104 ratings | 95 reviews | avg rating:4.22

more photos (1)

Alex’s Year In Books

Alex’s 2024 Year in Books

Take a look at Alex’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

Go to Alex’s 2024 Year in Books

Alex Beam’s Followers (82)

Alex’s Bookshelves

to-read (2)
currently-reading (1)
read (103)

Alex’s Friends (300)

Nicole Dungca

179 books | 222 friends

Linda

540 books | 277 friends

Nick

1,428 books | 154 friends

Preston Forman

291 books | 68 friends

Michele

30,025 books | 5,119 friends

Michael

760 books | 209 friends

Doug Cornelius

1,649 books | 193 friends

Joshua Hammer

67 books | 265 friends

More friends…

Alex Beam

Goodreads Author

Born

Washington, D.C., The United States

Influences

My parents

Member Since

March 2012

edit data

I'm [still] a [part-time] columnist for the Boston Globe. Before that I worked as a business reporter in Los Angeles and Moscow. I've lived in Boston since 1984, and written for the newspaper since 1987. I'm working on my next book, about the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith. I wish I still resembled that handsome photo, taken about a decade ago. UPDATE: Finished the Joseph Smith book (obviously) and have started turning over soil for my next project. UPDATE: Finished that project, a short, sharp book called "The Feud: Vladimir Nabokov, Edmund Wilson, and the End of a Beautiful Friendship." UPDATE The Nabokov-Wilson book got lovely reviews, and now I am days away from handing in the ms for my seventh book, my fifth work of nonfiction, the (true) ...more

Combine Editions
Alex Beam’s books

Average rating: 3.68 · 4,740 ratings · 669 reviews · 12 distinct works • Similar authors

	Gracefully Insane: The Rise and Fall of America's Premier Mental Hospital 3.70 avg rating — 2,490 ratings — published 2001 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church 3.66 avg rating — 1,143 ratings — published 2014 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Broken Glass: Mies Van Der Rohe, Edith Farnsworth, and the Fight Over a Modernist Masterpiece 3.78 avg rating — 529 ratings — published 2020 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Great Idea at the Time: The Rise, Fall, and Curious Afterlife of the Great Books 3.35 avg rating — 348 ratings — published 2008 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Feud: Vladimir Nabokov, Edmund Wilson, and the End of a Beautiful Friendship 3.84 avg rating — 207 ratings — published 2016 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wallace Stegner: Dean of Western Writers 4.57 avg rating — 7 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Gracefully Insane 3.25 avg rating — 8 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fellow travelers 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 1987 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Americans Are Coming! 2.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 1991 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Great Idea at the Time: The Rise, Fall, and Curious Afterlife of the Great Books by Alex Beam (2009-10-13) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Alex Beam…

Alex is Currently Reading

Alex rated a book really liked it

The Wives of Henry VIII

by Antonia Fraser

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Alex said: " In media res ... AF has an enviably light touch, but not dumb or snarky. Perhaps this "goes without saying..." Update: Had to go back to reading less interesting fare. Had a glance at the rival Alison Weir book, wonder if that might have been better. ...more "

Feb 11, 2013 04:03AM · see review

Quotes by Alex Beam (?)

“I have never met a writer who didn't need an editor, and an editor without a writer is a person without a job. It is a fraught and often-imperfect relationship, of course, dating back to the beginning of time. You remember; after God moved upon the darkness, he proclaimed, "I've put in place some very wondrous illumination here!" And Mrs. God gently suggested the more pithy: 'Let there be light.”
― Alex Beam

4 likes

“The digital book has no front or back covers; there is no place to assert ownership, and there is nothing to own. "The digital delivery module" is a piece of molded plastic made in China, encasing a few memory chips. That is not the book, that's the "reader." Wait, I thought I was the reader. Oh, never mind.”
― Alex Beam

3 likes

“In front of the reviewing stand, she presented Joseph with a twenty-six-star, handcrafted silk American flag, sewn for the occasion by the ladies of Nauvoo. Then the officers, the honored guests, and the twenty members of the Legion marching band assembled for the procession to the temple site. Joseph had assigned special places on the reviewing stand to the Sauk Indian chief Keokuk and his entourage, who had crossed over from Iowa to partake in the festivities.”
― Alex Beam, American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church

2 likes

See all Alex Beam's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Seasonal Read...: 20.3 (Best Review Contest - Amy MO - Mental Health)	77	222	May 13, 2010 05:18AM
Crazy Challenge C...: Gemini challenge	167	123	Jun 24, 2012 02:44AM
College Students! : * What Did You Finish Reading/What Are You Currently Reading?	3837	5295	Dec 26, 2017 03:05PM
The Seasonal Read...: Completed Tasks: PLEASE DO NOT DELETE ANY POST IN THIS THREAD	4046	367	Nov 30, 2018 09:27PM
Gigi's Company: Book Cover Challenge	2826	581	Jul 08, 2023 03:36PM