Amanda Palmer's Reading List

"This was one of those life-changing books that finally popped the light off in my little brain, when I read this at 24. These are mostly letters to students, and Seung Sahn writes in this funny, broken-invented English way that screams off the page to be understood; there is nothing clever. I gave it to all my friends. This led us to start email chains for the past few years that now sign off: ‘ALL THE TIME JUST SAY: DON’T KNOWWWWW’ (to be read in Korean accent)"

"The first book I ever read that made me jump up and down in bed and pump my fist while reading. It was a physical reaction. I could not help it. I love this book, love this family, love this man’s writing. The film’s not bad, either. It’s a supplement."

"This book made me want to write, to write more honestly than I had ever written before. No other book has done quite that."

"Dark as fuck. And not what you think. Not quite a young adult book, but maybe. I don’t remember how this book came into my life, but I read it as a teenager and completely related to the discovery of Trauma In Suburbia."

"When I found this book on a friend’s table in Seattle, I fell in love. Just open it, I’ll shut up."

"A book about what love is. A classic, but oh man. As I age, every time I read this aloud I cry a little harder."

"I only read one comic when I was young. It was this. It changed everything."

"We take so much for granted, dude. Mel didn’t have to find these images and compile this book; but he did. So much of this would have been lost. I stole at least 9 of these images for band posters back when I was doing all of the concert-promoting and CD-burning (remember CDS?) for my first band, The Dresden Dolls. The aesthetic inspired."