Ryan Holiday Popular Books

Ryan Holiday Biography & Facts

Ryan Holiday (born June 16, 1987) is an American marketer, author, businessman and podcaster, notable for marketing Stoic philosophy in the form of books.Prior to becoming an author, Holiday served as the former director of marketing and eventually an advisor for American Apparel. Holiday's debut to writing was in 2012, when he published Trust Me, I'm Lying. Holiday's notable works include his books on Stoic philosophy, such as The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, Stillness is the Key, Discipline is Destiny, Courage is Calling, and Lives of the Stoics. He is controversial for his marketing of Stoicism in the form of "Memento Mori" coins and selling courses and calendars. Career Early career Holiday began his career after dropping out of the University of California, Riverside at the age of 19. He consulted for author Tucker Max and, later, he worked with Robert Greene, author of The 48 Laws of Power, on Greene's 2009 New York Times bestselling book, The 50th Law. Holiday served as Director of Marketing for American Apparel and, later, as an adviser to the company. He was replaced from the company in October 2014. He has consulted on a number of media campaigns and written extensively on the topic of media manipulation. Writing Holiday is the author of several books and has written for Forbes, Fast Company, The Huffington Post, The Columbia Journalism Review, The Guardian, Thought Catalog, Medium.com, New York Observer, The New York Times and Texas Monthly. Books he has authored have sold more than three million copies combined.Holiday published his first book, a media exposé about the state of online journalism called Trust Me, I'm Lying, in July 2012, which debuted on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list. His second book Growth Hacker Marketing was originally published in September 2013 by Portfolio/Penguin and then expanded into a print edition in 2014. The book shows how traditional marketing efforts are no longer the most effective, and why growth hacking is cheaper and more effective in today's market. The book was named one of Inc. magazine's top 10 marketing books of 2014.In February 2014, Holiday was named editor-at-large of the Business & Technology section at the New York Observer.Holiday's third book The Obstacle Is the Way, was published May 1, 2014, also by Portfolio/Penguin. The book is based on the Stoic exercise of framing obstacles as opportunities. The book has sold more than 1 million copies and was read by the New England Patriots during their 2014 Super Bowl-winning season, as well as distributed through the locker room of the Seattle Seahawks in the following offseason. The Obstacle Is the Way reached No. 1 on the Wall Street Journal Bestseller List in 2019, five years after its initial release. Two-time NBA Champion Chris Bosh listed The Obstacle Is the Way as his favorite book and added that, when his head coach Erik Spoelstra gifted Miami Heat players copies of the book, Bosh had already read it twice. During a press conference at the Masters in 2019, four-time major champion golfer Rory McIlroy said he read The Obstacle Is the Way as well as Holiday's following book, Ego Is the Enemy, leading up to the tournament. In the months following former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier's on-field spinal injury that left him unable to walk, Shazier credited The Obstacle Is The Way for helping him improve his mindset and focus on recovery.In 2016, he published two books. The first, Ego Is the Enemy, uses various historical figures as case studies to illustrate the perils of egotism. The second, The Daily Stoic, is a daily devotional of Stoic meditations. Both books went on to become bestsellers with Daily Stoic reaching No. 1 on the Wall Street Journal bestseller list.In 2018, he published Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue. It is about the lawsuit between Gawker Media and wrestler Hulk Hogan, as well as Peter Thiel's involvement in the dispute. It was favorably reviewed by William D. Cohan of The New York Times, who called the book, "one helluva page-turner." Conspiracy is being developed into a feature film with Charles Randolph writing the script and Francis Lawrence attached as the director. In October 2019, he published Stillness Is the Key, which became the first of Holiday's books to reach No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Stillness Is the Key promotes a balanced approach to life, of limiting the amount of "noise" and while mostly referencing stoicism, he also makes references to Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism as well as the Abrahamic religions. In 2020, he published Lives of the Stoics, which he wrote with author Stephen Hanselman. The book is a collection of biographies for more than two dozen philosophers who lived according to the stoic virtues of courage, temperance and wisdom.He has written a chapter in Tim Ferriss' book Tools of Titans. Stoicism While Holiday was a college student, Dr. Drew recommended Epictetus which inspired Holiday's interest in practicing and teaching Stoicism. Holiday, through his books, articles and lectures, has been credited by The New York Times with the increasing popularity of Stoicism. He was also described as "leading the charge for Stoicism," which has been noted for gaining traction among Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Classicist Gregory Hays, whose 2002 translation of Marcus Aurelius's Meditations became a bestseller, provided commentary on Holiday's stoic writing by saying it is, "very much in the spirit of his ancient models" and added, "Holiday is also a great teller of stories." Personal life Holiday wrote public letters encouraging his father not to vote for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. Despite his public opposition to Trump's 2016 Presidential campaign, Holiday was offered a communications director position within the Trump administration, which he did not accept. Holiday supported Joe Biden in the 2020 United States presidential election. He said: For those asking what happened to the Biden sign...we hung it up on our ranch in Texas, where we own guns, raise cows for meat, prefer low taxes, fly an American flag, and mostly want to be left alone. It's perfectly possible to have "conservative" beliefs and know what the obvious right thing to do in 2020 is. In September 2020, Holiday initiated a funding drive and personally contributed $10,000 toward the removal of two Confederate monuments from the Bastrop County Courthouse and the courthouse approved the removal and relocation of the monuments to an alternative site in February 2021.Holiday owns and operates the independent bookstore Painted Porch Bookshop in Bastrop, Texas. He is married and has two sons. He lives on a 40-acre ranch in Bastrop County, Texas.Holiday is also a musician, citing Metallica and Iron Maiden as influences. See also Modern StoicismBibliography Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator. Portfolio. 2012. ISBN 978-1591845539. Growth H.... Discover the Ryan Holiday popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Ryan Holiday books.

