Fans pick 39 books like Mad Men Carousel

By Matt Zoller Seitz, Max Dalton (illustrator),

Here are 39 books that Mad Men Carousel fans have personally recommended if you like Mad Men Carousel. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Twilight Zone Companion

Harry Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik Author Of Watching TV: American Television Season by Season

From my list on what TV is and how best to enjoy it.

Why are we passionate about this?

For almost fifty years, we have been chronicling American television, tracking its history, and following its transformation from the era of three networks to the cornucopia of choices now available through streaming. Along the way, we have appreciated and learned much from other TV books that look at the industry from multiple angles. When we started, there were precious few on this topic. Now, there is a surplus. These are the ones we treasure for their well-told stories.

Harry and Walter's book list on what TV is and how best to enjoy it

Harry Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik Why did Harry and Walter love this book?

Rod Serling’s fantasy anthology (where he was narrator and chief writer) was a favorite of ours back then and still is. Despite a skimpy production budget, the show’s quality scripts, acting, and imaginative themes usually transcended the sparse settings.

Having seen most episodes several times, we still turn to Zicree’s handy book to refresh our memories of the show. This was one of the first of the “companion” books to document a memorable TV series, presenting each episode with cast and crew information, airdate, sample photo, the text of Serling’s intro and outro narration, plot summary and revealing analysis, and background details. The expanded 3rd edition (from 2018) also covers the various later revivals of the series.

By Marc Scott Zicree,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Twilight Zone Companion as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Twilight Zone Companion is the complete show-by-show guide to one of television's greatest series. Zicree's well-written account is fascinating reading for even the casual fan. Coverage of each episode includes a plot synopsis, Rod Serling's opening narration, behind-the-scenes stories from the original artists who created the series, and a complete list of cast and credits.


Book cover of The Moose That Roared: The Story of Jay Ward, Bill Scott, a Flying Squirrel and a Talking Moose

Harry Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik Author Of Watching TV: American Television Season by Season

From my list on what TV is and how best to enjoy it.

Why are we passionate about this?

For almost fifty years, we have been chronicling American television, tracking its history, and following its transformation from the era of three networks to the cornucopia of choices now available through streaming. Along the way, we have appreciated and learned much from other TV books that look at the industry from multiple angles. When we started, there were precious few on this topic. Now, there is a surplus. These are the ones we treasure for their well-told stories.

Harry and Walter's book list on what TV is and how best to enjoy it

Harry Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik Why did Harry and Walter love this book?

We have long admired creators Jay Ward and Bill Scott, whose clever, pun-filled, irony-infused, supremely self-aware TV world is a delight to discover at any age.

Here, author Keith Scott (himself a voice artist and animation historian, and no relation to Bill) spins the story of Bullwinkle J. Moose, Rocky the Flying Squirrel, and their friends and fiends (Boris and Natasha) and also covers creations before, during, and after the Bullwinkle run.

We have also happily indulged in his fan’s eye for detail in 100 pages of end notes minutiae, including every punny episode title.

By Keith Scott,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Moose That Roared as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Rocky & Bullwinkle. Peabody and Sherman. Dudley Do-Right. George of the Jungle. Boris and Natasha. These cultural icons emerged fully-formed from the wittiest, most irreverent and shamelessly subversive cartoons ever, The Rocky and Bullwinkle show. The first cartoon to reach both kids and adults with its humour, the show has millions of diehard fans. For the first time, read the fascinating behind-the-scenes history of the show's creation, the fierce script battles fought with network censors, the impact of the show on 1960's culture, and the notorious episode when America's favourite moose convinced 20,000 children to rip the knobs off their…


Book cover of When Women Invented Television: The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today

Harry Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik Author Of Watching TV: American Television Season by Season

From my list on what TV is and how best to enjoy it.

Why are we passionate about this?

For almost fifty years, we have been chronicling American television, tracking its history, and following its transformation from the era of three networks to the cornucopia of choices now available through streaming. Along the way, we have appreciated and learned much from other TV books that look at the industry from multiple angles. When we started, there were precious few on this topic. Now, there is a surplus. These are the ones we treasure for their well-told stories.

