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Patton Oswalt's Reading List

The actor, comedian and author, most recently, of "Silver Screen Fiend" loves poetry: "Wallace Stevens especially. I don't talk about it much; it just never comes up. But I'm a neophyte poetry buff."

By the Book: Patton Oswalt (2014)

NYT By the Book column (2014-12-31).

Source: www.nytimes.com

The Invisible Bridge

Rick Perlstein · Buy on Amazon

"Rick Perlstein's "The Invisible Bridge," which is jittery, hopped-up contemporary history that puts the present day in perspective for me."

The Black Dahlia

James Ellroy · Buy on Amazon

"James Ellroy's "The Black Dahlia," only because it was my first plunge into unapologetic historical fiction, and a disgusting portrait of Los Angeles that, weirdly, made me want to move there even more."

My Antonia

Willa Cather · Buy on Amazon

"Willa Cather's "My Ántonia," because it's good to know perfection can exist in letters."

The Land of Laughs

Jonathan Carroll · Buy on Amazon

"Jonathan Carroll's "The Land of Laughs," which was my first experience reading a book that invented its own genre — nostalgic, magic-realism horror? — as I read it"

The Kid Stays in the Picture

Robert Evans · Buy on Amazon

""The Kid Stays in the Picture," by Robert Evans. Hands down, the best Hollywood memoir ever. I loved it so much I bought it on cassette, back in the late '90s, and I'd drive around the Hollywood Hills, listening to his cocaine-ravaged voice telling the equivalent of local ghost stories."

Spoiled Brats

Simon Rich · Buy on Amazon

"Simon Rich's "Spoiled Brats." Especially the novella "Sell Out." Just lovingly nails everything repellent and beautiful about millennials."

The Timewaster Letters

Robert Popper · Buy on Amazon

""The Timewaster Letters," by Robert Popper. This one is sneaky — it's a collection of funny, weird letters that Popper sent out to various businesses in the U.K. I was laughing so hard."

The Journal of Albion Moonlight

Kenneth Patchen · Buy on Amazon

""The Journal of Albion Moonlight," for the same reason as "Ulysses," except instead of finding dirty jokes maybe I can find the key for peace."

Perfidia

James Ellroy · Buy on Amazon

"James Ellroy's "Perfidia." Once I re-skim the L.A. Quartet, so I'm fresh on all the cameos he's going to drop in."

Favorite books (2021)

Favorite books recommended by Patton Oswalt, as compiled by radicalreads.com. Source article: https://radicalreads.com/patton-oswalt-favorite-books/.

Source: radicalreads.com

Suspects

David Thomson · Buy on Amazon

"The mansion that Norma Desmond inhabits in Sunset Boulevard was purchased for her by Noah Cross from Chinatown . And Suspects offers a hundred other offscreen connections that exist solely in the imagination of David Thomson. The film critic’s 1985 story collection is haunting and, when you discover the identity of the book’s narrator, tragic."

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