Best Seller Ryan Holiday Books of 2024

  • Discourses and Selected Writings synopsis, comments

    Discourses and Selected Writings

    Epictetus & Robert Dobbin

    Contains The Discourses/Fragments/Enchiridion'I must die. But must I die bawling?'Epictetus, a Greek Stoic and freed slave, ran a thriving philosophy school in Nicopolis in the ear...

  • His Until Midnight synopsis, comments

    His Until Midnight

    Reese Ryan

    A Cinderella makeover turns best friends into lovers in this Texas Cattleman’s Club: Bachelor Auction story by Reese Ryan.To the highest bidder goes…a friendship with benefits? Or ...

  • Harlequin Desire December 2018 - Box Set 1 of 2 synopsis, comments

    Harlequin Desire December 2018 - Box Set 1 of 2

    Reese Ryan, Catherine Mann & Jessica Lemmon

    Do you love stories with sexy, romantic heroes who have it allwealth, status, and incredibly good looks? Harlequin® Desire brings you all this and more with these three new fulllen...

  • El Ego Es El Enemigo Por Ryan Holiday Libro synopsis, comments

    El Ego Es El Enemigo Por Ryan Holiday Libro

    Turbo-Academia

    Una Guía de Estudio Completa de El Ego Es El Enemigo Por Ryan Holiday ¡Gracias por adquirir el resumen del libro "Ego es el Enemigo"! Si te gustó el resumen, ¡por favor compra y...

  • The Daily Stoic synopsis, comments

    The Daily Stoic

    Ryan Holiday & Stephen Hanselman

    From the team that brought you The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy, a daily devotional of Stoic meditationsan instant Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestseller.Why have...

  • The Kid Stays in the Picture synopsis, comments

    The Kid Stays in the Picture

    Robert Evans

    Robert Evans' The Kid Stays in the Picture is universally recognized as the greatest, most outrageous, and most unforgettable show business memoir ever written. The basis of an awa...

  • Applied Empathy synopsis, comments

    Applied Empathy

    Michael Ventura

    Michael Ventura, entrepreneur and CEO of awardwinning strategy and design firm Sub Rosa, shares “how to unlock our ability to design solutions, spark innovation, and solve tough ch...

  • Meditations synopsis, comments

    Meditations

    Marcus Aurelius, David V. Hicks & C. Scot Hicks

    A powerful and accessible translation of Marcus Aurelius’s timeless book on character, what it takes to be a good leader, and how to live a fulfilling life.Marcus Aurelius ruled th...

  • Discipline Is Destiny synopsis, comments

    Discipline Is Destiny

    Ryan Holiday

    The instant New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestseller!In his New York Times bestselling book Courage is Calling, author Ryan Holiday made the Stoic case fo...