Harry and Walter's book list on what TV is and how best to enjoy it

Harry Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik Why did Harry and Walter love this book?

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong (writer for such publications as Entertainment Weekly and New York magazine) has smartly chronicled the medium in single-show books (most famously Seinfeldia). Here, she does the same for a reach back to TV's defining days to focus on four pioneering industry women, on and off camera: Gertrude Berg, Hazel Scott, Irna Phillips, and Betty White.

We love Armstrong’s crisp narrative style, eye for behind-the-scenes moments, and respect for each character's strength and tenacity. While her "Invented Television" title is a deliberately bold thematic declaration, we think the subtitle “The Untold Story of Female Powerhouses” best captures the book's actual scope and success.

By Jennifer Keishin Armstrong,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked When Women Invented Television as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

New and Noteworthy -New York Times Book Review
Must-Read Book of March -Entertainment Weekly
Best Books of March -HelloGiggles

"Leaps at the throat of television history and takes down the patriarchy with its fervent, inspired prose. When Women Invented Television offers proof that what we watch is a reflection of who we are as a people." -Nathalia Holt, New York Times bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls

New York Times bestselling author of Seinfeldia Jennifer Keishin Armstrong tells the little-known story of four trailblazing women in the early days of television who laid the foundation of the industry…


Book cover of Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Television

Harry Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik Author Of Watching TV: American Television Season by Season

From my list on what TV is and how best to enjoy it.

Why are we passionate about this?

For almost fifty years, we have been chronicling American television, tracking its history, and following its transformation from the era of three networks to the cornucopia of choices now available through streaming. Along the way, we have appreciated and learned much from other TV books that look at the industry from multiple angles. When we started, there were precious few on this topic. Now, there is a surplus. These are the ones we treasure for their well-told stories.

Harry and Walter's book list on what TV is and how best to enjoy it

Harry Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik Why did Harry and Walter love this book?

When we set out to start writing our TV history book, we didn’t know what we didn’t know about the topic. Fortunately, we found the first edition of this book. It was invaluable to us to describe and explain where radio and television came from and how they came to be as we knew them.

This one-volume book distills the author’s masterful earlier three-volume set on this topic. Barnouw blazed the trail for us by treating broadcasting as worthy of serious historical research and analysis while never failing to make the oft-complex tales engrossing and entertaining reading. The updated second revised edition (from 1990) brings the story up to the era of cable.

By Erik Barnouw,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tube of Plenty as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Tube of Plenty is an abridgement of Erik Barnouw's classic 3-volume History of Broadcasting in the United States. The paperback edition was first published in 1976 and a second edition in 1982.

Much has happened in television in the 1980s; the decline of the three major networks, the expansion of cable and satellite television, film channels like Home Box Office, the success of ESPN (sports), and MTV (pop music), and the increased way in which the White House in Washington has managed and controlled national news and its contents. Barnouw has added an extensive chapter dealing with the changes of…


Book cover of Smoking Typewriters: The Sixties Underground Press and the Rise of Alternative Media in America

Chris Elcock Author Of Psychedelic New York: A History of LSD in the City

From my list on history of the American counter-culture.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been fascinated by the American counter-culture and its promise to change society, be it with radical lifestyles, drugs, or creating new cultural settings. I was going to study this from a more sociological approach until I discovered the history of the psychedelic movement and its promise to create a new society by reforming American individuals from within. Although I wound up becoming more interested in what the counter-culture actually achieved rather than dwelling on its excesses, I am currently working on a new book project that will shed light on an organization that managed to achieve both.

Chris' book list on history of the American counter-culture

Chris Elcock Why did Chris love this book?

I love this book if only for McMillan’s hilarious chapter on the “Great Banana Hoax,” describing how the underground press convinced so many drug users to indulge in dried banana peel smoking to achieve what turned out to be a placebo high.

Much like Joshua Clark Davies’ From Head Shops to Whole Foods, this book is great at reminding us that the counter-culture was not just about self-indulgence but also about implementing new ways of living with tangible results. The underground press of the 1960s is a perfect example of stoners and radicals pooling their energy to disseminate information around the country through interstate networks.

