Author touted by Mark Zuckerberg suggests Facebook CEO choose fiction for next book

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The author of Mark Zuckerberg’s first book club pick has a suggestion for future choices.

Moises Naim, whose “The End of the Power” hit the top 20 on Amazon.com soon after the Facebook founder’s recommendation, thinks Zuckerberg should take on more fiction. Zuckerberg announced on his Facebook page last week that he plans to read a book every other week in 2015 and that he hopes to learn more about different cultures and technologies. Naim, interviewed Wednesday by The Associated Press, said fiction is an ideal introduction to new worlds. He cited Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s classic work of magic realism set in Colombia, “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” as proof fiction can be a “powerful way to grasp reality.”

“It gives you a different way of looking at things,” he said.

Zuckerberg’s literary tastes, judging from his Facebook page, run mostly to nonfiction works written by men. Books he has read recently include “American Lion,” Jon Meacham’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Andrew Jackson; “Open,” tennis star Andre Agassi’s memoir; and “The Information,” James Gleick’s bestselling science book. For his club, Zuckerberg has set up “A Year of Books” Facebook page that has more than 200,000 likes.

The 62-year-old Naim is a prominent journalist and commentator and his book, a critique on the limits of power, includes blurbs from Bill Clinton and George Soros. A native of Venezuela, he says he was “absolutely” surprised when he learned last week that Zuckerberg was reading “The End of Power” and looks forward to participating in an online discussion on Zuckerberg’s page.

Naim’s Facebook presence has been tiny up until now, limited to a fan page with just under 4,000 likes. He says he has never met Zuckerberg. Because Naim has no personal Facebook page, they are not even “friends.”