  • Stillness Is the Key synopsis, comments

    Stillness Is the Key

    Ryan Holiday

    Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller & Wall Street Journal BestsellerIn The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy, bestselling author Ryan Holiday made ancient wisdom wildly...

  • Velocity synopsis, comments

    Velocity

    Ajaz Ahmed & Stefan Olander

    How can you win when the only certainty is change? Highly accessible, lively and inspiring, Velocity draws upon the authors’ unique perspectives and experiences to present seven ti...

  • Happy Ever After synopsis, comments

    Happy Ever After

    Paul Dolan

    'A passionate, provocative book. It isn't just a selfhelp book. It is a manifesto for a better society' Sunday Times 'One of the most rigorous articulations of the new mood of acc...

  • Summary of The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday synopsis, comments

    Summary of The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday

    Turbo-Learning

    A Comprehensive Book Review of The Obstacle Is The Way There are many books and lessons about how to achieve a success. However, there are few books about overcoming failures. B...

  • Conspiracy synopsis, comments

    Conspiracy

    Ryan Holiday

    An NPR Book Concierge Best Book of 2018!A stunning story about how power works in the modern agethe book the New York Times called "one helluva pageturner" and The Sunday Times of ...

  • Waiting for the Night Song synopsis, comments

    Waiting for the Night Song

    Julie Carrick Dalton

    Named a Most Anticipated book by Newsweek USA Today CNN Parade Buzzfeed Medium GoodReads PopSugar Frolic Media Betches The Nerd Daily SheReads and more"Smart and searing...

  • Perennial Seller synopsis, comments

    Perennial Seller

    Ryan Holiday

    The book that Inc. says "every entrepreneur should read" and an FT Book of the Month selection...How did the movie The Shawshank Redemption fail at the box office but go on to...

  • Ego Is the Enemy synopsis, comments

    Ego Is the Enemy

    Ryan Holiday

    The instant Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and international bestseller“While the history books are filled with tales of obsessive visionary geniuses who remade the world in their...

  • Diario Para Estoicos por Ryan Holiday Guia de Estudio synopsis, comments

    Diario Para Estoicos por Ryan Holiday Guia de Estudio

    Turbo-Academia

    Una Guía de Estudio Completa de Diario Para Estoicos El libro "El Estoico Diario" de Ryan Holiday contiene 366 meditaciones estoicas, una para cada día del año. No importa por ...

  • The Proper Study Of Mankind synopsis, comments

    The Proper Study Of Mankind

    Isaiah Berlin

    ‘He becomes everyman’s guide to everything exciting in the history of ideas’ New York Review of BooksIsaiah Berlin was one of the leading thinkers of the twentieth century, and one...

  • The Fat Lady Sang synopsis, comments

    The Fat Lady Sang

    Robert Evans

    From the legendary producer and author of The Kid Stays in the Pictureone of the greatest Hollywood memoirs ever writtencomes a longawaited second work with all the elements of a s...

  • Courage Is Calling synopsis, comments

    Courage Is Calling

    Ryan Holiday

    The instant New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestseller! Ryan Holiday’s bestselling trilogyThe Obstacle Is the Way, Ego is the Enemy, and Stillness is the Ke...

  • The Mirror Effect synopsis, comments

    The Mirror Effect

    Drew Pinsky & Dr. S. Mark Young

    In the eyeopening New York Times bestseller, The Mirror Effect, widely respected addiction and behavior specialist and producer/host of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew on VH1, Dr. Dr...

  • From Hollywood with Love synopsis, comments

    From Hollywood with Love

    Scott Meslow

    An indepth celebration of the romantic comedy’s modern golden era and its role in our culture, tracking the genre from its heyday in the ’80s and the ’90s, its unfortunate decline ...

  • Big Panda and Tiny Dragon synopsis, comments

    Big Panda and Tiny Dragon

    James Norbury

    “Food for the soul.” CBS MorningsA thoughtprovoking journey of companionship, courage, tenderness, and tea.Big Panda and Tiny Dragon embark on a journey through the seasons of the ...

