Hugh Dancy's Reading List

By the Book: Hugh Dancy (2012)

NYT By the Book column (2012-05-16).

Richmal Crompton · Buy on Amazon

"My granddad used to read us the William stories by Richmal Crompton, brilliantly, and gave all the characters real, unique voices. William himself is one of the great rebel-heroes."

A Game of Thrones

George R. R. Martin · 1997 · Buy on Amazon

"I picked up the first “Game of Thrones” novel thinking I’d have plenty of time in my dressing room. I’m now five in, and eyeing the sixth like a junkie considering the last of his stash, i.e., with very mixed feelings."

Train Dreams

Denis Johnson · 2011 · Buy on Amazon

"our friend Michael Cunningham, who was on the jury and therefore plowed through hundreds of books, recommends “Train Dreams,” by Denis Johnson, very highly."

Favorite books (2023)

Favorite books recommended by Hugh Dancy's Desert Island Book List, as compiled by radicalreads.com. Source article: https://radicalreads.com/hugh-dancy-favorite-books/.

Source: radicalreads.com

Lucky Jim

Kingsley Amis (also rec’d by John Cleese ) · Buy on Amazon

"I was recommended this when I was a teenager trying to figure out how to start reading ‘serious’ books. Great recommendation, because on the surface it’s nothing of the sort, but it is brilliant."

My Struggle

Karl Ove Knausgård (also rec’d by Jeremy Strong , Jo Nesbø & Mark Duplass ) · Buy on Amazon

"In part because reading the first two gave me the unsettling sensation of knowing what it’s like to be someone else better than I know what it’s like to be me, and in part because including it might force me to read the remaining four."

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

Laurence Sterne (also rec’d by Jim Jarmusch & Laurie Anderson ) · Buy on Amazon

"You could spend years on the first chapter alone, in fact people have. But in a good way. There’s so much going on and so much reinvention it’s bewildering."

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