Lawrence Wright Popular Books

Lawrence Wright Biography & Facts

Lawrence Wright (born August 2, 1947) is an American writer and journalist, who is a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, and fellow at the Center for Law and Security at the New York University School of Law. Wright is best known as the author of the 2006 nonfiction book Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. Wright is also known for his work with documentarian Alex Gibney who directed film versions of Wright's one man show My Trip to Al-Qaeda and his book Going Clear. His 2020 novel, The End of October, a thriller about a pandemic, was released in April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, to generally positive reviews. Background and education Wright graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, Texas, in 1965 and was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2009. He is a graduate of Tulane University and taught English at the American University in Cairo (from which he was awarded a Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics in 1969) in Egypt for two years. Wright lives in Austin, Texas. Career In 1980, Wright began working for the magazine Texas Monthly and contributed to Rolling Stone magazine. In late 1992, he joined the staff of The New Yorker. The Looming Tower Wright is the author of six books but is best known for his 2006 publication, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. A quick bestseller, The Looming Tower was awarded the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, and is frequently referred to by some media pundits as being an excellent source of background information on Al Qaeda and the September 11 attacks. The book's title is a phrase from the Quran 4:78: "Wherever you are, death will find you, even in the looming tower", which Osama bin Laden quoted three times in a videotaped speech seen as directed to the 9/11 hijackers. Going Clear In 2011, Wright wrote a profile of former Scientologist Paul Haggis for The New Yorker.Starting with Haggis and eventually speaking with 200 current and former Scientologists, Wright's book, Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, was published in 2013. The book contains interviews from current and former Scientologists, and examines the history and leadership of the organisation. In an interview for The New York Times, Wright disclosed that he had received "innumerable" letters threatening legal action from lawyers representing the Church of Scientology and celebrities who were members of it.The New York Times published Michael Kinsley's review of the book, where he wrote: "That crunching sound you hear is Lawrence Wright bending over backward to be fair to Scientology. Every deceptive comparison with Mormonism and other religions is given a respectful hearing. Every ludicrous bit of church dogma is served up deadpan. This makes the book's indictment that much more powerful."In 2015, Alex Gibney produced a documentary based on Wright's book, titled Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief. The film was nominated for seven Emmy Awards, winning three, and received a 2015 Peabody Award "for its detailed documentation of Scientology's history and abuses." Other projects Among Wright's other books are Remembering Satan: A Tragic Case of Recovered Memory (1994), about the Paul Ingram false memory case. On June 7, 1996, Wright testified at Ingram's pardon hearing.Wright co-wrote the screenplay for the film The Siege (1998), which tells the story of a terrorist attack in New York City that leads to curtailed civil liberties and rounding up of Arab-Americans. A script that Wright originally wrote for Oliver Stone was turned instead into a well-regarded Showtime movie, Noriega: God's Favorite (2000).A documentary featuring Wright, My Trip to Al-Qaeda, premiered on HBO in September 2010. It was based on his journeys and experiences in the Middle East during his research for The Looming Tower. My Trip to Al-Qaeda looks at al-Qaeda, Islamist extremism, anti-American sentiment and the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq and combines Wright's first-person narrative with documentary footage and photographs.Wright plays the keyboard in the Austin, Texas, blues collective WhoDo.Wright is also a playwright. He has worked on a script over several years concerning the making of the epic film Cleopatra that starred Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and Rex Harrison. The play is titled Cleo and was to have opened September 2017 in Houston, Texas, but was delayed by catastrophic flooding caused by hurricane Harvey. It eventually opened in April 2018. Awards and honors 2006 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for The Looming Tower 2006 New York Times bestseller for The Looming Tower 2006 New York Times Notable Book of the Year for The Looming Tower 2006 New York Times Best Books of the Year for The Looming Tower 2006 IRE Award for The Looming Tower 2006 National Book Award finalist for The Looming Tower 2006 Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist for The Looming Tower 2006 Time magazine's Best Books of the Year for The Looming Tower 2007 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for The Looming Tower 2007 Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism for The Looming Tower 2007 J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize for The Looming Tower 2007 Lionel Gelber Prize for The Looming Tower 2007 Arthur Ross Book Award shortlist for The Looming Tower 2007 PEN Center USA Literary Award (Research Nonfiction) for The Looming Tower 2009 Newsweek 50 Books for Our Times for The Looming Tower 2013 National Book Award for Nonfiction finalist for Going Clear 2013 National Book Critics Circle Award (Nonfiction) shortlist for Going Clear 2015 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special.Bibliography Books Non-fictionCity Children, Country Summer : A Story of Ghetto Children Among the Amish. Scribner. 1979. ISBN 0684161443. OL 4400491M. In the New World: Growing up with America, 1964–1984. Alfred A. Knopf. 1988. ISBN 978-0-394-75964-7. Saints and Sinners. Alfred A. Knopf. 1993. ISBN 978-0-679-76163-1. Remembering Satan: A Tragic Case of Recovered Memory. Vintage Books. 1994. ISBN 978-0-679-75582-1. Twins: And What They Tell Us About Who We Are. John Wiley & Sons. 1997. ISBN 978-0-471-29644-7. The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. Alfred A. Knopf. 2006. ISBN 978-0-375-41486-2. Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief. Alfred A. Knopf. 2013. ISBN 978-0-307-70066-7. Thirteen Days in September: Carter, Begin and Sadat at Camp David. Alfred A. Knopf. 2014. ISBN 978-0-385-35203-1. The Terror Years: From Al-Qaeda to the Islamic State. Alfred A. Knopf. 2016. ISBN 978-0-385-35205-5. God Save Texas: A Journey into the Soul of the Lone Star State. Alfred A. Knopf. 2018. ISBN 978-0-525-52010-8. The Plague Year: America in the Time of Covid. Alfred A. Knopf. 2021.FictionGod's Favorite: A Novel. Simon and Schuster. 2000. ISBN 978-0-684-86810-3. The End of October: A Novel. Alfred A. Knopf. April 28, 2020. p. 400. IS.... Discover the Lawrence Wright popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Lawrence Wright books.

