Succession success

Not ready to say goodbye to the Roys' world of corporate greed, family infighting, and dynastic wealth? Then keep the boom times rolling with this juicy collection of books.

We That Are Young by Preji Taneja

When an aging hotel tycoon attempts to split his company shares among his three daughters, his youngest refuses to play into his wishes, and a family-wide power struggle begins. 

The Darlings by Cristina Alger

After marrying the daughter of billionaire financier Carter Darling, Paul Ross finds himself surrounded by all the trappings of New York luxury. When he loses his job, he gratefully accepts a new role working as a lawyer for his father-in-law’s hedge fund. Things take a quick, catastrophic turn after it’s discovered that a member of the firm was running a Ponzi scheme, thrusting Paul into the thick of SEC investigations that force him to determine where his true loyalties lie.

Growing Up Getty: The Story of America's Most Unconventional Dynasty by James Reginato

While most people have seen the Getty Images watermark splashed across a photo or have heard tales of family patriarch Jean Paul Getty’s notorious frugality, few know about the Getty family’s wide pool of fascinating descendants. Growing Up Getty offers a comprehensive look into the family offering a compassionate portrait of an American dynasty.

The Heirs by Susan Rieger

The Falkes family deals with inheritance and grief after the family patriarch, Rupert, dies. Rupert’s widow and five sons are forced to put their grieving on hold after a stranger sues the estate with claims that Rupert fathered her two sons. The damning allegations throw the children into a tailspin as they grapple with matters of inheritance and questioning what kind of people their parents really were.

The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden

Before it was a flashy Lady Gaga and Adam Driver-helmed movie, The House of Gucci was a meticulously reported book. This title fleshes out the multi-generational rise of the Gucci dynasty and the family’s troubles, which eventually led to their separation from the brand. The story hinges on Gucci heir Maurizio Gucci’s assassination, which his ex-wife was eventually convicted for arranging, and the events that led up to his tragic end. 

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

When Rachel goes to Singapore to meet her boyfriend’s family for the first time, she’s shocked to learn that he comes from one of the richest families in Asia. Although her boyfriend, Nick, initially believed that his family would accept his middle-class girlfriend after raising him to be humble and frugal, things take a turn for the worse when Nick’s mother makes it her mission to drive the young couple apart. 

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe

While the Sackler family’s involvement with pharmaceuticals has previously been documented, it wasn’t until the release of Empire of Pain that their true reach and impact was fully examined. In this book, investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe details the family’s connection to the drug industry, mainly in the form of Purdue Pharma, the company behind the painkiller OxyContin. Through in-depth reporting, Radden Keefe reveals the ways that the development, approval, and marketing of OxyContin influenced the ongoing opioid crisis. 

The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney

When the Plumb family patriarch originally created “The Nest,” a joint trust fund for his four children, he intended for it to be a reasonable sum of money that they could fall back on. By the time the siblings are finally old enough to receive the money, the trust has grown exponentially, thanks to the stock market—and so has the children’s need for it. Each desperate in their own way, the siblings meet up after the eldest brother’s drunk driving accident threatens their much-anticipated financial lifeboat. 

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

A King Lear reimagining (this one took home a Pulitzer in 1992), A Thousand Acres puts a rural spin on the classic tale. When a successful Iowa farmer tries to divide up his expansive land holdings among his three daughters, his youngest rebukes him and gets cut out of the will altogether. 

Crazy Rich: Power, Scandal, and Tragedy Inside the Johnson & Johnson Dynasty by Jerry Oppenheimer

Johnson & Johnson is a near-universally known brand, but the dynasty is also characterized by scandal and tragedy. In Crazy Rich, the Johnson family’s legacy of dysfunction is put under the microscope, from the many marriages (and subsequent divorces) to the multitude of lawsuits. 

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

When the four Riva children gather for the eldest sister’s annual end-of-summer party, they’re forced to grapple with the after-effects of their upbringing and their parents’ tumultuous marriage. When their famous singer father shares his hope to rejoin in their lives, the Rivas must decide what grace fully-grown children are obligated to extend to their parents.

