The Fall
Reading List

“I’m really just into the pure art of it now,” the longtime comedian told The New York Times this spring, after describing his current status as “post-show business.” “Just the bit, the audience, and the moment. I’m more interested in that than ever, and I’m less interested in everything else.” Maybe that’s why, roughly 25 years since SeinLanguage—his last (and only) book of stand-up material—he’s written a follow-up. It turns out that, over his 45-year career, the famously meticulous comedian has kept nearly all of his jokes and notes, mostly written in longhand on what he calls his “preferred canvas”: yellow notepads. The book collects his very favorites in chronological order, serving as a sort of greatest hits from one of the genre’s most successful practitioners. It’s not yet known whether the car enthusiast—who has been known to trade stories with Ralph himself, often while behind the wheel of one of their automobiles—has any material on the Polo shirt.
(Simon & Schuster, October 6)

The actor and style icon has long been a core muse for Ralph Lauren. Indeed, the two men once spent a memorable day at the races in Southern California, albeit only after Mr. Lauren changed out of his T-shirt and jeans and into something less casual, on the advice of Mr. Grant himself. Grant’s on-screen life, of course, bubbles over with charisma—the embodiment of Old Hollywood, a man who owes his timelessness to a relentless curiosity and the ability to stay current without ever seeming desperate to do so. (He retired at the height of his powers, rather than declining on-screen.) His off-screen life is both darker and stranger. He grew up with an alcoholic father and an absent mother; he went through five marriages; he experimented with LSD late in life. This book chronicles it all, and is the first to do so with access to Grant’s personal papers, archives, and interviews with his friends and family.
(Simon & Schuster, October 20)

This celebration of Black cuisine comes from Marcus Samuelsson, the chef of Harlem’s Red Rooster, host of No Passport Required on PBS, and a longtime friend of the Ralph Lauren brand. Think of this as something of a hybrid between a cookbook and a beautifully written and photographed exploration of Black American food and culture. Inside, you’ll find 150 recipes from roughly two dozen top Black chefs—including James Beard Award winners like Mashama Bailey (of The Grey in Savannah, GA) and Edouardo Jordan (of JuneBaby in Seattle). You’ll also find essays from writers and activists, such as a chapter devoted to the pantry of the African diaspora.
(Voracious, October 27)

Long before street style took over the internet, and before social media recycled our private photos for public consumption, images of everyday people living their everyday lives was the stuff of personal collections, rarely seen outside one’s own family. This book is a corrective of sorts, featuring personal images taken between the ’40s and ’70s in New York City’s Little Italy, just down the road from the Bronx, where Ralph Lauren himself was born and raised at the same time. As one coauthor puts it, “If you had an accomplishment―communion, confirmation, wedding, graduation, or birthday, you’d dress up in your best outfit and go to the rooftop to take pictures and celebrate with your family.” The foreword is by Martin Scorsese, whose own chronicling of this time and place, and the people who lived in it, has informed his own iconic filmography.
(Damiani, October 27)

The beloved actor is no stranger to the World of Ralph Lauren, as this 2011 interview conducted by David Lauren can attest. He’s also no stranger to the art of writing a memoir—this is his third in a series, and each of its predecessors (Lucky Man and Always Looking Up) has become a best seller. And no wonder—Fox brings the same smarts and affability to the page that he has to his iconic roles. It’s hard to believe that he’s 59, and that it’s been 30 years since he was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s, which means he’s been living with the illness for more than half his life. This book looks at the past decade of challenges, including a devastating fall that left him unable to walk, and finds him reassessing his indefatigable optimism.
(Flatiron Books, November 17)

While his business might bear his mother’s name (that would be Estée), in many ways its story is Leonard’s. This book tells that story, chronicling Lauder’s childhood during the Great Depression, his experiences in the US Navy during World War II, and, of course, how he turned a mom-and-pop beauty brand into one of the great success stories in the history of American business. Especially intriguing for those familiar with Ralph Lauren’s philanthropic efforts is Lauder’s own work in the fight against cancer—his wife, Evelyn, founded the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in 1993 before succumbing to another form of cancer in 2011. She’s credited with popularizing the use of the color pink, which of course Ralph Lauren has used for the long-running Pink Pony campaign. Not coincidentally, Lauder dons pink on the cover of his memoir.
(Harper Business, November 17)