Eric Hoffer Book Award Gold Seal © The Eric Hoffer Project

Each year, the Eric Hoffer Award presents the Montaigne Medal to the most thought-provoking books. These are books that either illuminate, progress, or redirect thought. The Montaigne Medal is given in honor of the great French philosopher Michel de Montaigne, who influenced people such as William Shakespeare, René Descartes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Eric Hoffer. This is an additional distinction beneath the Eric Hoffer Award umbrella.

"I felt all the time he was writing about me. He knew my innermost thoughts."

-Eric Hoffer, from his memoir, Truth Imagined

Upon registering for the Eric Hoffer Award, a book is automatically considered for the Montaigne Medal. In the spring, the Montaigne finalists are announced. This medal was introduced in 2008. Recipients can be viewed below. Detailed coverage of current winners can be found in the US Review of Books.

2024

* Is Social Justice Just?, Robert M. Whaples, Michael C. Munger, & Christopher J. Coyne (editors), Independent Institute
* The Tuttle Twins Guide to True Conspiracies, Connor Boyack, Libertas Press

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2023

* Made for More, Lindsay Sealey, Wonderwell
* Manifesting Justice, Valena Beety Kensington Books

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2022

* Essence, Charles McCormack

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2021

* Not Even Past, Cody Marrs, Johns Hopkins University Press
* Smoke but No Fire, Jessica S. Henry, University of California Press

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2020

* A Nation of Unwell, Kristine L. Gedroic, MD and Valerie A. Latona, LCR Publsihing
* Be Wise Now: A Guide to Conscious Living, Gael McCool, Feel, Inc.

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2019

* True Wellness, Catherine Kurosu, MD, LAc & Aihan Kuhn, CMD, OBT, YMAA Publication Center
* Wise-Love, Pranada Comtois, Chandra Media

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2018

* Deep Survival, Laurence Gonzales, W.W.Norton
* Eyes and Spies, Tanya Lloyd Kyi, Annick Press

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2017

* Echoes of Tattered Tongues: Memory Unfolded, John Z. Guzlowski, Aquila Polonica
* How Whole Brain Thinking Can Save the Future, James Olson, Origin Press

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2016

* Project Lives, Goerge Carrano, Chelesa Davis & Jonathan Fisher (editors), powerHouse Books
* The Wisdom of Generations, Tieman H. Dippel, Jr., Texas Peacemaker Publications

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2015

* College for Convicts, Christopher Zoukis, McFarland & Company
* Human Purpose and Tanshuman Potential, Ted Chu, PhD., Origin Press

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2014

* Delectable Lie: A Liberal Repudiation of Multiculturalism, Salim Mansur, Mantua Books
* Where You Become True is the Place of Truth, Woo Myung, Cham Books

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2013

* Evolutionary Enlightenment, Andrew Cohen, SelectBooks
* Red Fields, Jason Poudrier, Mongrel Empire Press

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2012

* Comfortably Unaware, Dr. Richard A. Oppenlander, Langdon Street Press
* Transparencies of Eternity, Rubem Alves, Convivium Press

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2011

* Coppola: A Pediatric Sureon in Iraq, Dr. Chris Coppola, NTI Upstream
* Proving God: Swedenborg's Remarkable Quest for the Quantum Fingerprint of Love, Edward F. Sylvia, Staircase Press
* Wednesday is Indigo Blue, Richard E. Cytowic, M.D. & David M. Eagleman, Ph.D., The MIT Press

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2010

* Devotions to the Text, Steven Carter, University Press of America
* The New Akashic Records, Cheryl Trine, Essential Knowing Press

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2009

* Disputed Truth: Memoirs, Vol. 2, Hans Kung, Continuum International
* Generation We, Eric Greenberg with Karl Weber, Pachatusan
* Red Zone: Five Bloody Years in Baghdad, Oliver Poole, Reportage Press

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2008

* Long Shadows, David Giffey (editor), Atwood Publishing
* The Aesthetics of Equity, Craig L. Wilkins, University of Minnesota
* You Will Die, Robert R. Arthur, Suburra Publishing

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