Malcolm Gladwell: ‘A book that changed my life? Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’
The book I am currently reading Budd Schulberg’s Moving Pictures: Memoirs of a Hollywood Prince. He was the son of an early studio boss, and wrote On the Waterfront. I’m addicted to early Hollywood stories at the moment, and Schulberg had the most extraordinary life.
The book that changed my life Oh man, where to start? There are probably 100 titles that I could mention here. But how about an early one: Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. I was 12 or so when I read it. I will never forget the sheer delicious shock of that ending, and realising – maybe for the first time – that it was possible to tell a story in a way that made the reader gasp. I’ve been chasing that same result (not nearly as successfully) ever since.
The book I wish I’d written Janet Malcolm’s The Journalist and the Murderer, or, for that matter, anything by her. She’s the boss. The rest of us are just pretending.
The book that had the greatest influence on me The Blind Side by Michael Lewis. It’s the parable of the good Samaritan, only set in Memphis, involving a football player as the man by the side of the road and a wealthy white family as the Samaritan. It’s worth reading two or three times – at minimum – because there’s really not a word or moment out of place. It’s just a pure, beautiful story.
The book that is most underrated Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel is massively underrated. It had never occurred to me that the problem – or at least the limitation – of history is that it is written by historians, scholars with a predisposition towards a particular kind of narrative. So along comes someone who knows a lot about geology and geography, and history looks completely different. And the crazy thing is that Diamond isn’t even trying to be disputatious or counterintuitive. It’s just – this is what history looks like from another building in the university.
The book that changed my mind I’m not dodging this question, I promise. But doesn’t every book you read change your mind? Even if it’s just a little bit? But OK. I was on holiday, in a rented house, and someone had left a copy of David Enrich’s The Spider Network about the Libor scandal. was intended to convince me that Libor was a massive, disfiguring outrage. It didn’t. In fact it left me completely confused about what exactly was supposed to have happened.
The last book that made me cry Books don’t make me cry. Movies and podcasts do. I need a voice.
The last book that made me laugh I recently reread Woody Allen’s classic Without Feathers, which I hadn’t read in 20 years. It’s still as funny today as it was back then.
The book I couldn’t finish I don’t finish books all the time. But the last book I couldn’t finish? I really, really wanted to finish John Carreyrou’s book on the Theranos scam, Bad Blood. But halfway through, I started saying to myself: “I get it! I get it! She made it all up!”
The book I’m most ashamed not to have read I’ve never read any Tolstoy. It may have to wait until I have an extended period of free time, like if I’m ever incarcerated.
My earliest reading memory My father reading the Narnia books to me and my brother, when we were children.
My comfort read Old John le Carré thrillers.
The book I most often give as a gift For some reason, I have gotten it into my head that everyone in my life needs to read Stone’s Fall by Iain Pears.
The book I’d most like to be remembered for My next book!
•Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell is published by Allen Lane (£20). To order a copy go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £15, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.