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“I wrote this book not sure I could follow the road to character, but I wanted at least to know what the road looks like and how other people have trodden it.”—David Brooks
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 dai...more

Published April 14th 2015 by Random House (first published March 10th 2015)

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Rating details

George Will

I'm sure dedicated trend-watchers must view reality TV, political scandals, and the eternal Kim-n-Kanye peep show with unalloyed dismay. Especially for social conservatives, yoked with a sense of moral obligation to the larger society, they must feel an especial impulse to intervene, to stand athwart the downhill slalom they perceive society following, and holler 'Stop!' Bill Bennett felt that impulse twenty years ago. The feeling is older than dirt.
David Brooks has represented the voice of mode...more

I spotted David Brooks' latest non-fiction book, The Road to Character, while I was browsing new books available on NetGalley. It looked like something that I might enjoy and perhaps even find to be inspirational. Thank you to Random House for sending me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
PLOT - In The Road to Character, New York Times Columnist David Brooks profiles a range of people spanning several eras that he considers to have a strong sense of character. These are mostly ver...more

Mar 12, 2015Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing

I love David Brooks! His book 'The Social Animal' was fabulous, and so is this new book, 'The Road to Character'.
Right from the start--its interesting. He explores the difference between the resume virtues and the eulogy virtues. The eulogy virtues are deeper --exist at the core of our being. (type of character we are) -- yet many of us have thought more about the resume --strategies for how to achieve career success than we do for how we develop a profound character.
Throughout the book he exa...more

Apr 14, 2015Trish rated it really liked it

Shelves: america, audio, nonfiction, adventure, family, parenting

In this book David Brooks gives what might be considered the longest, and best, commencement speech ever. He speaks personally, yet universally also. He is not just talking to college-leavers but to any of us ready to embark on a new quest in our lives. He takes the reading, experience, and thought of a lifetime and presents us with what he considers to be more important than the pursuit of happiness: the pursuit of goodness, character, morality. Happiness comes as the byproduct of a moral life,...more

Apr 13, 2015Kressel Housman rated it it was amazing

Shelves: biography, non-fiction, philosophy, philanthropy, presidents, george-eliot

David Brooks, columnist for The New York Times and author of this and several other books, has become a baal teshuva (Orthodox Jew). I knew that going into the book, but because it draws from such varied sources, I’m not sure I would have figured it out on my own, but the values here are definitely Jewish. The bulk of the book is made of short biographies of exemplary people, but before I go into those, I must explain the viewpoint of the book overall.
The very first chapter draws from The Lonel...more

David Brooks calls for a cultural shift away from the 'Big Me' meritocracy of seeking status and climbing the social ladder, and back in the direction of modesty, self-effacement, and public virtue. Less Kardashians and more regular old good people who lead lives of quiet self-respect, who are secure in their own inner character, and who don't have to broadcast their good deeds to feel important or to get ahead. It's good cultural criticism from one of our finest public intellectuals.

Jul 11, 2018Laura Noggle rated it it was ok

As a big fan of Ryan Holiday, I jumped into the book a little prematurely after seeing it on this list: If You Only Read A Few Books In 2018, Read These. Even if I had read more reviews before starting, I'm not sure I would have been prepared for the drudgery and sermonizing that awaited.
One might say reading this book is a 'character building experience'—as it is long, dry, and painful. In all fairness, the opening and closing of the book were not bad. It's the middle of the book, made up of e...more

I very much wanted to like this book. David Brooks is one of my favorite columnists, a writer whose opinions I always find interesting even though I not infrequently disagree with them. True, I have often found his book-length works diffuse, a bit rambling, and too often unconvincing, and I have concluded that he does his best work in a shorter format. Nevertheless, the topic of this book intrigued me, and I wanted his argument to be successful, whatever it might be.
Brooks is convinced that ther...more

Apr 18, 2015Timothy McCluskey rated it it was amazing

While I do not share David Brooks' political views, I do like this book. He is cogent on the lack of deep attention to moral development in our current culture. He is on to something. His approach draws from the lives of a cross section of thinkers, leaders, and parents weaving a tapestry of a moral and a meaningful life.
His style could be better and at times it appears to be a sermon but that does not detract from his argument. Brooks writes that the narcissism -the me generation- is the new n...more

I like David Brooks. I watch him every week on PBS Newshour, and he always seems like such a pleasant man. He wears the most tastefully expensive suits, his cultivated voice is always low and soothing, and his discreetly coiffed silver hair is always perfect.
When I opened this book, I was charmed by the depth of his learning and his admiration for so many amazing men and women of past eras. How can you not love an author who pays tribute to football great Johnny Unitas and Victorian novelist Ge...more

May 25, 2017Brian Knight rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book describes the journey toward character from several different historical characters. Each chapter David Brooks shares a different person's story. His desire is to point out the different thought processes about character from other time periods... specifically moral realism versus moral romanticism. He develops an argument toward the imbalance within our own time period. Definitely worth a read... even if just for the great stories.

