I think most tall people would agree that being tall affects just about every aspect of our lives. So you would expect there to be a slew of books for tall people out there. But, chances are, most people haven’t come across any. They are even more rare than tall people themselves. But there are some, which I list below. Also below are some books about human height in general as well as books by and about influential tall people. If you know of any I left out, please tell in the comments section at the end!
Books for Tall People by Tall People
Books About Tall Stature In Childhood
Books About Human Height
Books About Extremely Tall People
Books by Extremely Tall Influential People
Books for Tall People by Tall People
The following are some books for tall people that are written by authors who themselves are tall. I figure this is pretty much a prerequisite as you have to be tall yourself to truly relate.
Tall Life by Sam Lochner
This is the companion book for this website. It’s written by an 6′7″ engineer with a mission to make the world a more tall friendly place. You can find out more about it here: Tall Life the Book.
Awesome Advantages of Being a Tall Girl by Tricia Spiegel
This is a book written specifically to benefit tall teenage girls. It’s written by a psychologist and is filled with wisdom backed by science, but in highly relatable and easy to understand language. Tricia definitely knows her audience.
The Tall Book by Arienna Cohen
This book is written by a 6′3″ journalist. It is well researched and filled with seemingly endless enlightening statistics, though still with a humorous and entertaining tone. Arianne covers most of the bases of tall people struggles, from airplane seats, to clothes, to height related comments. As a tall female, where she shines is tackling the social issues tall women face, particularly in the dating world. I thoroughly enjoyed her book and recommend it to all tall people. I wrote more about her book here: The Tall Book by Arienna Cohen
Tall Tales – The Great Talisman of Height by Bill Walker
At 6′11″ tall, Bill Walker has most definitely experienced tall struggles. But evidently he has never let his height hold him back. In his book for tall people, Tall Tales, he shares a range of adventures, from getting robbed at gunpoint while traveling South America without a Visa to working the floor as a stock broker. These would be interesting experiences for just about anyone, but being 6′11″ tall definitely puts an interesting angle on it. Walker also covers the usual gamut of tall people problems and educates us on various tall influential people, like Abraham Lincoln and Kareem Abdul Jabar. Tall Tales is definitely another book for tall people I highly recommend. I wrote more about it here: Tall Tales – The Great Talisman of Height
I’m Tall You’re Not – So that Makes us Even by Katherine Smith
As a 6′2″ tall female, Katherine Smith is no stranger to tall people problems. Though I haven’t read the book yet, I did read the introduction and am intrigued enough that I will pick it up at some point.
Books About Tall Stature In Childhood
The following are some books that are about tall stature in childhood. At least that’s what they appear to be–I haven’t read them and the descriptions are somewhat lacking. If that is the case though, they are definitely needed. Being tall can be challenging at times as an adult, but as a kid there is that extra dimension of teasing that arises from being different.
Books About Human Height
The following are some books that are about human height in general. Though they aren’t quite as relevant to tall people as books for tall people specicifally, they are still worthy reads given our height is exceptional. The books by Samaras are particularly noteworthy as, to the best of my knowledge, his work is the greatest colmination of height related scientific data out there. The Truth About Your height is the more accessible for the lay reader of the two.
Books About Extremely Tall People
Books about Robert Wadlow are the obvious fits for this category. As the tallest person in recorded history, he has certainly drawn a lot of interest, enough to warrant multiple books (I’ve only shown the most recent one). I’ve included some other books that fall into this category, but I’m guessing I’m missing quite a number. If you know of any others, please tell in the comments below.
Books by Extremely Tall Influential People
This is perhaps the broadest category so far, as there are a lot of exceptionally tall and influential people out there. This includes a lot of basketball players in particular. I’ve listed a couple examples below that have gotten great reviews. Once again, please let me know what I’m missing!
Enjoyable article. There was a book published in 1982 called “Too Tall Too Small.” Info below. Perhaps another one to add to your library.
Gillis, John S. (1982). Too Tall, Too Small. Champaign, Illinois: Institute for Personality and Ability Testing, Inc. ISBN 0-918296-15-3.
Thanks Matt, just found it, Too Tall, Too Small. Can’t seem to find a description for it though…
Glad you like the post!