Penn Jillette's Reading List

"No paper books, just an iPad — “Arguably,” by Christopher Hitchens. It’s his last one except for the cancer essays, and I’ve read those, so I’m reading this one slowly."

"“Moby-Dick” and the Bible are always on board; I just finish them and start them again."

"Jack Gilbert, “Collected Poems”; “Watt,” Samuel Beckett. I read about a page of each a day."

"“Watt,” Samuel Beckett. I read about a page of each a day."

"“Don’t Vote: It Just Encourages the Bastards,” P. J. O’Rourke; “The Way the World Works,” Nicholson Baker."

"“The Way the World Works,” Nicholson Baker."

"“The Better Angels of Our Nature,” by Steven Pinker, is the book I’m really reading now that I finished “A Visit From the Goon Squad.”"

"the book I’m really reading now that I finished “A Visit From the Goon Squad.” I loved that."

"“Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization,” Nicholson Baker. Turns out, that wasn’t a good war. Maybe there’s no such thing as a good war."

"“God Is Not Great,” Christopher Hitchens. Turns out there isn’t a good god or any god."

"“A Universe From Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing.” “O.K. then, how did the universe get here?” is the stupid rhetorical question that believers ask. My buddy Lawrence Krauss didn’t know that question was rhetorical, and he answered it."

"“The Mezzanine,” by Nicholson Baker, and “Watt,” by Samuel Beckett."

"“The Aristocrats,” told by Jay Marshall in “Rationale of the Dirty Joke,” by Gershon Legman. Jay was on “Ed Sullivan” a zillion times doing magic and was the most knowledgeable person about comedy and magic I ever met."

"“Parliament of Whores,” P. J. O’Rourke. I was reading in the bathtub in N.Y.C. at about 4 a.m. when I read the sentence about this “Penn & Teller economy.”"

"The Constitution of the United States of America — I don’t know how the Tea Party got enough power to give this a bad rap, but it seems like if you live here, you should read it."

"“Hoodwinking the Nation,” by Julian L. Simon. This was a change of perspective for me. The idea of human ingenuity as a natural resource was a new idea to me when I first read Julian’s stuff."

"“Step Right Up!,” by Dan Mannix. It’s really only about the American carnival, but that’s the only history I know."

"“Atlas Shrugged.” I have no idea how Paul Ryan missed the atheist part."

"Trying to get through “The Ode Less Travelled,” by my friend Stephen Fry, and do all the exercises (this is taking me years)."

"I also want to get through “The Rest Is Noise,” by Alex Ross, and listen to all the music he suggests (this is also taking me years)."

"and then I’ll start “Begin Again,” the John Cage biography by Kenneth Silverman. (His Houdini book was great.)"

"My favorite book; I’m always reading it. As soon as I finish it, I start it again. Consider this line: ‘So ignorant are most landsmen of some of the plainest and most palpable wonders of the world, that without some hints touching the plain facts, historical and otherwise, of the fishery, they might scout at Moby Dick as a monstrous fable, or still worse and more detestable, a hideous and intolerable allegory.’ To me that means the white whale is God, and Ahab is wasting his life chasing God."

"Sure, Houdini was the son of a rabbi and never said he was an atheist. But he did say that if there was life after death, he would come back and tell us. He didn’t come back; that makes this an atheist book."

"This is the best magic book ever written. I don’t think Kahneman thought he was writing a book on magic, but most magicians don’t think they’re studying how the brain works, so we’re even. God doesn’t come up in this book."

"I could really pick any book by Baker. He’s my favorite writer. Nicholson is a peacenik like me, and if you think World War II was a just war, this book will give you another think. World War II proves there’s no God."

"Norman Borlaug was the father of the ‘green revolution’ and saved more than a billion people around the world—doing God’s work, because God isn’t going to."

"If you’re considering becoming an atheist, read the Bible from cover to cover. No study guides, no spins, just read it. Sometime between when God tells Abraham to kill his son and when Jesus tells everyone to put him before their families, you’ll be an atheist."