The Wright Stuff

Lawrence Wright has spent the past five decades pinpointing humanity’s weaknesses and then exploring them in fascinating and terrifying detail on the page. Here’s a short list of some of his best work.

The Looming Tower 2006

To achieve his sweeping history of the events leading to 9/11, Wright did over 500 interviews. He paints the horror of 9/11 as far from inevitable, casting it instead as the result of very human foibles, particularly on the part of the CIA and FBI.

Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood & the Prison of Belief 2013

“When good people do good, and evil people do evil, it is not surprising. But when good people do evil, it takes religion to do that,” says a character in The End of October. Wright’s deep dive on Scientology delves into just that.

God Save Texas: A Journey Into the Soul of the Lone Star State 2018

“It sometimes seems that every living thing can bite or poke or sting or shoot you,” Wright writes in his loving but cleareyed ode to his home state.