By John McMillian,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Smoking Typewriters as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

How did the New Left uprising of the 1960s happen? What caused millions of young people--many of them affluent and college educated--to suddenly decide that American society needed to be completely overhauled?
In Smoking Typewriters, historian John McMillian shows that one answer to these questions can be found in the emergence of a dynamic underground press in the 1960s. Following the lead of papers like the Los Angeles Free Press, the East Village Other, and the Berkeley Barb, young people across the country launched hundreds of mimeographed pamphlets and flyers, small press magazines, and underground newspapers. New and cheap printing…


Book cover of Prime Green: Remembering the Sixties

John Walters Author Of The Misadventures of Mama Kitchen

From my list on celebrating the psychedelic sixties.

Why am I passionate about this?

I became a young man near the end of the sixties, and I have always been enthralled by the era's various idiosyncrasies, both good and bad. For instance, I loved the complex yet pleasant rock music and the freewheeling lifestyle. On the downside, the war in Vietnam cast its pall over the times, and I narrowly escaped being drafted and sent off to Southeast Asia. Overall, it was an era in which good and evil were starkly defined, and many people were attempting to create a better, more peaceful world. There is still much we can learn from this time.

John's book list on celebrating the psychedelic sixties

John Walters Why did John love this book?

This memoir paints a vivid picture of the sixties due to its author's excellent writing style and his immersion into the important events of the era.

One of the key factors for me and many other young people at the time was the war in Vietnam, where Stone served as a reporter. Later, he was closely associated with the sixties counterculture, including the exploits of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, which he describes in this absorbing and fascinating book.

By Robert Stone,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Prime Green as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the New York City of Kline and De Kooning to the jazz era of New Orleans's French Quarter, to Ken Kesey's psychedelic California, Prime Green explores the 1960s in all its weird, innocent, turbulent, and fascinating glory. Building on personal vignettes from Robert Stone's travels across America, the legendary novelist offers not only a riveting and powerful memoir but also an unforgettable inside perspective on a unique moment in American history.


Book cover of Imagine Nation: The American Counterculture of the 1960's and 70's

Chris Elcock Author Of Psychedelic New York: A History of LSD in the City

From my list on history of the American counter-culture.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been fascinated by the American counter-culture and its promise to change society, be it with radical lifestyles, drugs, or creating new cultural settings. I was going to study this from a more sociological approach until I discovered the history of the psychedelic movement and its promise to create a new society by reforming American individuals from within. Although I wound up becoming more interested in what the counter-culture actually achieved rather than dwelling on its excesses, I am currently working on a new book project that will shed light on an organization that managed to achieve both.

Chris' book list on history of the American counter-culture

Chris Elcock Why did Chris love this book?

This is a collection I have constantly gone back to over the years and is probably my all-time favorite in the history of the counter-culture. I love the blend of rigorous research and easy reading, as well as the breadth of topics and diversity of approaches.

It is replete with thoughtful analyses and eloquent descriptions of the counter-culture, without ever giving in to the nostalgia of era or condemning it for that has gone wrong since. A great starting point if you want a good overview of the history of the American counter-culture.

By Peter Braunstein (editor), Michael William Doyle (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Imagine Nation as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Amidst the recent flourishing of Sixties scholarship, Imagine Nation is the first collection to focus solely on the counterculture. Its fourteen provocative essays seek to unearth the complexity and rediscover the society-changing power of significant movements and figures.


Book cover of Love & Saffron: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love

Ellie Alexander Author Of Muffin But the Truth

From my list on heartwarming foodies to cozy up with this winter.

Why am I passionate about this?

I wrote my first mystery in second grade, thinking I was writing a page-turning thriller when in reality I penned a sweet, little cozy where everything turns out okay in the end and everyone always has a cup of hot chocolate and a vanilla cookie in hand. Somehow, I’ve managed to turn my love of baking and writing into a long-term career. With over 30 mysteries and counting I’m not sure if I’m going to run out of recipes or ways to kill someone off first. 

Ellie's book list on heartwarming foodies to cozy up with this winter

Ellie Alexander Why did Ellie love this book?