  • Be More Pirate synopsis, comments

    Be More Pirate

    Sam Conniff Allende

    Pirates didn’t just break the rules, they rewrote them. They didn’t just reject society, they reinvented it. Pirates didn’t just challenge the statusquo, they changed everyfckingth...

  • Growth Hacker Marketing synopsis, comments

    Growth Hacker Marketing

    Ryan Holiday

    A primer on the future of PR, marketing and advertising  now revised and updated with new case studies"Forget everything you thought you knew about marketing and read thi...

  • The Myth of the Garage synopsis, comments

    The Myth of the Garage

    Chip Heath

    From Chip and Dan Heath, the bestselling authors of Switch and Made to Stick, comes The Myth of the Garage ... and other minor surprises, a collection of the authors' best columns ...

  • A Confession and Other Religious Writings synopsis, comments

    A Confession and Other Religious Writings

    Leo Tolstoy

    Describing Tolstoy's crisis of depression and estrangement from the world, A Confession (1879) is an autobiographical work of exceptional emotional honesty. By the time he was fift...

  • The Daily Dad synopsis, comments

    The Daily Dad

    Ryan Holiday

    “Life is short. Do not forget about the most important things in our life, living for other people and doing good for them.”Marcus AureliusBecoming a parent is more than just a bio...

  • 365 Ways to be More Stoic synopsis, comments

    365 Ways to be More Stoic

    Tim LeBon & Kasey Pierce

    HAPPINESS, SERENITY AND FULFIMENT ARE ALL WITHIN YOUR CONTROL365 WAYS TO BE MORE STOIC is a full year's worth of daily inspiration, tools, stories, actions, and rituals that will g...

  • Wheels of Terror synopsis, comments

    Wheels of Terror

    Sven Hassel

    Sven Hassel's ultimate tank warfare novel.'This is a book of horrors, and should be left alone by those prone to nightmares. Sven Hassel's descriptions of the atrocities committed ...

  • Lives of the Stoics synopsis, comments

    Lives of the Stoics

    Ryan Holiday & Stephen Hanselman

    Instant New York Times Advice & Business Bestseller, USA Today Bestseller, and Wall Street Journal #1 Bestseller!A New York Times Noteworthy Pick and a "stellar work" by Publis...

  • A Cowboy for Christmas synopsis, comments

    A Cowboy for Christmas

    Sara Richardson

    In this heartwarming secondchance holiday romance, a fake engagement is this cowboy's best chance at proving his love is all real perfect for fans of New York Times bestselling au...

  • Right Thing, Right Now synopsis, comments

    Right Thing, Right Now

    Ryan Holiday

    In his New York Times bestselling book, Discipline Is Destiny, Ryan Holiday made the Stoic case for a life of selfdiscipline. In this muchanticipated third installment in the Stoic...

  • 10 Ways to Make Money in a Free World synopsis, comments

    10 Ways to Make Money in a Free World

    Nicholas Lovell

    Free is coming. We all know how artists and are at risk from filesharing; now digital manufacturing and 3D printing mean that no industry is immune. But the same technology that en...

  • Cracked synopsis, comments

    Cracked

    Drew Pinsky

    Dr. Drew Pinsky is best known as the cohost of the longrunning radio advice program Loveline. But his workday is spent at a major Southern California clinic, treating the severest ...

  • The Obstacle Is the Way synopsis, comments

    The Obstacle Is the Way

    Ryan Holiday

    #1 Wall Street Journal BestsellerThe Obstacle is the Way has become a cult classic, beloved by men and women around the world who apply its wisdom to become more successful at what...

  • Black Privilege synopsis, comments

    Black Privilege

    Charlamagne Tha God

    An instant New York Times bestseller! Charlamagne Tha Godthe selfproclaimed “Prince of Pissing People Off,” cohost of Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club, and “the most important voic...

  • Stoicism and the Art of Happiness synopsis, comments

    Stoicism and the Art of Happiness

    Donald Robertson

    The stoics lived a long time ago, but they had some startling insights into the human condition insights which endure to this day. The philosophical tradition, founded in Athens b...

  • Take Command synopsis, comments

    Take Command

    Joe Hart & Michael A. Crom

    Take command of your future with this groundbreaking, Wall Street Journal bestseller, from the experts who brought you How to Win Friends and Influence People.Take Command offers p...