Best books ... chosen by John Krasinski
Actor John Krasinski, of NBC’s The Office, recently made his film-directing debut with Brief Interviews With Hideous Men, an adaptation of a short-story collection by David Foster Wallace.
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway (Scribner, $15). I had the very good fortune of happening upon A Moveable Feast when I was visiting Paris, the backdrop of Hemingway’s most biographical book. May we all live at least one day as Ernest did! In this memoir of his time in Paris in the 1920s, he romanticizes a period in his life when he had very little by celebrating good books, good wine, and good friends.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Simon & Schuster, $14). My highest recommendation in the “reread” category. Sure, you’ve read Fitzgerald’s masterpiece somewhere between freshman and senior year in high school, but I can guarantee it will mean so much more now. Reading this again, when you’re a little older and a little wiser, is like being in a room you’ve been in before. Only this time the lights are on.
The Jaws Log by Carl Gottlieb, with an introduction by Peter Benchley (Newmarket, $15). This is, without a doubt, one of the greatest books about making movies. Gottlieb, who wrote the screenplay for Jaws, gives a day-to-day account of the process of making the film, from choosing the location to building the shark ... or rather, sharks! You get to see the magic—and madness—of moviemaking, from the crazy shoot to the blockbuster hit. If you have ever had a fascination with how movies are made, why not learn it from the best?
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How We Are Hungry by Dave Eggers (Vintage, $14). The author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is definitely one of the best writers around. No one can put you in a world quite like he can. And in How We Are Hungry, a book of short stories, you have the luxury of having that experience multiple times.
A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments by David Foster Wallace (Back Bay, $15). A fantastic introduction to one of the greatest authors ever. This 1997 collection of essays is one of Wallace’s best works. I can confidently say that the title essay is the single funniest thing I have ever read on paper. I can also confidently say ... no one will ever write the way he did.
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