Ira Glass's Reading List

The host of “This American Life” and co-writer of the coming film “Sleepwalk With Me” would like to meet Edgar Allan Poe. “I don’t have a question, but dude just seems like he could use a hug.”

Open in WellRead Daily app →

By the Book: Ira Glass (2012)

NYT By the Book column (2012-08-16).

Source: www.nytimes.com

Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die; Cherish, Perish, a Novel

David Rakoff · Buy on Amazon

"I just finished the manuscript of the new book “Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die; Cherish, Perish, a Novel,” by David Rakoff. It’s a rhyming “novel,” very funny and very sad, which is my favorite combination."

Conversations With Wilder

Cameron Crowe · Buy on Amazon

"And I’m rereading Cameron Crowe’s “Conversations With Wilder.” I first read it over a decade ago when screenwriters and studios started trying to convert stories from our show into films, and I was trying to understand the storytelling tricks you can use in a movie."

The Big Short

Michael Lewis · Buy on Amazon

"Michael Lewis’s “The Big Short.” God knows he doesn’t need the press: he’s the greatest living nonfiction writer; Brad Pitt stars in the movie adaptations of his books. But “The Big Short” made me want to give up journalism it’s so good."

Naked

David Sedaris · Buy on Amazon

"“Naked,” by David Sedaris. I love it when Sedaris writes about his mom and his family, and I love when he writes about his boyfriend, Hugh."

When the Shooting Stops … the Cutting Begins

Ralph Rosenblum · Buy on Amazon

"there’s a book I loved called “When the Shooting Stops . . . the Cutting Begins,” by Ralph Rosenblum, that any fan of the early Woody Allen would like, and that nobody seems to know about."

Peanuts Treasury

Charles M. Schulz · Buy on Amazon

"all the books I loved as a kid were comic books; “Peanuts Treasury” as a little kid. It defined the emotional climate of my elementary years. I completely identified with the loneliness and melancholy of Charlie Brown."

Doonesbury Chronicles

Garry Trudeau · Buy on Amazon

"And “Doonesbury Chronicles” was a revelation to me when I was in middle school. I’d never met people like the ones in “Doonesbury,” or a world like that where the people were so smart and talked about politics and the stuff they talked about."

And Every Day Was Overcast

Paul Kwiatkowski · Buy on Amazon

"I just started the manuscript of this book, “And Every Day Was Overcast,” by Paul Kwiatkowski, that’s unlike any book I’ve ever read."

Suggest an update?