William Kristol

The Road To Character David Brooks Pdf Free Download

Apr 17, 2015Jennifer rated it liked it

David Brooks doesn't profess to always follow the road to character, but he wanted to know what it looked like. Thus, his motivation for studying people throughout history who made an effort to build their character and follow a moral code of conduct that wouldn't change based on circumstance, their desires, or the fashion of the day.
The book starts with an eloquent introduction. Brooks outlines his thesis that humans have an internal struggle between 'Adam 1' (the purest, moral self) and 'Adam...more

Jun 12, 2015Kellie rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Disappointing and poorly set up
I think people's reaction to this book will depend on what they buy it for and hope to get out of it before they even open page one.
We read this for my book club, and it was hard to slog through for me. The premise of Brooks' philosophy has its genesis in earlier work by Joseph Soloveitchik, who believed that there are two creation stories in Genesis because there are two sides to man, an external achievement-focused one and an internal one, which Brooks calls the...more

Quick take on David Brooks' *Road to Character*: sort of sad we live in a society that needs this book. But we need this book. The real trick? Getting those who *need* to read it to *want* to read it.
Watch for my review in The Hedgehog Review.

May 04, 2015peter rated it it was ok

This book is basically a collection of essays about people from the past whom he admires. It's basically how the 'virtuous' lived in The Good Ole Days™. He extols 'eulogy traits' over 'resume traits' but each of these people has quite the resume. If the presidency is on your resume, you don't even need a resume anymore.
He writes about various people and their lives in a more-or-less biographical fashion from birth to death, which is quite repetitive. He also bends over backwards to make their li...more

May 01, 2015Lorilin rated it liked it

The introduction and first chapter of this book are both amazing. I mean, I was underlining passages left and right. Brooks is a wonderful writer and very insightful. I thought his summary of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchick's Adam I and Adam II argument (from Soloveitchick's book, Lonely Man of Faith) was thoughtful and easily accessible. There is no doubt that Brooks is most successful when he takes what he knows and what he has read and draws general conclusions and insights about life. I actually...more

The Road to Character was hit or miss, with a slow pace and sometimes long-winded chapters.
But . . . when it worked, it worked. Author Brooks focuses on a cross-section of notable individuals - I especially liked the chapters on Frances Perkins, Dwight Eisenhower, A. Philip Randolph, and George Marshall - and delves into their backgrounds to examine what established and defined their traits / moral strength. Not all included were saints, but many generally worked for the greater good in a larger...more

I very much like and respect David Brooks; however, this book is not one of his shining accomplishments. I question why he felt a need to write this book. I saw his book review interview on Charlie Rose and I think Brooks is personally struggling with his character after a career as a conservative political pundit and his recent divorce. His universe may be off kilter in his life and being.
Hence this book attempts to define the two characteristics of what makes a person: Adam I being your resum...more

I think I read this book at just the right time of my life. I heard David Brooks speak at the Sixth & I Synagogue last week and have been entirely inspired by his approach to the question of character. I have been taking a break from my career and reflecting on what my life is all about. He nails it. It is the journey we take to be better human beings - what he calls 'eulogy virtues' instead of public successes - the 'resume virtues'. I think the philosophy he puts forward and the examples o...more

I like David Brooks, one of the few conservative pundits writing for the “New York Times.” Similar to Thomas Friedman – they both tend to go off on god-awful tangents – Brooks is an excellent writer, and his newest book, “The Road to Character,” is a gem. His premises: we need to rebalance the scales between our “resume virtues” – achieving wealth, fame, and status – and our “eulogy virtues,” those that exist at the core of our being, such as kindness, bravery, and honesty. Analyzing the persona...more

Oct 12, 2015Kevin McAllister rated it did not like it

While I do admire the amount of research David Brooks must have put into writing this book, I simply do not agree with his conclusion. And I rather disliked the condescending tone of the book. Thanks for the advice Dave, but no thanks. I've found my own road to character and it suits me just fine.

Oct 29, 2017Larry Bassett rated it liked it · review of another edition

I know the voice of David Brooks from watching him as a pundit on the PBS NewsHour. So I was excited when I began listening to this book that it was him actually reading it! But I was immediately disappointed because he only read the introduction and then it switched to another reader.
I read this book in a somewhat shallow way. I enjoyed it as a series of brief biographies about basically interesting people. The more in-depth philosophy about how they represented certain trends in how people in...more

I feel sort of dumbfounded. It is an incredibly bizarre thing to read someone come to Jesus in a manner both extremely oblique and extremely public. When you think about David Brooks, though, a man whose job is punditry, it makes more sense. Brooks' job is to know something before anything can actually be known about it. He can't talk about himself, because he talks about ISSUES and history and TOPICS, and he has to talk about whatever way before there is time for reflection. This it makes sense...more

Jul 17, 2015Bob rated it it was amazing

Summary: David Brooks explores the issue of character development through the hard-won pursuit of moral virtue, exemplified in the moral quests of people as diverse as Augustine and Bayard Rustin, Frances Perkins and Dorothy Day.
I’ve long followed The New York Times op-ed pieces of David Brooks. Brooks often has seemed to me to be a quiet, reasoned voice speaking against the prevailing cultural winds. I wrote recently about the qualities of charity and cogency in public conversation and have lon...more

