Philip Glass's Reading List

The composer and author of "Words Without Music" says his favorite books about music "are not serious books about the philosophy of music or music awareness or whatever you want to call it."

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By the Book: Philip Glass (2015)

NYT By the Book column (2015-04-30).

Source: www.nytimes.com

Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad · Buy on Amazon

"I have to say Joseph Conrad. I even have a complete Joseph Conrad 21-volume library, which I probably have devoured by now."

Memoirs of an Amnesiac

Oscar Levant · Buy on Amazon

"One of my favorite books is "Memoirs of an Amnesiac," by Oscar Levant. It's a hilariously funny book. What made these fellows so interesting were that they had tremendous senses of humor and an eye for detail."

Evenings With the Orchestra

Hector Berlioz · Buy on Amazon

"A book by Hector Berlioz called "Evenings With the Orchestra." It's been around for a long time. The book begins with the performance of an opera, and as the opera opens people in the orchestra one by one put down their instruments and they have a talk about music. It's funny and it's smart."

The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World

Wade Davis · Buy on Amazon

"I just finished a book by Wade Davis called "The Wayfinders." He writes about the Inuit in the Arctic Circle, about the societies that flourished in Peru before the Spanish arrived. It's fantastic."

The Big Sleep

Raymond Chandler · Buy on Amazon

"A writer I read with great pleasure was Raymond Chandler. I read all of his books including "The Big Sleep," "The Lady in the Lake." He could describe in three or four words how someone looked in a way you could never forget."

The Glass Bead Game

Hermann Hesse · Buy on Amazon

"I would say Herman Hesse's "The Glass Bead Game." That was an inspiring book. When I was around 20 years old in the 1950s I was reading him. He was a big influence in the world of the beatniks."

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