Quentin Tarantino
Actor, Author, Celebrity, Filmmaker, Producer
Quentin Tarantino is an American filmmaker and author who wrote and directed Pulp Fiction (1994), Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). He published a novelization of the last in 2021 and the film essays Cinema Speculation (2022).
Quentin Tarantino's 21 Book Recommendations
- Ministry of Illusion: “A wonderful critical reexamination of German cinema under Joseph Goebbels.”
- The Employment of Negro Troops: “The most profound thing I’ve ever read on both the war and racist America of the 1940s... Powerful.”
- Orca: “But one of the really good ones is the novelization from the movie Orca... the novelization was written by Arthur Herzog. He wrote a fantastic novelization.”
- Harold and Maude: “I didn't see Harold and Maude until about seven years ago, but I read the novelization like in the '70s... the novelization was written by the screenwriter Colin Higgins.”
- Nobody's Angel: “My favorite fiction novel this year was written by a taxi driver who used to hand it out to his passengers. It’s a terrific story and character study of a cabbie in Chicago during a time when a serial killer is robbing and murdering cabbies.”
- The Swarm: “The book is very realistic, and plausibly terrifying. Plus Herzog is a very fun storyteller.”
- Fun in a Chinese Laundry: “Along with Joseph Von Sternberg’s autobiography Fun in a Chinese Laundry, my favorite autobiography ever written.”
- Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties: “The most fascinating book I’ve read in years. When it comes to books about Charles Manson, there’s O’Neill’s, then there’s all the rest.”
- Occupation: The Ordeal of France 1940-1944: “A very good overview that answered all of my questions about life in Nazi-occupied France.”
- Leni Riefenstahl: A Memoir: “Mesmerizing. Though you can’t believe half of it. That still leaves half to ponder. Her descriptions of normal friendly conversations with Hitler are amazing and ring of truth.”
- Endless Highway: “Along with Joseph Von Sternberg’s autobiography Fun in a Chinese Laundry, my favorite autobiography ever written... David was a tremendous writer. I read this book again every five years.”
- The Omen: “The Omen was one of the biggest horror novel bestsellers of all time... most people actually thought The Omen was based on a book but actually it was a novelization... David Seltzer did a really fantastic job.”
- All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers: “I had read Larry McMurtry's All My Friends Will Be Strangers, which is one of my favorite books, and it totally like made me want to write like a book about like my Video Archives years.”
- When the Lights Go Down: “Pauline Kael is probably my favorite writer, and not just favorite movie critic. She's probably my favorite writer, definitely the writer that means the most to me.”
- Semi-Tough: “Billy Clyde Puckett is one of my favorite characters in any book.”
- Jeremy: “His Jeremy novel is a magnificent YA novel.”
- Leni Riefenstahl: The Fallen Film Goddess: “The first of many books I've read on Fräuline Riefenstahl.”
- Little Boy Blue: “The best first-person crime novel I've ever read.”
- 9/30/55: “I read the book in 77. And I absolutely loved it. I thought it was terrific.”
- The Choirboys: “The Choirboys was the first time that I liked a movie so much that I went out to buy the book because I figured there'd just be more material. And I love the book.”
- Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood: “Pictures at a Revolution is probably one of the best books I've ever read in my life.”