BOOK · [5004]

The Moviegoer

Fiction

Percy's National Book Award-winning novel follows a New Orleans stockbroker drifting through life and undertaking a philosophical 'search' for authenticity. Percy was a personal hero of Isaacson's; in his 2014 NEH Jefferson Lecture he recalled that it was the recognition of this novel that first made him realize writing was something one could do for a living.

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Walter Isaacson

neh.gov · Walter Isaacson Biography

“It was not until his first novel, The Moviegoer, had gained recognition that it dawned on me that writing was something you could do for a living, just like being a doctor or a fisherman or an engineer.”

Discussed in Isaacson's 2014 NEH Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities; he also cites Percy's notion of 'the search' as central to his thinking in his Tim Ferriss Show appearance.