Best books...chosen by James Franco
Actor James Franco is about to publish his first novel, just weeks before the release of a film he directed.
Actor James Franco is about to publish his first novel, just weeks before the release of a film he directed—his third this year. Franco’s movie Sal, about actor Sal Mineo, debuts Nov. 1. His novel, Actors Anonymous, arrives on Oct. 15.
Reality Hunger by David Shields (Vintage, $15). David, my teacher and friend, has made it his mission to deconstruct the novel as we know it. This book, which calls for a new way of thinking about fact and fiction, is a masterwork. Its content breaks down the expectations readers have while reading traditional narrative, while its form is a shining example of the new kind of narrative Shields endorses.
This Is Not a Novel by David Markson (Counterpoint, $15). The lists in this genre-bending book accumulate power through their juxtapositions. By the book’s end, you feel in tune with a man’s whole life and with a culture’s literary heritage.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (Pantheon, $21). This is one of those books that a young writer reads and then has to teach himself not to copy because its influence is so strong. It uses text as image, so that the graphic arrangement of the words mimics their content and the motif of the labyrinth lives both in the content and in the path a reader takes through the book.
Salinger by David Shields and Shane Salerno (Simon & Schuster, $37.50). Ostensibly a kind of oral biography of J.D. Salinger, Salinger is really an in-depth study of a man who tried desperately to hide (and in some ways didn’t try to hide) behind his famous work. It is biography as collage, and provides great insight into Salinger’s complex psyche.
Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson (Picador, $14). Johnson’s masterfully written collection of stories is the bible for all MFA fiction students because of the way it develops a single character across its various short pieces. The protagonist’s drug-addled brain allows the writing to ascend to the ecstatic.
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (Vintage, $15). Cormac McCarthy’s masterpiece recounts the horrific 19th-century adventures of the scalp-hunting Glanton gang in language that reaches for the biblical. This is how Westerns should be done now: no white hat, black hat; no good cowboys and bad Indians. Here, everyone is as evil as pitch.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Bryan Burrough's 6 favorite books about Old West gunfighters
Feature The Texas-raised author recommends works by T.J. Stiles, John Boessenecker, and more
-
'We need solutions that prioritize both safety and sustainability'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Book reviews: 'Moral Ambition: Stop Wasting Your Talent and Start Making a Difference' and 'Is a River Alive?'
Feature A rallying cry for 'moral ambition' and the interwoven relationship between humans and rivers
-
Bryan Burrough's 6 favorite books about Old West gunfighters
Feature The Texas-raised author recommends works by T.J. Stiles, John Boessenecker, and more
-
Tash Aw's 6 favorite books about forbidden love
Feature The Malaysian novelist recommends works by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and more
-
Richard Bausch's 6 favorite books that are worth rereading
Feature The award-winning author recommends works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and more
-
Marya E. Gates' 6 favorite books about women filmmakers
Feature The film writer recommends works by Julie Dash, Sofia Coppola, and more
-
Laurence Leamer's 6 favorite books that took courage to write
Feature The author recommends works by George Orwell, Truman Capote and more
-
Amor Towles' 6 favorite books from the 1950s
Feature The author recommends works by Vladimir Nabokov, Jack Kerouac, and more
-
Susan Page's 6 favorite books about historical figures who stood up to authority
Feature The USA Today's Washington bureau chief recommends works by Catherine Clinton, Alexei Navalny, and more
-
Ione Skye's 6 favorite books about love and loss
Feature The actress recommends works by James Baldwin, Nora Ephron, and more