Mary-Louise Parker's 6 favorite contemporary books

The award-winning actress recommends works by Leslie Jamison, Mark Strand, and more

Mary-Louise Parker
(Image credit: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)

The Empathy Exams by Leslie Jamison (Graywolf, $16). Reading Jamison's remarkable book is like opening the private journal of a woman who's able to reproduce on the page the hilarious, brilliant inner monologues that run through her head in a slew of situations. In these fully original essays, many about personal experiences, she pulls apart the concept of empathy while weaving in philosophy, politics, and reality television.

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace by Jeff Hobbs (Scribner, $16). Hobbs thoughtfully brings to life his college roommate — a genius who deservedly landed at Yale despite all odds, but was unable to use that education as a path away from the poverty and violence he grew up with.

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