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Mad Men (2007)/S2E1 · For Those Who Think Young/Don's bar find: Meditations in an Emergency
Mad Men · Season 2, Episode 1, "For Those Who Think Young"

Don's bar find: Meditations in an Emergency

Don Draper (Jon Hamm) · Bar

Don's bar find: Meditations in an Emergency. Evidence card from Mad Men: Meditations in an EmergencyGet credit for sleuthing this sceneDrop the frame
Mad Men · S2 E1Sleuthed by @shelfsleuth
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What it tells you

Don sees a stranger reading Frank O'Hara in a bar, buys his own copy, and later mails one to Anna Draper. The season finale takes its title from the book, so the poetry opens the year and closes it. A man living under a stolen name picks up a book called Meditations in an Emergency. Matthew Weiner left that one at a normal volume.

Sources: 12 Works of Literature That Were Featured on Mad Men, Mental Floss · The Mad Men Reading List, New York Public Library · The Mad Men Reading List: 25 Revealing Books Read by the Characters on the Show, Open Culture
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The book

Cover of Meditations in an Emergency by Frank O'Hara

Meditations in an Emergency

Frank O'Hara · 1957 · poetry

Frank O'Hara's 1957 collection. O'Hara worked at the Museum of Modern Art while he wrote, so Don is taking reading tips from a poet with a day job in the art world.

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Sleuthed by @shelfsleuth · 2026-10-21

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