What Dan read

When I joined the Peace Corps in 1965-67 (Group Nepal VI), headquarters in Washington DC gave me two precious collections:  1. a box ("locker") of 250 books to read when I wasn't out trekking across the length and breadth of Bhojpur, the district in northeast Nepal where I was stationed by myself, 2. a medicine chest packed with over a hundred prescription drugs that kept me alive many a time.  The books were carefully chosen, and I churned through them omniverously.  I remember one in particular that had an enormous impact upon me, Glass Bead Game (Das Glasperlenspiel), by Hermann Hesse (1877-1962).

Two years before me, another Ohioan, Dan Pelzer, was posted to Dharan, a sub-metropolitan city in Sunsari District of Koshi Province.  He was also gifted with a book chest by the Peace Corps, and that propelled his lifelong passion for reading.  Dan, who passed away at the age of 92 in July 2025, kept a handwritten list of the 3,599 books that he had read since 1962.  The list went viral on TikTok and garnered coverage from CBS, New York Times, NPR, People, TODAY and may other publications.

Dan's daughter, Marci, is writing a memoir about her dad and his book list.  Here’s the website with her dad’s story, pictures, and book list.

From Dan’s original list The first eight 1. The Blue Nile,  Alan Moorehead      2. Babbitt, Sinclair Lewis      3. Rats, Lice, and History, Hans Zinsser    4. Dinosaurs, Nicholas Hotton III      5. The Wonder That Was India, A.L. Basham      6. A Short History of the Middle East,  George E. Kirk 7. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy 8, A Short History of India and Pakistan, T. Walter Wallbank

I printed out Dan's entire book list and it amounted to 215 pages (46,001 words) at 1.15 line spacing.

 

Selected reading

• "Skim reading, speed reading, and close, critical reading" (8/28/16)
• "Reading for pleasure at a young age" (6/23/15)
• "Writing by hand makes us think better" (5/30/26)