A film star since age 7, Drew Barrymore began producing films a decade ago. Her directorial debut, Whip It, starring Ellen Page as a roller-derby star, will be released on DVD next month. These are her favorite books:
Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins (Bantam, $14) This 1980 novel poses the question, by Page 2: “How do you make love stay?” And the psychedelic, fun, and adventurous way in which Tom Robbins goes about the exploration of this question is like a fairy tale for wild adults.
Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor E. Frankl (Beacon, $7). This book changed my life. Frankl, a psychologist and concentration-camp survivor, shows how we can find the higher meaning in everything, even in the most dire situations. He explains to the reader how to go about doing this, and he speaks with experience. This book defines inspiration.
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Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski (Ecco, $14). I find it easy to relate to the male perspective of writers like John Fante, Paul Bowles, and Charles Bukowski—their sense that life can be hard, that liquor and sex can help us escape, and that family can be heartbreaking. Yet a humorous joy can be found in their liberated and cantankerous short stories and novels, including this one.
Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut (Dial, $15). This is again just what reading a book should be. You put it down, and feel as though you have been transported to another world. I have read 10 of Vonnegut’s books, and they all do this. He was a master of weaving us in and out of the most unique worlds I have ever known.
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann (Grove, $14) Harvey Fierstein gave me a copy of Jacqueline Susann’s 1966 best-seller, and when I put down my classic and picked it up, I remembered that we sometimes need to get off our literary high horses and read something this absolutely delicious!
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (Scribner, $16). This is the book that, as a die-hard romantic, I remember making me cry the hardest. I loved falling in love with Hemingway’s novel as its hero falls in love with “Catherine.” I had to finish the book alone in the other room so that I could just let my emotions pour out. I cried so hard, and it is wonderful when someone can evoke that in your heart!
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Gilbert King’s 6 favorite books about the search for justiceFeature The journalist recommends works by Bryan Stevenson, David Grann, and more
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Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
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Lou Berney’s 6 favorite books with powerful storytellingFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Dorothy B. Hughes, James McBride, and more
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Elizabeth Gilbert’s favorite books about women overcoming difficultiesFeature The author recommends works by Tove Jansson, Lauren Groff, and more
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Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imaginationFeature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
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Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is moreFeature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
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Keith McNally's 6 favorite books that have ambitious charactersFeature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
