Discover 7 essential Phaidon books on iconic cars, zero-waste meat, men’s style, tacos and dog photography that upgrade your shelf and reveal your taste instantly.
The first Phaidon book I ever picked up wasn’t planned. I was out furniture shopping with a friend at Restoration Hardware, pretending to care about sofas while they zoned in on fabrics and lighting. Somewhere between the coffee tables and the floor lamps, a small book on display caught my eye. The cover read It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to by Paul Arden. Billed as “the world’s best-selling book,” that claim pulled me in. I flipped through a few pages before my friend announced she was finally ready to go, and my response was simple, “Wait, I’m buying this book.” That random grab became not only my first introduction to author Paul Arden and Phaidon, but it also changed how I looked at what actually deserves a spot in my collection.
Since that day, I’ve paid close attention to what Phaidon does. Founded over 100 years ago in Vienna with the idea of making high-quality art books accessible to everyone, Phaidon have a way of making titles that feel informed and intentional, not just pretty objects you leave unopened on a coffee table. The topics range from art and design to food, travel, architecture, and photography, but there’s a throughline: you learn something, the design is sharp, and the whole thing feels considered. These are books you can read, reference, and display without feeling like you’re trying too hard.
If you care about what you consume and what sits in your space, Phaidon is a publisher worth knowing. Your bookshelf is the blueprint for your life. A curated collection is more than decoration. It’s a plan for building a life grounded in substance and curiosity. The way you build that life comes down to a few pillars: identity, craft, connection, and perspective. Whether you want to get inspired, give a gift that lands, or quietly upgrade your coffee table, the right book can reveal a lot about you before you say a word. Here are seven Phaidon titles every man should consider adding to his collection.
Pillar I: Identity – Curating the Self: Style as Substance.
The Men’s Fashion Book
The Reference. Jacob Gallagher chronicles 500 entries across two centuries of men’s fashion, from suits to streetwear icons. He assembles 130 designers from Giorgio Armani and Ozwald Boateng, 100 brands, including Supreme and Sacai, photographers, tailors, stylists, and icons like Virgil Abloh, who have shaped the menswear renaissance. Striking images and red-black marker ribbons map the origins of style and where it’s headed next. Financial Times calls it potentially the chicest coffee-table book ever printed, and Vogue sees it taking stock as menswear charges into uncharted territory. Whether studying legends or scouting tomorrow’s look, every serious man needs this in his collection.
Fantastic Man: Men of Great Style and Substance
The Archetype. Men who own their style get profiled through the cult magazine that defined modern masculinity. David Beckham, Tom Ford, Ewan McGregor, and Helmut Lang get recast by iconic photographers like Juergen Teller, Bruce Weber, and Wolfgang Tillmans, paired with the witty interviews Fantastic Man became known for over its first decade. Editors Gert Jonkers and Jop van Bennekom started with Dutch culture mag Blvd and later launched The Gentlewoman. Together they deliver a cool, elegant archive that captures what style and substance actually look like in the 21st century. The New York Times calls it a much-imitated scripture of men’s style for good reason, whether you’re building your look or just appreciating men who own theirs.
Pilar II: Craft – The Joy of Making and the Appreciation of Mastery.
On Meat: Modern Recipes for the Home Kitchen
Primal Knowledge in the Kitchen. Jeremy Fox, Michelin-starred chef behind Rustic Canyon and bestselling book On Vegetables, delivers for serious cooks. His 115 zero-waste recipes highlight options for pork, poultry, beef, lamb, and more. The book includes recipes like Buffalo Deviled Eggs, Duck Ham, Corned Beef Steak Frites, and Spareribs with Apricot BBQ. That passion traces back to his grandmother’s beef and tongue dish, where Fox blends personal stories with pro techniques for roasting chickens, making sausages, and crafting over 50 larder staples, including Sungold Tomato Ketchup. Dave Chang calls his sustainable approach a game-changer for home cooks, and Saveur and Forbes agree, naming it a top fall 2025 pick, whether you’re leveling up weeknights or going ambitious.
Sunny Days, Taco Nights
Joyful Execution. Every man thinks he knows tacos, but few grasp their full power. Sunny Days, Taco Nights unlocks authentic recipes and history from Mexico’s top chef, Enrique Olvera. Classics like Fish Tacos from the northwest and Mexico City Steak Tacos sit alongside bold reinventions such as Brussels Sprouts with spicy peanut butter and Pork Belly with smoked beans. Pujol master Olvera delivers 100 home-cook recipes across street staples with modern twists, backed by vivid photography in native corn colors. PEOPLE en Español calls it “visually beautiful, with a cover evoking Mexican corn.” Stock this definitive taco bible for your next cookout.
The Atlas of Car Design: The World’s Most Iconic Cars
Craft in Design: Appreciating Form, Function, and Legacy. Every car enthusiast should have The Atlas of Car Design: The World’s Most Iconic Cars on the shelf. Its 568 pages cover 650+ cars, sorted by country and decade, from the 1901 Oldsmobile Curved Dash to the Tesla Model X. Think Japanese cult classics, Italian icons like the Ferrari Testarossa, and American muscle. Jason Barlow, longtime GQ columnist and BBC Top Gear editor-at-large, teams with Guy Bird and Brett Berk to unpack engineering feats, cultural shifts, and the desires behind them through period ads, studio shots, and historical photos. From the “Onyx” and “Rally Red” editions to the original edition, all three books pull you in page after page. GQ calls it unadulterated car p**n, The Times a high-octane feast, and car buffs everywhere agree it’s the reference that uncovers gems you didn’t know existed.
Pillar III: Connection – Building Bonds Beyond the Self.
DogDogs
The Unspoken Language of Loyalty. Few photographers capture dogs’ chaos like Elliott Erwitt, who traps their wild energy in raw frames. DogDogs unleashes 500 full-bleed duotone shots from the legendary photographer, a standout reissued collection. Poodles strut dog-show runways, Golden Retrievers chase sticks through city parks, and Highland Terriers burst mid-air in raw joy. Each frame pulses with unfiltered life. P.G. Wodehouse seals it with his razor-sharp essay on canine madness, turning everyday mutts into icons of disorder. For those who value photography and love dogs, DogDogs captures what words never can.
Pillar IV: Perspective – Expanding the Walls of Your World
The Only Woman
The Power of Seeing the Full Picture. Men who claim to understand power and history rarely see how women were isolated inside it. The Only Woman gathers historic photographs from around the world of one woman surrounded by men in politics, art, science, and labor. Filmmaker Immy Humes spotlights civil-rights leaders, astronauts, railway workers, and princesses to reveal how visibility and exclusion collide in a single frame. Diane von Furstenberg declares, “It only takes one woman to make magic.” NPR praises how the book “speaks volumes with few words.” Oprah Daily spotlights “images and backstories of figures … as well as unknowns who defiantly left their mark on a man’s world.”
Tags Best Books for Men Books for Guys Books for Men Car books Cook Books for Men Essential books men's fashion Men's Lifestyle Phaidon Phaidon books