May 12, 2015Joseph rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

David Brooks walks us through the minds, lives and inner struggles of a collection of outstanding and inspiring leaders and thinkers in history. He comments on how narcism pervades our present generation and how the culture of “Big Me” is inherently perpetuated by our society’s value and focus on the mastery of an individual's “resume virtues” (ie: exam scores, community service hours, professional achievements, etc.). When emphasized, these are the characteristics that often provides the ticket...more

Oct 20, 2015John Kaufmann rated it really liked it

Shelves: brain-cogsci-socialpsych, philosophy-religion, sociology-socscience

Excellent book, borderline 5-stars. This is not a 'self-help' book. It starts from the premise that our moral ecology has shifted since the end of the Second Wold War from the 'little me' to the 'Big Me,' from self-sacrificing and self-disciplined to self-centered. It is a serious attempt to look at what traits and virtues comprise 'character', and what instills those characteristics. These are the virtues and characteristics that I saw more of when I was growing up, and that I have long felt ha...more

Less pedantic and more important than much of his other work, The Road to Character is a must-read for anyone interested in the impact of culture on individuals (and vice versa), gleaning insight from others' experience, and most importantly, how strong character is formed.
I delighted in the way Brooks divided chapters according to topics and used historical figures' stories to illustrate them. (My only real beef with the book is the lack of women portrayed within it.) You'll learn about self-c...more

Nov 12, 2015Jane Stewart rated it liked it · review of another edition

I really liked a few of the ideas. Some of the biographies were interesting, but several parts were dull.
The author talks about several famous people, giving examples of their work and contributions to society.
The author divides humans into two selfs: Adam 1 the traits that appear on a resume, Adam 2 the traits that appear on a tombstone or eulogy.
Adam 2 traits/ideas include the following:
humility, quiet your own ego
struggle against sin (selfishness, prejudice, insecurity, cruelty)
become more di...more

David Brooks is my favorite journalist of all time, coming out just ahead of Roger Ebert and Dave Barry. So it's difficult to do a critical reading of his books. As one of the token conservative columnists at the New York Times, Mr. Brooks has the unique challenge of writing to an audience that is largely dismissive of him. I admire the man's intellectual honesty but more importantly his attitude of epistemological modesty (the idea that we can't really know much). Too many people are just too s...more

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David Brooks is a political and cultural commentator. He is currently a columnist for The New York Times and a commentator on PBS NewsHour. He has previously worked for Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, Newsweek, The Atlantic Monthly and National Public Radio.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

“We are called at certain moments to comfort people who are enduring some trauma. Many of us don't know how to react in such situations, but others do. In the first place, they just show up. They provide a ministry of presence. Next, they don't compare. The sensitive person understands that each person's ordeal is unique and should not be compared to anyone else's. Next, they do the practical things--making lunch, dusting the room, washing the towels. Finally, they don't try to minimize what is going on. They don't attempt to reassure with false, saccharine sentiments. They don't say that the pain is all for the best. They don't search for silver linings. They do what wise souls do in the presence of tragedy and trauma. They practice a passive activism. They don't bustle about trying to solve something that cannot be solved. The sensitive person grants the sufferer the dignity of her own process. She lets the sufferer define the meaning of what is going on. She just sits simply through the nights of pain and darkness, being practical, human, simple, and direct.” — 78 likes

“Humility is the awareness that there’s a lot you don’t know and that a lot of what you think you know is distorted or wrong.” — 64 likes

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IMPORTANT: This listing is meant to provide information only. Free-eBooks.net does not offer this book for download. To view our Bestsellers available for FREE: click here.

Author: David Brooks

Pages: 320

Edition: Hardcover

List Price: $28

Published: Apr, 2015

Publisher: Random House

ISBN: 9780812993257

Highest rank: #1 on 25^th, Apr 2015

First entered: 18^th, Apr 2015

Number of weeks: 22

Book Summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE ECONOMIST • “I wrote this book not sure I could follow the road to character, but I wanted at least to know what the road looks like and how other people have trodden it.”—David Brooks
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. Responding to what he calls the culture of the Big Me, which emphasizes external success, Brooks challenges us, and himself, to rebalance the scales between our “résumé virtues”—achieving wealth, fame, and status—and our “eulogy virtues,” those that exist at the core of our being: kindness, bravery, honesty, or faithfulness, focusing on what kind of relationships we have formed.
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
“David Brooks—the New York Times columnist and PBS commentator whose measured calm gives punditry a good name—offers the building blocks of a meaningful life.”—Washingtonian
“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
“The voice of the book is calm, fair and humane. The highlight of the material is the quality of the author’s moral and spiritual judgments.”—The Washington Post
“A powerful, haunting book that works its way beneath your skin.”—The Guardian (U.K.)
“This learned and engaging book brims with pleasures.”—Newsday

“Original and eye-opening . . . At his best, 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
“There is something affecting in the diligence with which Brooks seeks a cure for his self-diagnosed shallowness by plumbing the depths of others.”—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker

Name: David Brooks

Hometown: Toronto, Ontario

Born: Aug, 1961

About the author:

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