Brian Cox's 6 favorite books
The actor, appearing on Broadway in a revival of That Championship Season, is drawn to works about philosophy, psychotherapy, and psychiatry

In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching by P.D. Ouspensky (Mariner, $15). The story of George Gurdjieff, a Greek-Armenian philosopher and mystic, and his search for consciousness. It’s a very good introduction for anybody who is interested in esotericism and the esoteric nature of life.
Meetings With Remarkable Men by G.I. Gurdjieff (Penguin, $16). Gurdjieff’s own book about his wanderings. He formed his teachings around the series of people he met. It’s kind of a classic road book—and wonderful.
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl (Simon and Schuster, $7). This book traces the beginnings of Frankl’s theory of logotherapy, an approach to psychotherapy drawn from his experiences as a concentration-camp inmate. Frankl was interested in why certain people survived the Holocaust emotionally and others didn’t. Out of this horrific incident Frankl wrote a totally groundbreaking book that’s been constantly republished for 40 or 50 years.
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.
The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart (Overlook, $16). Published in 1971, this novel about a psychiatrist who makes decisions by rolling dice is very much a book about the ’60s, about luck and fortune and the arbitrary nature of life. Psychologist George Cockcroft wrote The Dice Man under the pen name Luke Rhinehart. It is entertaining, thrilling, and very funny.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (Bantam, $5). One of the great stories. The quintessential obsessive love story. Truly amazing.
David Lean: A Biography by Kevin Brownlow (out of print). This is one of the best biographies of a filmmaker I’ve read. It shows brilliantly David Lean’s metamorphosis from editor to director over a period of years, and the
contrast between his days in the editing suite and those he spent shooting Lawrence of Arabia in the vast open desert of Morocco. If you want to understand anything about film, I highly recommend this great, tremendously enjoyable book.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
—Actor Brian Cox is appearing on Broadway in a revival of That Championship Season. The show, which has its official opening March 6, also stars Jason Patric, Chris Noth, Jim Gaffigan, and Kiefer Sutherland
-
How generative AI is changing the way we write and speak
In The Spotlight ChatGPT and other large language model tools are quietly influencing which words we use
-
Can Nato keep Donald Trump happy?
Today's Big Question Military alliance pulls out all the stops to woo US president on his peacemaker victory lap
-
Easy Money: the Charles Ponzi Story – an 'enlightening' podcast
The Week Recommends Apple Original podcast explores the 'fascinating' tale of the man who gave the investment scam its name
-
Anne Hillerman's 6 favorite books with Native characters
Feature The author recommends works by Ramona Emerson, Craig Johnson, and more
-
John Kenney's 6 favorite books that will break your heart softly
Feature The novelist recommends works by John le Carré, John Kennedy Toole, and more
-
Andrea Long Chu's 6 favorite books for people who crave new ideas
Feature The book critic recommends works by Rachel Cusk, Sigmund Freud, and more
-
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