IN MY LIBRARY Omar Metwally

Man and His Symbols by Carl Jung

Jung wrote this near the end of his life, in conjunction with some of his students. He lays out his major ideas about the unconscious, dreaming and the role of symbols. This book was my first introduction to the ideas that had a major influence on my life and work. I still keep a dream journal. And it’s helped my acting as well, to go beyond ego and connect with something bigger.

Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson

The title comes from a Velvet Underground song. This is a truly fantastic collection of short stories, all told from the point of view of the same narrator, about a misspent youth among drug addicts and petty criminals. They’re very funny, unflinching, compassionate and poignant. And the writing is just beautiful.

Polaroid Stories by Naomi Iizuka

This is one of the first plays I did as a professional actor with a great theater company in San Francisco, Campo Santo. I met the playwright there. Naomi takes stories from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” and conflates them with real stories of homeless street kids. It’s a beautiful, harrowing play about transformation. It’s always interesting when myth and theater intersect.

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

I believe it was released posthumously by Tolkien’s son. It’s basically the mythology of Middle Earth, the world he created in his “Lord of the Rings” books, but the imaginative scope of the book boggles my mind. It’s dark and tragic but punctuated with moments of hope . . . I find myself picking it up whenever I’m feeling defeated.