xa0and then went deeper into Susan\xa0Orlean\u2019s back catalog where I found myself reading profiles like \u2018The American Man, Age 10\u2019 and a series of fascinating but unconventional obituaries about people like the inventor of Hawaiian Tropic or the first magician on the Las Vegas strip. \xa0
I\u2019ve come to think of Susan\xa0Orlean\xa0as one of the best non-fiction writers on the planet. She\u2019s been a Staff Writer for \u2018The New Yorker\u2019 since 1992 and has written more than 10 bestselling books including \u2018The Library Book\u2019, \u2018On Animals\u2019, \u2018Saturday Night\u2019, and \u2018The Orchid Thief\u2019, which was turned into the movie \u2018Adaptation\u2019, starring Meryl Streep in her Oscar-nominated role as \u2026 yes, Susan\xa0Orlean. \xa0
Susan has an endless, unbridled curiosity \u2014 that \u2018bizarre detail\u2019 \u2014 which you\u2019ll see on full display in this conversation which begins by talking about how she organizes her shoes! She\u2019s a writer\u2019s writer who offers us a \xa0true masterclass and always reminds us that \u201cstorytelling and knowledge-sharing is the essential human experience.\u201d \xa0
We talk about organizing shoes and spices, what books do that nothing else does, finding the balance between professional and amateur, the genius of container ships, what great book design does, how to cultivate your writing voice, how you might organize your book, facing the fear of failure, LSD, the power of libraries, Susan\u2019s 3 most formative books, and much, much more\u2026 \xa0 \xa0 I am so excited to share this conversation and hope you\u2019ll find it as endlessly inspiring, thoughtful as I did. \xa0
Let\u2019s jump into Chapter 134 of 3 Books now\u2026