#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • David Brooks challenges us to rebalance the scales between the
focus on external success-"résumé virtues"-and our core principles. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST
BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE ECONOMIST With the wisdom humor curiosity and sharp insights
that have brought millions of readers to his New York Times column and his previous bestsellers
David Brooks has consistently illuminated our daily lives in surprising and original ways. In
The Social Animal he explored the neuroscience of human connection and how we can flourish
together. Now in The Road to Character he focuses on the deeper values that should inform our
lives. Looking to some of the world's greatest thinkers and inspiring leaders Brooks
explores how through internal struggle and a sense of their own limitations they have built a
strong inner character. Labor activist Frances Perkins understood the need to suppress parts of
herself so that she could be an instrument in a larger cause. Dwight Eisenhower organized his
life not around impulsive self-expression but considered self-restraint. Dorothy Day a devout
Catholic convert and champion of the poor learned as a young woman the vocabulary of
simplicity and surrender. Civil rights pioneers A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin learned
reticence and the logic of self-discipline the need to distrust oneself even while waging a
noble crusade. Blending psychology politics spirituality and confessional The Road to
Character provides an opportunity for us to rethink our priorities and strive to build rich
inner lives marked by humility and moral depth. "Joy " David Brooks writes "is a byproduct
experienced by people who are aiming for something else. But it comes." Praise for The Road to
Character "A hyper-readable lucid often richly detailed human story."-The New York Times
Book Review "This profound and eloquent book is written with moral urgency and philosophical
elegance."-Andrew Solomon author of Far from the Tree and The Noonday Demon "A powerful
haunting book that works its way beneath your skin."-The Guardian "Original and eye-opening .
. . Brooks is a normative version of Malcolm Gladwell culling from a wide array of scientists
and thinkers to weave an idea bigger than the sum of its parts."-USA Today
