Depps favorites books

[andywo3]

Hello I'm looking for a list of some of JDs favoritebooks can someone help? Andy

[Endora]

Hi Andy. This is the Rolling Stone piece he wrote that mentions Kerouac. I found this a good starting point.

http://www.johnnydeppfan.com/interviews/beatessay.htm

[Veronica]

Here is a list that Joni put together & I have been adding here & there to.

On The Road -- Jack Kerouac
The Catcher In The Rye -- JD Salinger
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas -- Hunter S Thompson
--all HST books (too many to mention)
Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates -- Tom Robbins
Black Dahlia Avenger -- Steve Hodel
A Moveable Feast -- Ernest Hemingway
Tarantula -- Bob Dylan
The Howl -- Allen Ginsberg
The Naked Lunch -- William Burroughs
Shantaram -- Gregory David Roberts
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber -- Julian Rubinstein
The Human Zoo -- Desmond Morris
Shot in the Heart - Mikal Gilmore
Edgar Allan Poe books
Complete Works -- Arthur Rimbaud
Opium -- Jean Cocteau --
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man -- James Joyce --
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
-Chocolat by Joanne Harris
-The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte (The Ninth Gate was made from this book)
-What's Eating Gilbert Grape by Peter Hedges
-Burton on Burton: Revised Edition by Tim Burton
-Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julian Rubinstein (picked up by Infinitum Nihil)
-The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
-Happy Days by Laurent Graff (picked up by Infinitum Nihil)
-A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby (picked up by Infinitum Nihil)
-I, Fatty by Jerry Stahl (again, picked up by Infinitum Nihil)
-Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates by Tom Robbins
-The Libertine by Stephen Jeffreys
-J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys by Andrew Birkin
-The Time of Your Life by William Saroyan
-Perfume : The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind
-Four Past Midnight by Steven King (SW is in this)
-The Bounty by Caroline Alexander
-Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
-In the Hand of Dante by Nick Tosches
-Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins
-The Bomb in My Garden by Kurt Pitzer
-No Acting Please by Eric Morris
-On Method Acting by Edward Dwight Easty
-Inamorata by Joeseph Gangemi

[DeppInTheHeartOfTexas]

Hi andwyo3! And thanks V for putting up that list. You can also check out the sticky at the top of the board "Why these books?" for some quotes from Johnny that tell you why we chose to disucss them. Thanks for dropping by!

[dharma_bum]

JD reads non-stop (there is a lot of down time on movie sets), states that he juggles 3 to 4 books at once and has kept this pace for 20 plus years. He is also a collector of rare books and first editions. So whatever list we Zoners devise is a fraction of what he has actually read. When he was promoting From Hell he said he had probably read 75 books about Jack the Ripper alone.

Here’s few other books that have received special mention in interviews:
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
The Temptation to Exist by E.M. Cioran
The poetry of Francois Villon

Read what you love and love what you read.

[DeppInTheHeartOfTexas]

dharma_bum, thanks for the extras titles to add to the list. We try to only add books to the ONBC discusion list that we can verify that he has read by the fact that he has mentioned them in an interview, optioned them as a movie, etc. If we knew all the books he has read our list would take up the entire board I'm sure!

[dharma_bum]

Here is a list that Joni put together & I have been adding here & there to.

Here's a few more:
Blow by Bruce Porter
Blow by Blow by Ted Demme and Johnny Depp... intro by JD
From Hell by Eddie Campbell
The Brave by Gregory Mcdonald
The Rolling Stone Book of Beats… Includes JD’s essay

[suec]

And tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

[karla]

Good criteria DeppInTheHeartOfTexas.

For example, although he wrote the screenplay (with his brother) and directed and acted in "The Brave" he is quoted in interviews as stating he never read the book just previous transcripts which he did not like.

Here's a quote from one of my favorites of his favorite books....

"In the time of your life, live—so that in that good time there shall be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life your life touches. Seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding-place and let it be free and unashamed. Place in matter and in flesh the least of the values, for these are the things that hold death and must pass away. Discover in all things that which shines and is beyond corruption. Encourage virtue in whatever heart it may have been driven into secrecy and sorrow by the shame and terror of the world. Ignore the obvious, for it is unworthy of the clear eye and the kindly heart. Be the inferior of no man, nor of any man be the superior. Remember that every man is a variation of yourself. No man’s guilt is not yours, nor is any man’s innocence a thing apart. Despise evil and ungodliness, but not men of ungodliness and evil. These, understand. Have no shame in being kindly and gentle, but if the time comes in the time of your life to kill, kill and have no regret. In the time of your life, live—so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it.

— William Saroyan, The Time of Your Life . . . Johnny's "Bible""

[Liz]

You've made a really good point, Dukie. And welcome to ONBC. However, there is nothing to preclude us from possibly picking that book someday to read here at ONBC. We would just need to be careful to explain why we are choosing it--because it is the book that inspired the movie.

[sarasgirl]

I have been thinking of books to read and this is a great place to start. Thanks very much!

Interesting article too, above posted link. Never read that before. Johnny's determination has always impressed me. It is an amazing thing to me that he knew he was not destined for 'an ordinary life' at such a young age and did something about it.

[Liz]

I have been thinking of books to read and this is a great place to start. Thanks very much!

Interesting article too, above posted link. Never read that before. Johnny's determination has always impressed me. It is an amazing thing to me that he knew he was not destined for 'an ordinary life' at such a young age and did something about it.

Welcome, Sarasgirl. Glad you found us. Hope you can join us in our next discussion of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Tidbits start August 2, discussion Sept. 6.

[neophyte]

Geek Love is a great read, but its subject matter might scare some people off. I wonder if there's a Gilliam influence (or vice versa) with that book. I read somewhere that Gilliam had an interest in adapting it for film.

I didn't know JD collected rare books! (I'm assuming antique books)? Maybe I should invite him over to take a peek at my measely collection, lol! Hey, Johnny can I show you my 1760 Le Maitre? hee hee.

[Liz]

Geek Love is a great read, but its subject matter might scare some people off. I wonder if there's a Gilliam influence (or vice versa) with that book. I read somewhere that Gilliam had an interest in adapting it for film.

I didn't know JD collected rare books! (I'm assuming antique books)? Maybe I should invite him over to take a peek at my measely collection, lol! Hey, Johnny can I show you my 1760 Le Maitre? hee hee.

Works for me.

[dharma_bum]

Geek Love is a great read, but its subject matter might scare some people off. I wonder if there's a Gilliam influence (or vice versa) with that book. I read somewhere that Gilliam had an interest in adapting it for film.

I didn't know JD collected rare books! (I'm assuming antique books)? Maybe I should invite him over to take a peek at my measely collection, lol! Hey, Johnny can I show you my 1760 Le Maitre? hee hee.

Someone else who has read Geek Love! I found it a great read too. Weird, riveting and unforgettable. Actually, in 2001 JD told the LA Times that he and Tim B were talking to Warner Bros and hoped to get it into development.

JD has been a regular patron of the Heritage Book Shop (only rare, antique and first editions) in Los Angeles since the early 90s. Good luck on that private viewing.