Jerry Seinfeld's Reading List

“It’s pretty hard to laugh when you’re reading — the written word is tough,” says the comedian and author of “Is This Anything?” But he makes an exception for John Updike: “You know, describing the circles of water under someone’s toes when they get out of the pool. That makes me laugh more than anything, that he would zero in on that.”

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By the Book: Jerry Seinfeld (2020)

NYT By the Book column (2020-12-10).

Source: www.nytimes.com

Four of the Three Musketeers

Robert Bader · Buy on Amazon

"He did the most incredible job of research. And he's also a very good writer. To me, the history of the Marx Brothers is kind of the invention of comedy, not just as a substance but as a business."

Seriously Funny

Gerald Nachman · Buy on Amazon

"This is another incredibly well-researched history, of comedians from the '50s and '60s. They really invented the form of stand-up comedy that I do. So that's another fantastic book."

Born Standing Up

Steve Martin · 2007 · Buy on Amazon

"My favorite memoir is Steve Martin's "Born Standing Up." I think that's the best book about being a comedian, written by a comedian, ever done."

The Last Laugh

Phil Berger · Buy on Amazon

"That was the first book I ever found, and I think it's the first book anybody ever did, about the world of stand-up comics."

Thinking Small

Andrea Hiott · Buy on Amazon

"She did a great job telling the story of New York advertising, the Nazis and Ferdinand Porsche colliding to create this amazing car which people take for granted."

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