Best Seller Lawrence Wright Books of 2024

  • The Plague Year synopsis, comments

    The Plague Year

    Lawrence Wright

    From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Looming Tower, and the pandemic novel The End of October: an unprecedented, momentous account of Covid19its origins, its wideranging r...

  • Summary of The Terror Years synopsis, comments

    Summary of The Terror Years

    Instaread

    Summary of The Terror Years by Lawrence Wright | Includes Analysis   Preview:   Lawrence Wright’s The Terror Years: From AlQaeda to the Islamic State is a collection of W...

  • Going Clear synopsis, comments

    Going Clear

    Lawrence Wright

    NATIONAL BESTSELLER NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST   From the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of The Looming Tower comes “an utterly necessa...

  • Remembering Satan synopsis, comments

    Remembering Satan

    Lawrence Wright

    From the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of The Looming Tower comes "the most powerful and disturbing true crime narrative to appear since Truman Capote's In Cold Blood" (TIME)a case ...

  • Darstellungen der great migration synopsis, comments

    Darstellungen der great migration

    Tobias Schnettler

    Die Fotodokumentation ‘12 Million Black Voices ’von Richard Wright und Edwin Rosskam und der Gemäldezyklus ‘The Migration of the Negro ’von Jacob Lawrence befassen sich mit der ‘Gr...

  • Susan Lawrence synopsis, comments

    Susan Lawrence

    Roberta Volkmann

    In 1902 Susan Lawrence commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to "remodel" her deceased father's home in Springfield, Illinois. The project grew and became a blonde Roman brick mansion w...

  • Unwinnable synopsis, comments

    Unwinnable

    Theo Farrell

    Afghanistan was an unwinnable war. As British and American troops withdraw, discover this definitive account that explains why. It could have been a very different story. British f...

  • Mr. Texas synopsis, comments

    Mr. Texas

    Lawrence Wright

    AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR  From the Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author, a hilarious, sharply drawn sendup of local politics A novel about a darkhorse candidate w...

  • Famous First Flights synopsis, comments

    Famous First Flights

    Lowell Thomas, Owen Garriott & Richard Garriott

    Within this classic volume are the tales, tribulations, and ultimate triumphs behind some of the most spectacular and breaktaking aerodynamic feats of early twentieth century aviat...

  • No Return synopsis, comments

    No Return

    Mark Townsend

    'An incredible story, powerfully and beautifully told.' James O'BrienFive teenage friends leave Brighton to wage jihad in Syria. All except one are killed. This is their untold st...

  • The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy synopsis, comments

    The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy

    John Brehm

    Over 125 poetic companions, from Basho to Billy Collins, Saigyo to Shakespeare.The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy received the Spirituality & Practice Book A...

  • China Rises synopsis, comments

    China Rises

    John Farndon

    With a population of 1¼ billion people and the world's second largest economy, China is fast becoming one of the most powerful and important countries in the world. But while it is...

