# Paul Graham essays

5 Hacker News commenters recommended Paul Graham essays and 7 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free essays that readers find clear and deep, with ideas that stick after reading. Critics find them simplistic and say they hide bold claims.

## Why people recommend it

- Ideas that stick and inspire writing (2 comments): "simple writing but deep ideas that stick with you long after reading" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47877314)) "It inspires me so much and makes me want to keep writing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47875758))

## What people warn about

- Simplistic, thin ideas (2 comments): "PG's essays are rather simplistic and not that insightful." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48350499)) "I personally find both of them vapid and annoying." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48578949))
- Vague, avoids stating claims (2 comments): "pg's essays. There is this new market, political and social reality, that pg decribes well but for some reason just doesn't want to call what it is." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47412897)) "The (admittedly few) PG essays I've read do seem to have a habit of hiding tall claims" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47250327))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion](https://hackerapproved.com/p/slouching-towards-bethlehem.md): 8 recommend
- [Why I Write by George Orwell](https://hackerapproved.com/p/why-i-write.md): 6 recommend
- [Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke](https://hackerapproved.com/p/letters-to-a-young-poet.md): 5 recommend
- [Metamagical Themas by Douglas Hofstadter](https://hackerapproved.com/p/metamagical-themas.md): 4 recommend
- [On Photography by Susan Sontag](https://hackerapproved.com/p/on-photography.md): 4 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Paul Graham essays", https://hackerapproved.com/p/paul-graham-essays/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).