Don's finale read: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Don Draper (Jon Hamm)
In the season four finale Don takes the kids to California, and by the end of the hour he has proposed to Megan, his secretary. The Chicago Public Library has him reading John le Carré in the same episode. A book about a man who lies for a living and can't quit is a strong pick for a guy whose real name is Dick Whitman.
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The book

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Le Carré's 1963 novel follows Alec Leamas, a worn-out British agent sent on one last job against East Germany. Graham Greene called it the best spy story he had ever read. Le Carré was a working MI6 officer when he wrote it, so he was also using a fake name at the office.
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Sleuthed by @shelfsleuth · 2026-10-22
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Paused Tuesdays
One still, one stack, every Tuesday morning.
Also in Mad Men
All 26 books
Joan returns the office copy: Lady Chatterley's LoverS1 E3
Don's bedtime research: The Best of EverythingS1 E6
Don's Israel homework: ExodusS1 E6
Bert's recommendation: Atlas ShruggedS1 E8
Don's bar find: Meditations in an EmergencyS2 E1
Peggy's mother and the library copy: The Agony and the EcstasyS2 E2
Betty and the Fitzgerald stories: Babylon Revisited and Other StoriesS2 E4
Joy's morning after: The Sound and the FuryS2 E11
Sally reads to Grandpa Gene: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman EmpireS3 E3
Lane at the hospital: The Adventures of Tom SawyerS3 E6
Roger on Ogilvy: Confessions of an Advertising ManS3 E7
Betty in the bath: The GroupS3 E10