Tucson Festival of Books

The Fight to be Understood


Join bestselling authors, David Gelles, David Leaf and Jeff Pearlman. All three of their books examine flawed, complex individuals facing judgment -- public, personal or internal -- and the journey toward redemption or reinvention.


Panelists
David Gelles

David Gelles is an award-winning correspondent for The New York Times. He currently writes for the climate desk and previously wrote for the business section and was the “Corner Office” columnist....

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David Leaf

David Leaf is an award-winning writer, director, and producer whose most recent books are "SMiLE: The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Brian Wilson" and "God Only Knows: The Story of Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys & the California Myth....

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Jeff Pearlman

Jeff Pearlman is The New York Times bestselling author of ten books, including NFL legends Walter Pay­ton in "Sweetness", Brett Favre in "Gunslinger," and Bo Jackson in "The Last Folk Hero." He has written about the ’80s Los Angeles Lakers in "Showtime,", the 1986 New York Mets in "The Bad Guys Won," and the ’90s Dallas Cowboys "Boys Will Be Boys....

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Books:
Dirtbag Billionaire
How Yvon Chouinard Built Patagonia, Made a Fortune, and Gave It All Away
David Gelles
Memoir / Essays / Creative Nonfiction
Simon & Schuster
September 2025
ISBN 9781668032268
320 pages
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SMiLE
The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of Brian Wilson
David Leaf
Memoir / Essays / Creative Nonfiction
Omnibus Press
April 2025
ISBN 9781915841315
352 pages
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Only God Can Judge Me
The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur
Jeff Pearlman
Memoir / Essays / Creative Nonfiction
HarperCollins Publishers
October 2025
ISBN 9780063304574
464 pages
Buy now