The only problem is that the bibliography I wrote was something like 5,000 words and added 17 pages to an already longer than intended book. This was the first acknowledgments section in any of my books that felt truly complete. I’ve always believed that any wisdom or insight in my books can and should be attributed to people smarter than me-that I am just a conduit or a collector. I went as far as thanking food I ate during certain chapters, admitting the fact that I found Neil deGrasse Tyson paraphrasing a John Wheeler quote in an airplane magazine, and even pointed out extra stuff, like a Ta-Nehisi Coates quote, that I read after I’d already finished my chapter on Jackie Robinson. Due to space concerns, most contributions go unthanked.Īnyway, that’s what I set out to rectify at the end of Ego is the Enemy. The people who contributed to a book love seeing their name in print. So many people and so many things go into making a book.
If an author was being honest, the acknowledgements section would be pages and pages long. Hell, I found my agent through the acknowledgements of a book by Andrew Keen. They are both about citing sources of value-and often doing so is of great use to the reader. To me, there’s also not a big difference between a bibliography and an Acknowledgements section either. What did the author like about the book? What didn’t they like about it? How did they find it? What other interesting things had they wished they’d been able to include but couldn’t? What was their favorite part? I want to know everything. When I look at most bibliographies, I am usually left wanting to know more. This philosophy took me down countless rabbit holes and introduced me to fascinating topics and people. For a long time, my rule as a young reader was: Try to read one book mentioned in every book that you read. I also know that my own life would be radically different if it wasn’t for authors taking the time to recommend and acknowledge their sources.
In fact, I think a lot of them are better than anything I ever have or ever will write. I took the time to do that instead of just listing my sources because I loved all the books that went into making Ego is the Enemy. I wrote a note ( literally, a notecard) to myself that said “Do this on your next book” and then, when I came to the end of writing Ego, I did. Ronson took the time to explain what he liked about each source and how he used it. My favorite part wasn’t the book (though the book is great), I loved the book’s annotated bibliography. During the writing of Ego is the Enemy, I happened to read Jon Ronson’s amazing book So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed.