The Moviegoer by Walker Percy (1961-05-12) Cover
Podcast Mentions

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy (1961-05-12)

Walker Percy

When "The Moviegoer" was first published in 1961, it won the National Book Award and established Walker Percy as one of the supplest and most deftly modulated new voices in Southern literature. In his portrait of a boyish New Orleans stockbroker wavering between ennui and the longing for redemption,...

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On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Podcast

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

It was one of Walter Isaacson's top three favourite books, illustrating the concept of a person's journey through life, a theme that resonates with his own work and approach to biography.

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What are your top three favorite reads in your own life and your own journey?

— Episode: Walter Isaacson ON: The Importance of Li...

Episode: Walter Isaacson ON: The Importance of Living a Cur...

It was one of Walter Isaacson's top three favourite books, illustrating the concept of a person's journey through life, a theme that resonates with his own work and approach to biography.

"

What are your top three favorite reads in your own life and your own journey?

The movie goer by Walker Percy because it's about like any great book including nonfiction it's about a person goes on a journey and We're all on a journey and that book gets it

Episode: Walter Isaacson ON: The Importance of Living a Cur...

It was described as a book about a person's journey through life, which resonates with Walter Isaacson's approach to biography and the human experience.

"

The moviegoer by Walker Percy, because it's about like any great book, including nonfiction, it's about a person goes on a journey and we're all on a journey and that book gets it.

The Moth

Podcast

The Moth

The storyteller mentioned reading this Walker Percy novel while working at the crisis hotline, and recounted the story to a caller named Tara who seemed to enjoy it.

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I read novels. I read Robert Penn Warren and Flannery O'Connor. I wanted to be a writer, but I felt no inspiration. These were books about fascinating, tormented southerners.

— Episode: 25 Years of Stories: All The Way Back

Episode: 25 Years of Stories: All The Way Back

The storyteller mentioned reading this Walker Percy novel while working at the crisis hotline, and recounted the story to a caller named Tara who seemed to enjoy it.

"

I read novels. I read Robert Penn Warren and Flannery O'Connor. I wanted to be a writer, but I felt no inspiration. These were books about fascinating, tormented southerners.

And so I told her the story of this Walker Percy novel that I was reading, The Moviegoer, and she seemed to like that.

On Being with Krista Tippett

Podcast

On Being with Krista Tippett

The speaker discussed this novel, noting its portrayal of a man in his late twenties grappling with life's significance, and how it made sense to him upon rereading it years later.

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So I read my way through his nonfiction and then went to the movie goer which I tried reading once before. This time it just made sense. The portrait of a man on the cusp of 30 trying to figure out wh...

— Episode: [Unedited] Paul Elie with Krista Tippett

Episode: [Unedited] Paul Elie with Krista Tippett

The speaker discussed this novel, noting its portrayal of a man in his late twenties grappling with life's significance, and how it made sense to him upon rereading it years later.

"

So I read my way through his nonfiction and then went to the movie goer which I tried reading once before. This time it just made sense. The portrait of a man on the cusp of 30 trying to figure out what significance his life has and what he's supposed to do about it.

Episode: [Unedited] Paul Elie with Krista Tippett

This novel, mentioned as being read by the speaker after college, portrays a man in his late twenties grappling with life's meaning. The speaker noted the novel's exploration of the search for significance in life.

"

So I read my way through his nonfiction and then went to the movie goer which I tried reading once before. This time it just made sense.

The portrait of a man on the cusp of 30 trying to figure out what significance his life has and what he's supposed to do about it.

Episode: Paul Elie — Faith Fired by Literature

The speaker describes reading Walker Percy's novel, finding it relatable as a portrait of a man in his late twenties grappling with the meaning of his life. The book's themes resonated with the speaker's own experiences.

"

And then went to the movie Goer, which I tried reading once before. This time it just made sense as the portrait of a man on the cusp of 30 trying to figure out what significance his life has and what he's supposed to do about it.

The Daily Stoic

Podcast

The Daily Stoic

The speaker described a passage from the book about a man struggling to find meaning in his life and receiving guidance from his stoic aunt. He said the book has stoic themes despite not being explicitly Stoic.

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Favorite books, novels of all time, this is the movie going by Walker Percy.

— Episode: What Does Your Calendar Say? | 12 (Stoic...

Episode: What Does Your Calendar Say? | 12 (Stoic) Secrets...

The speaker described a passage from the book about a man struggling to find meaning in his life and receiving guidance from his stoic aunt. He said the book has stoic themes despite not being explicitly Stoic.

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Favorite books, novels of all time, this is the movie going by Walker Percy.

It's not exactly stoic, although there is a bunch of stoic themes.

Walker Percy was introduced to stoicism by his uncle Will Percy.

And there's this amazing passage in the book. Let me find it real fast.

He's struggling.

He has this sort of stoic aunt who tries to give him something to lead on.

His world kind of feels like it's spinning out of control. He doesn't know what's important, what he should try to do, who he should try to be.

This is what his aunt Emily says.

She says, I don't know what we're doing on this insignificant cinder spinning away in a dark corner of the universe.

That is a secret which the high gods have yet confided in me.

Yet one thing I believe, and I believe it with every fiber of my being. A man must live by his lights and do what little he can and do it as best he can.

In this world, goodness is destined to be defeated.

But a man must go down fighting.

That is the victory.

To do anything less is to be less than a man.

Episode: Wright Thompson on Untangling Myth from History in...

The podcast discussed this novel, noting a significant passage from Marcus Aurelius included in it and the influence of Stoic philosophy. It was referenced in relation to Richard Ford's "The Sportswriter".

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There's a big passage from Marcus Aurelius in The Moviegoer that the aunt recites, and the aunt is modeled on William Alexander Percy, who introduces Walker to Stoic philosophy.

I love the moviegoer. Go read Richard Ford right after reading the moviegoer. It's so clear. What is it, The Sportswriter? Yeah. It's so clear, the influence.

No, it's such a brilliant novel. And then the stoicism... He's almost presenting the stoicism as the antiquated thing that he's getting away from. But it is a fascinating book with a lot of stoicism in it.

Episode: Wright Thompson on Untangling Myth from History in...

This novel was discussed in the context of Southern Stoicism and its influence on other works, specifically Richard Ford's The Sportswriter. A big passage from Marcus Aurelius is recited by the aunt, who is modeled on William Alexander Percy.

"

There's a big passage from Marcus Aurelius in The Moviegoer that the aunt recites, and the aunt is modeled on William Alexander Percy, who introduces Walker to Stoic philosophy.

I love the moviegoer. Go read Richard Ford right after reading the moviegoer. It's so clear. What is it, The Sportswriter? Yeah. It's so clear, the influence.

Episode: The Age of Catos is Gone (or Is It?) | Ryan Holida...

The speaker referenced this novel when mentioning the saying that the Age of Catos is gone, noting that Percy wrote this sentiment in 1961, which still feels relevant today.

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As Bink Bowling says in the Walker Percy novel The Moviegoer, the Age of Catos is Gone.

As Aunt Emily tells Binks in The Moviegoer, a man must live by his lights and do what little he can and do it as best he can.

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.