This sweet gem is like a salve for any food-loving reader’s soul. I devoured it on a stormy weekend, curled up on my couch with a cup of tea and it has stayed with me ever since. The story is set in the 1960s and written entirely in letters between an aspiring food writer in LA and a food columnist in the Puget Sound. Who knew that you couldn’t find garlic in the grocery store back in the 60s or that a simple gift of saffron would lead to a lasting friendship. Love & Saffron is a tender novel about friendship and how food connects us. I have literally given this book to all of my friends. It will warm your heart and leave you hungry for more. 

By Kim Fay,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Love & Saffron as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Instant National Bestseller and #1 Indie Next Pick

In the vein of the classic 84, Charing Cross Road, this witty and tender novel follows two women in 1960s America as they discover that food really does connect us all, and that friendship and laughter are the best medicine.

When twenty-seven-year-old Joan Bergstrom sends a fan letter--as well as a gift of saffron--to fifty-nine-year-old Imogen Fortier, a life-changing friendship begins. Joan lives in Los Angeles and is just starting out as a writer for the newspaper food pages. Imogen lives on Camano Island outside Seattle, writing a monthly column for…


Book cover of The Girls

Martin Nathan Author Of A Place of Safety

From my list on people in dangerous systems of belief.

Why am I passionate about this?

My family was divided by religion, leaving me skeptical about belief systems. After a background in science, I studied philosophy and became intrigued by Heidegger's ‘pitiless atheism.’ The power of his thought but his personal failings have long been an issue for academics. I have since been fascinated partly by powerful personalities but more by the struggle of their followers as they suspend critical thinking and make huge sacrifices to offer their support. This struggle and difficulty of turning back, particularly as the systems begin to collapse, are a feature of many of the works of fiction that intrigue me most, particularly in the books I have chosen.

Martin's book list on people in dangerous systems of belief

Martin Nathan Why did Martin love this book?

I liked the subtlety of the storytelling here and the way the whole tragic plot develops. Events develop as much out of boredom and lack of engagement rather than from evil intent.

The false messiah here doesn’t offer a great path and is not particularly charismatic. He just offers something slightly more interesting than all the others around. The outcome depends on accident more than any evil intention. Emma Cline finds an engaging way to explore a piece of history without exploitation.

By Emma Cline,

Why should I read it?

7 authors picked The Girls as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A gripping and dark fictionalised account of life inside the Manson family from one of the most exciting young voices in fiction.

If you're lost, they'll find you...

Evie Boyd is fourteen and desperate to be noticed.

It's the summer of 1969 and restless, empty days stretch ahead of her. Until she sees them. The girls. Hair long and uncombed, jewelry catching the sun. And at their centre, Suzanne, black-haired and beautiful.

If not for Suzanne, she might not have gone. But, intoxicated by her and the life she promises, Evie follows the girls back to the decaying ranch where…


Book cover of Inherent Vice

Travis Jeppesen Author Of Settlers Landing

From my list on when you need a heavy dose of satire.

Why am I passionate about this?

Given the state of the world today, laughter truly is the best coping mechanism. The best satire is all about excess in design, intention, characterization, and deployment of attitude. The more extreme, the better; leave restraint to the prudish moralists! 

Travis' book list on when you need a heavy dose of satire

Travis Jeppesen Why did Travis love this book?

Really hard to pick just one Pynchon for this list, as he is an all-around master of satire. But Inherent Vice is probably his LOL funniest, a stoner take on the detective genre set in the hippie world of 1970s southern California. The cinematic adaptation by Paul Thomas Anderson ain’t half bad, either. 

By Thomas Pynchon,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Inherent Vice as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon-Private eye Doc Sportello surfaces, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era

In this lively yarn, Thomas Pynchon, working in an unaccustomed genre that is at once exciting and accessible, provides a classic illustration of the principle that if you can remember the sixties, you weren't there.

It's been a while since Doc Sportello has seen his ex- girlfriend. Suddenly she shows up with a story about a plot to kidnap a billionaire land developer whom she just happens to be in love with. It's the tail…


Book cover of The Twilight Zone Companion
Book cover of The Moose That Roared: The Story of Jay Ward, Bill Scott, a Flying Squirrel and a Talking Moose
Book cover of When Women Invented Television: The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today

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5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in the 1960s, counterculture, and journalists?

The 1960s 21 books
Counterculture 39 books
Journalists 208 books