The Mad Men Reading List

This list includes every book that appeared in the series Mad Men. The project went as such: every time a book was mentioned or appeared in a character’s hand in the show, I, Daniel J. Rowe, paused and read that book then continued with the show.

View my Goodreads Mad Mean Reading List.

I will on this page, go through those books and add my thoughts on how the book relates to the series and era. It was a long run, and one I don’t regret for a second.

This project is not for the binge watchers of the world.

• Introducing the Mad Men Reading List

Season 1

• Lady Chatterley’s Lover, D.H. Lawrence (S01E3, Marriage of Figaro)- Characters: Joan, Peggy
• Nursery Friends From France (S01E04, New Amsterdam) – Betty, Sally
• The Best of Everything, Ron Jaffe (S01E05, Babylon) – Don, Betty
• Exodus, Leon Uris (S01E05, 5G) – Don, Rachel Menken (others)
• Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand (S01E08, The Hobo Code) – Don, Bert Cooper

Season 2

• “Mayakovski” from Meditations in an Emergency, Frank O’Hara (S2E01, For Those Who Think Young) – Don
• The Agony and the Ecstasy, Irving Stone (S2E02, Flight 1) – Katherine Olson (Peggy’s mom)
• Marjorie Morningstar, Herman Wouk (S2E03, The Benefactor) – Bobbie Barrett
• “A Diamond as Big as the Ritz” from Babylon Revisited and other Stories, F. Scott Fizgerald (S2E04, Three Sundays) – Betty, Arthur Chase.
• Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies, C.S. Forester (S2E08, A Night to Remember) – Peggy, Gerry Respola
• Ship of Fools, Katherine Anne Porter (S2E09, Six Month Leave) – Betty
• The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner (S2E11, Jet Set) – Don

Season 3

• The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon (S3E03, My Old Kentucky Home) – Eugene Hofstadt and Sally
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain (S03E06, Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency) – Lane Pryce
• Be My Guest, Conrad Hilton; Confessions of an Advertising Man, David Ogilvy (S3E07, Seven Twenty Three)
• The Group, Mary McCarthy (S3E10, The Color Blue) – Betty

Season 4

• The Twenty-One Balloons, William Pène du Bois – Sally; The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, Ruth Benedict – Don (other members of the agency) (S4E05, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword)
• The Clue of the Black Keys, Carolyn Keene (S4E09, The Beautiful Girls)
• The Miracle Worker, William Gibson (S4E10, Hands and Knees)
• Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships, Eric Berne; Meeting With Japan, Fosco Maraini (S4E11, Chinese Wall)
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain; The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, John Le Carre (S4E13, Tomorrowland)

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7