The Windfall by Diksha Basu

When entrepreneur Mr. Jha’s latest internet venture pays off, to the tune of $20 million, his first order of business is uprooting his family from their cramped housing complex and into a notoriously wealthy part of New Delhi. The Jhas quickly discover a brand new set of rules for their newfound way of life, which just might make them question who they are at their very core. 

Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy by James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams

Unscripted details the recent power play for what is now Paramount Global after Sumner Redstone resigned from his role as executive chairman following concerns about his competency. The book details the family’s fight to maintain control of the corporation, with Redstone’s daughter Shari shouldering the bulk of the responsibility. 

There Must Be a Pony in Here Somewhere: The AOL Time Warner Debacle and the Quest for a Digital Future by Kara Swisher

Step back into the time machine of meta-narratives and mergers with Pivot co-host (and official Succession podcast host) Kara Swisher’s definite saga on the 2000 AOL–Time Warner merger implosion for a look at how dramatic and devastating the effects of faulty strategy, poor execution, and petty men can be.

The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News--and Divided a Country by Gabriel Sherman

From his humble working-class origins to his long tenure at the top of the media and political dogpile, Ailes’s story is as engrossing as it is outrageous. If you’re in a viewing sort of mood, Showtime also adapted the book into a 2019 miniseries starring a disarmingly chilling Russell Crowe. 

Disneywar: Intrigue, Treachery, and Deceit in the Magic Kingdom by James B. Stewart

Jeremy Strong likened DisneyWar to the War of the Roses to GQ in 2018 and cited the text as an essential reference for building Kendall’s character. In the same interview, Nicholas Braun admitted to abandoning reading the book as part of his prep for Greg. It’s a gripping account of how some incredible executive pettiness during the rise and fall of Michael Eisner’s time at Disney shaped a great deal of entertainment in the late ’80s and early ’90s. And in the continuing parallels between real life and Succession, DisneyWar captures the rise of a not-inconsequential executive named Bob Iger, who would take Disney post-Eisner into a new age of success and to whom, in 2019, Rupert Murdoch would sell Fox in a surprise acquisition deal.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Pachinko is the fictional saga of a multigenerational Korean family living in Japan, rising from abject poverty, and highlighting not only how family secrets and strife are carried from one generation to the next but also how the indirect effects of colonial occupation and immigration are passed on. 

Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan

Truly, the final book in Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians trilogy has the perfect title for any kind of story about the Über-wealthy. In arguably his best book, Kwan closes the story of Rachel Chu and Nick Young by following Nick’s bid to make amends with his family and inherit his grandmother’s estate. It’s a candy-colored familial romp with a satisfactory, surprising ending and sparkly descriptions of glitzy opulence, perfect summer reading on one’s private beach or yacht deck.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare

King Lear seems the logical choice but instead, revisit another iconic sad boy and what happens when those with all the power fight over that power. There is no innocent, redemptive Cordelia figure in Succession, and just like in the Danish tragedy, there is perhaps no innocent figure among the players of Succession. Also, Tom and Greg are totally Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

The layers of allusion, inspiration, and direct references woven within Succession’s writing and art direction reflect how cerebrally rich the show is. Its references to Dante’s journey through hell in the first part of his “Divine Comedy” are perhaps both most and least subtle in the second season: Center stage in the key art is William Adolphe-Bouguereau’s Dante and Virgil, depicting the author and his guide as they pass by two condemned men fighting each other in the eighth circle for falsifiers and counterfeiters. Turn directly to Canto XXX in “Inferno” for the corresponding, excoriating passage on truth, consequences, and bearing witness to sinners.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

Caligula and Corialanus, Romulus and Remus, Nero and Sporus … if you don’t know your ancient Roman history, you may be missing some of the more explicit references that the characters themselves make to each other throughout Succession. It is also likely not a coincidence that Gibbon’s oft-cited work chronicles the decline and fall of an empire.