Jonathan Eig
Jonathan Eig is the bestselling author of six books, and the 2024 Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of King: A Life, which was nominated for the National Book Award, featured on Obama’s Reading List of 2023, and hailed as a “monumental” new biography of Martin Luther King Jr. by the New York Times.
Jonathan’s previous book, Ali: A Life, won a 2018 PEN America Literary Award and was a finalist for the Mark Lynton History Prize. His works are translated into more than a dozen languages. He served as consulting producer for the Ken Burns-directed PBS series Muhammad Ali. Esquire named Ali: A Life one of the 25 greatest biographies of all time. Joyce Carol Oates called it “an epic of a biography” that “reads like a novel.”
His first book reached No. 10 on the New York Times bestseller list and won the Casey Award. His books have made the best-of-year lists in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. Additionally, TimeLine Theatre in Chicago is soon staging his fourth book, The Birth of the Pill, as a theatrical production.
Beginning his writing journey at 16, Jonathan Eig worked for his hometown newspaper, The Rockland County (N.Y.) Journal News. Afterward, he studied journalism at Northwestern University. Then he worked as a reporter for The New Orleans Times-Picayune, The Dallas Morning News, Chicago Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal.
The Today Show, NPR’s Fresh Air, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart have all featured him as a guest. According to his parents, his greatest claim to fame is his name’s appearance in a Jeopardy question, which a contestant correctly solved for $200. He lives in Chicago with his wife and children and shares office space with the laundry machines.
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A finalist for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Award
Named one of the ten best books of 2023 by The Washington Post | Chicago Tribune | Time
A New York Times bestseller and notable book of 2023 | One of Barack Obama's favorite books of 2023
One of The New Yor...Read More
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The definitive biography of an American icon, from a best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author with unique access to Ali’s inner circle....Read More
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The fascinating story of one of the most important scientific discoveries of the twentieth century....Read More
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Drawing on recently discovered government documents, wiretap transcripts, and Al Capone’s handwritten personal letters, New York Timesbestselling author Jonathan Eig tells the dramatic story of the rise and fall of the nation’s most infamous criminal in rich new detail....Read More
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This bestselling account of the most important season in baseball history, 1947, tells the dramatic story of how Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and changed baseball forever....Read More
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The definitive account of the life and tragic death of baseball legend Lou Gehrig....Read More
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Beyond The Dream: Embracing A More Complicated Martin Luther King Jr.
In hallowing Martin Luther King Jr., we have hollowed him. We have replaced his radical vision for justice with a romantic image of a man who stands for little more than love and peace. For the past seven years, Jonathan Eig has traveled across the country, meeting the people who knew King personally, recording their stories, and learning about the real MLK — the complicated one, the flawed one, the radical one, the one we really need in today’s bitter, divided world.
If we listen to the real King, he can still teach us:
- – Yes, it’s possible to be a radical and win the support of the mainstream and the political establishment.
- – A flawed man can live by high moral standards and devote himself to the common good.
- – It is possible to engage in dialogue (and even love) with our enemies.
- – Income inequality is not a requirement of capitalism.
Though we live in an age cynicism, of division, King believed we would get to the Promised Land. If we listen to his words, if we embrace his message, and if we accept his contradictions, we might get there yet.
How I Learned To Love Sports And History (In That Order)
Throughout American history, sporting events have helped unify and shape the nation. But we often overlook the impact of sports on our comprehension of American history.
In this personal reflection, Jonathan Eig describes how his obsession with sports led to his fascination with history, and how a kid who once wanted only to play center field for the Yankees became one of the nation’s leading writers of historical biographies that transcend sports.
Eig will explain how his groundbreaking biography of Lou Gehrig changed our understanding of an American hero; how he earned the trust of Jackie Robinson’s wife in writing an intimate portrait of Robinson’s first season in major-league baseball; and how his childhood love for Muhammad Ali helped him begin to understand race in America.
As he ties it all together, Eig illustrates the manner in which athletic competition has served as a force for justice and equality, how all the subjects of his books — Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Al Capone, Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King, and…yes, even the birth-control pill — have a connection through sports.
A Muslim, A Christian, And A Jew Walk Into A Bar
How did a Jewish journalist end up writing the definitive biographies of America’s most famous Muslim (Muhammad Ali) and its most famous Christian (Martin Luther King Jr.)?
Jonathan describes how Ali and King helped shape his own spiritual and religious journey.
What does it mean to believe? How do you apply your religious beliefs in the secular world? And what does one do when the religious and secular world’s conflict?
What moral lessons can we all learn from the religious journeys of Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King?
“Martin Luther King Jr. Biographer Wins American History Prize”
“The 2024 Audie Winners for Best Audiobooks”
“Here are the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Award finalists.”
“2024 Plutarch Award Shortlist Announced”
“Columbia Journalism School Announces the 2024 J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project Shortlists”
“What Book Should You Read Next?”
Chasing Ali – Jonathan Eig’s Pursuit of Muhammad Ali
“The New Definitive Biography of Martin Luther King Jr.”
“A Great Man, Warts and All Review of ‘King, a Life’ by Jonathan Eig”
The Michael Shermer Show: “The Truth About Martin Luther King Jr.”
King: A Life featured in best book of the year and book lists from major media outlets and retailers including: The Best Books of 2023, as chosen by The Economist (12/1), The New Yorker’s The Best Books of 2023: Essential Reads (11/29), The New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2023, NPR’s Books We Love 2023, Kirkus’ Best Nonfiction Books of the Year, Barnes & Noble’s 10 Best Audiobooks of 2023, Chicago Public Library’s Favorite Books of 2023, The Smithsonian’s Ten Best History Books of 2023, The Wall Street Journal’s Holiday Gift Books: Biography, Financial Times’ Best Books of 2023: Critics’ Picks, TIME Magazine’s The 100 Must-Read Books of 2023, Washington Post’s The Ten Best Books of 2023, Amazon’s Top 20 Books of the Year, Amazon’s Best Books of 2023, Amazon’s Top 20 Biographies & Memoirs of 2023, Amazon’s Top 20 History Books of 2023, BookPage’s The Best Nonfiction of 2023, and the Top 20 of Audible’s The Best of 2023 list.
“On stage and off, Jonathan delighted our audiences and the other authors with his intellect and warmth as a person.”
— Sonoma Valley Authors FestivalPraise for King: A Life
“Supple, penetrating, heartstring-pulling and compulsively readable . . . Eig’s book is worthy of its subject.”
— Dwight Garner, The New York Times (Book Review Editors’ Choice)“[King is] infused with the narrative energy of a thriller . . . The most compelling account of King’s life in a generation.”
— Mark Whitaker, The Washington Post“No book could be more timely than Jonathan Eig’s sweeping and majestic new King . . . Eig has created 2023’s most vital tome.”
— Will Bunch, The Philadelphia InquirerHailed by the New York Times as “the new definitive biography,” King mixes revelatory new research with accessible storytelling to offer an MLK for our times.
Praise for Ali: A Life
“Jonathan Eig’s masterful new biography of the champ is both captivating and highly relevant to the current discussions on race in America.”
— Seattle Times“Jonathan Eig’s biography will not be the last word on The Champ, but it does a remarkable job of synthesizing the warring elements in Ali’s life.”
— The Times“Each blow echoes on the pages of Jonathan Eig’s relentless, image-altering biography Ali: A Life”
— The Wall Street JournalBook This Speaker
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