What if we could extract a creative and inspiring new reading project from the man at the centre of the dark times we’re living through?
As a break from the unrelenting awfulness of the news, I am starting a reading project inspired by the failings and character flaws of Donald J Trump.
The idea came to me when I saw a mention somewhere of Robert Musil’s book The Man Without Qualities and instantly thought of Trump. What other books, I wondered, could be suggested to me by riffing off the absurdities of this most absurd of men? Since he’s everywhere, all the time, perhaps I could turn this to my advantage by resisting the horror and getting some good reading inspiration instead.
I was surprised by how many books came to mind. Here’s what I have so far:
- The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil
- When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson
- The Plague by Albert Camus
- Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
- The Confidence-Man by Herman Melville
- A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
- Blindness by José Saramago
- American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
- The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna
- Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
- White Noise by Don DeLillo
- An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
I’m sure you can think of plenty more, so please contribute your ideas in the comments. I’d love to add to this list and make it a really solid resource for people who want to resist what Trump represents—the narrowing of discourse, the cultivation of enmity—and instead celebrate creativity and, that most important of reading gifts in these dark times, the capacity for empathy.
As I’m sure you can tell from the list above, I have no interest in reading about Trump himself. I’ve already done plenty of that, and there’s really not much to learn about a personality so basic and unevolved. Nor am I interested in books whose content mirrors our current predicament or anything like that.
Instead, the aim of the list is to proceed by association, using Trump’s vileness as an unlikely source of inspiration for discovering excellent books on completely different topics. And, of course, if you disagree with me and think Trump is a wonderful and gifted leader, please also contribute your ideas, perhaps inspired by all the things he knows better than anybody.
I plan to read these books gradually over the course of the next few months, years, or however long Trumpism lasts. If you’d like to play along, I’d love to have some company, so please do participate and leave a link to your posts about these books in the comments. My shelf was inspired by Marcie’s Shelf of Mexico project, so I encourage you to check out and participate in that one too.
Reading may seem like a very small, personal act of defiance, and it certainly won’t directly help the many victims of Trump’s policies. But there’s a reason why book banning is on the rise in the U.S. and elsewhere, why authoritarian regimes always hate and fear reading. It’s a way of engaging with the world on your own terms, thinking for yourself, emancipating yourself from the propaganda of the day. We need to do more of it, now more than ever.
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The first book that comes to mind is Ubu King by Alfred Jarry.
Money by Zola or La Curée by Zola too.
Defiance could also be reading the banned books.
Thanks for the ideas, Emma! Yes, the banned books would be a great reading list too. I think with this I just wanted to discover some good books in a tangential, unexpected way, through a chain of associations. But there are loads of other actions that would be far more effective than this, so let’s do as many as we can!
I’m having a hard time deciding what’s tangential to this nightmare, and what’s too close. Maybe Gilgamesh’s pride and hubris?
I’m finding that every other book I choose these days is fiction–currently I’m reading a book that takes place in 1917 Svalbard. That’s about as far away in time, place, and situation as our current events, and so I’m escaping to that frozen landscape.
If I limit nonfiction to every other book (plus put limits on my daily news), I might save my sanity!
If I think of other books for your list, I’ll come back and comment.
Thanks Bean! Yes, Gilgamesh’s pride and hubris definitely have some contemporary parallels. It’s certainly a rough time, and 1917 Svalbard sounds like a good place to be right now. Enjoy!
Ohhhhh. How interesting. I love it. (And thanks for linking to my Shelf. I hope there are many, many more shelves for all of us.)
The Ellis came to my mind straight away. (But it’s not in my local library.) As did Dionne Brand’s newest, Salvage, to explore how stories and talking about stories can change the world or hold the status quo. (She rec’s American Tragedy actually, which is why I bought that one for later this year.) Musil’s book sounds fascinating; I’m not familiar (and it would be an ILL too) but I’m game. About half of them are books I’ve thought of reading but haven’t gotten to yet; it would come down to timing for me to join/commit, but either way I would enjoy reading your thoughts on them and following the discussions here.
Thanks for the suggestions, Marcie. You know, it’s a sad sign of the times we’re in that it seems so natural to link from the US president to Bret Easton Ellis’s novel! As much as I disagreed with certain presidents and their policies in the past, I’d never have made that mental association before.
I can’t remember if you follow the Club years? They’ve selected 1925 for the next one, so it would be a perfect match-up for American Tragedy, if you are still working out a schedule for your shelf-reading? (For the club, I’m actually reading a Canadian book, but I still want to read the Dreiser, and can plan for whenever.)
Love your idea and list. May I suggest a SF book? Translation State by Anne Leckie. It’s about a lot of things, but mainly about diplomacy, family, gender identity, and the right of the individual to self-determination.
Thanks Stefanie—I hadn’t heard of this one, and it sounds very interesting. Does it need to be read as part of the series, or is it standalone?
You can read it as a stand alone. It’s one of those “set in the world of” books that don’t require you to know the whole big story, though there may be some references that slip by, they aren’t that important to the whole scheme of things
Good to know, thanks!
What a brilliant idea! I’ve been chuckling away at your titles, which makes a nice change from being infuriated by whatever nonsense the moron has come up with this time. It’s early morning here and I haven’t switched my brain on yet, but I will have a think about further titles!
I’m very glad to hear it! That man puts so much negativity into the world that if I can raise a chuckle, I’m happy to have redressed the balance just a little bit. Would love to hear your ideas if anything comes to you later on.
I came across this today and thought of your Shelf of Trump post:
A Hundred Classics to Get Me Through a Hundred Days of Trump April 28, 2025.
NewYorker.com
Thanks! That’s a lot of good solid lifeboats right there 🙂