  • The Only Plane in the Sky synopsis, comments

    The Only Plane in the Sky

    Garrett M. Graff

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER“This is history at its most immediate and moving…A marvelous and memorable book.” Jon Meacham​“Remarkable…A priceless civic gift…On page after page, a rea...

  • The Afghanistan Papers synopsis, comments

    The Afghanistan Papers

    Craig Whitlock & The Washington Post

    A Washington Post Best Book of 2021The #1 New York Times bestselling investigative story of how three successive presidents and their military commanders deceived the public year a...

  • The Looming Tower synopsis, comments

    The Looming Tower

    Lawrence Wright

    NATIONAL BESTSELLER PULITZER PRIZE WINNER A “heartstopping account of the events leading up to 9/11” (The New York Times Book Review), this definitive history explains in grippin...

  • Prophetic City synopsis, comments

    Prophetic City

    Stephen L. Klineberg

    Sociologist Stephen Klineberg presents “a trailblazing study” (Kirkus Reviews) that shows how the city of Houston has emerged as a microcosm for America’s futurebased on a meticulo...

  • The Cliveden Set synopsis, comments

    The Cliveden Set

    Norman Rose

    Lloyd George once spoke of 'a very powerful combination in its way the most powerful in the country'. Its proceedings were invariably conducted at Cliveden, the country es...

  • In the New World synopsis, comments

    In the New World

    Lawrence Wright

    From the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of The Looming Tower comes an intimate memoir of one man’s comingofage, and a universal story of the American experience of two crucial decade...

  • East of Acre Lane synopsis, comments

    East of Acre Lane

    Alex Wheatle

    ‘Alex Wheatle writes from a place of honesty and passion’ Steve McQueen, director of Small AxeEast of Acre Lane is the fastpaced and razor sharp story of a young man trying to do t...

  • People State New York v. Lawrence Wright synopsis, comments

    People State New York v. Lawrence Wright

    Court of Appeals of New York

    [41 N.Y.2d 172 Page 173] Not only does a defendant have a constitutional right to a fair trial, but such right is fundamental to our whole system of jurisprudence. We hold that th...

  • Seventy-One Guns synopsis, comments

    Seventy-One Guns

    David Tossell & Foreword By Bob Wilson.

    In the summer of 1970, England was buzzing about the new football season. More than 30 million television viewers had watched the previous year's FA Cup final and the brilliant Bra...

  • The Terror Years synopsis, comments

    The Terror Years

    Lawrence Wright

    From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Looming Towerand “one of the most lucid writers on the subject of Islamic extremism” (The New York Review of Books)come ten powerful i...

  • The End of October synopsis, comments

    The End of October

    Lawrence Wright

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of The Looming Towera riveting thriller and “alltooconvincing chronicle of science, espionage, action and speculati...

  • God Save Texas synopsis, comments

    God Save Texas

    Lawrence Wright

    NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST The Pulitzer Prizewinning author of The Looming Towerand a Texas nativetakes us on a journey through the most controversial state in Am...

  • Blood and Sand synopsis, comments

    Blood and Sand

    Frank Gardner

    On the June 6, 2004, while on assignment in Riyadh, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner and cameraman Simon Cumbers were ambushed by Islamist gunmen. Simon was killed outright...

  • Thirteen Days in September synopsis, comments

    Thirteen Days in September

    Lawrence Wright

    A dramatic, illuminating daybyday account of the 1978 Camp David conference, when President Jimmy Carter convinced Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwa...

  • Ruby Wright v. Lawrence Fowler synopsis, comments

    Ruby Wright v. Lawrence Fowler

    Second Circuit. Court of Appeal of Louisiana

    Plaintiffappellant, Ruby Wright, appeals the summary judgment granted in favor of the defendants on her negligence claim which sought to recover damages for injuries she received w...

  • More Magic Of The Minimum Dose synopsis, comments

    More Magic Of The Minimum Dose

    Dr Dorothy Shepherd

    Dr Dorothy Shepherd had wide experience both in Harley Street and in clinics in the poorer parts of London.Although she had leanings towards homoeopathy during her student years, i...

  • Summary of Going Clear by Lawrence Wright Includes Analysis synopsis, comments

    Summary of Going Clear by Lawrence Wright Includes Analysis

    Instaread

    Summary of  Going Clear by Lawrence Wright | Includes Analysis   Preview: Going Clear by Lawrence Wright is an indepth examination of the founding, principles, and scanda...

  • Deadly Cure synopsis, comments

    Deadly Cure

    Lawrence Goldstone

    A remarkable new historical thriller by New York Times notable mystery author Lawrence Goldstone that evokes the New York City of 1899.In 1899, in Brooklyn, New York, Dr....