Opinion

In my library Woody Harrelson

Don’t let that molasses drawl fool you. Woody Harrelson’s a triple threat: He acts, writes and directs. What’s the biggest challenge of the three? “I think the hardest thing is being an actor in a project you don’t love,” the former “Cheers” star says. “That hasn’t happened to me much.” But when it did? He cites “The Walker,” the 2007 flick in which he played a gay gadfly in Washington. For now, Harrelson’s happy as a clam helming off-Broadway’s “Bullet for Adolf,” the comedy he wrote with his friend (and former construction co-worker), Frankie Hyman. “Doing this was kinda cool,” Harrelson says. “I’m not a decisive person in life, but as a director, everything presents itself as something to do or not do.” Here are four books that turned him on.

The Guttenberg Bible

by Steve Guttenberg

I met Steve in Toronto. He was up there working on “Three Men and a Baby,” and I was doing a TV movie I hope you never see. What an amazing, ballsy guy! This book chronicles the first 10 years of his life in the profession, and it’s definitely the best book for someone who wants to break into acting. It’s better than the original Gutenberg Bible!

Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain

by Hal Holbrook

It’s one of my great regrets that I couldn’t meet Mark Twain — I know we would’ve been friends. So the second best thing is seeing Hal do Mark Twain. This is another phenomenal book for actors to read. It’s not written in the style of Mark Twain, but it’s beautifully written.

Infamy: Pearl Harbor

and its Aftermath

by John Toland

There was no question in Toland’s mind that FDR and his higher-ups knew Pearl Harbor was coming and allowed it to happen, because it was a way they could come into the war . . . I think it would make an incredible movie, but man, there are a lot of moving parts!

Twelve Years a Slave

by Solomon Northup

In your wildest imagination, you couldn’t drum up what it would be like to be a slave unless someone sat down and wrote a book. [Northup] did. He was a free man, a violin player who was talked into going to NYC for a gig, then taken to a bar and drugged. He woke up in chains. Then they sent down to New Orleans. What that guy went through!