Grammy winner Duncan Sheik says it helps to be Buddhist, if only because its teachings keep the ups and downs of singing and songwriting in perspective. “I started practicing 23 years ago,” says the Upper West Sider, “and it reminds you what you’re doing in general and why you’re doing it. I want to make music that moves people.” He moved many of us with his score for Broadway’s “Spring Awakening,” and now he’s at work on a very different musical: an adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ “American Psycho,” due to open in England next year, “and then we’ll bring it to New York and try to terrify everyone here!” For now, catch the man who wrote “Barely Breathing” in concert at the Gramercy Theatre on Friday. Here’s what’s in his library.
Experience
by Martin Amis
I’m writing a memoir now for Random House, so I’ve been reading and re-reading great writers’ memoirs, setting the bar impossibly high! I love all of Martin Amis’ books. The thing that’s genius here is that you see who inspired him — and it’s everyone from Evelyn Waugh to Philip Roth to his own father, Kingsley Amis. It’s a real page-turner.
Filth
by Irvine Welsh
I saw the movie of “Trainspotting” and started reading his nightmarish, hilariously absurd books. This one’s about a Scottish policeman who goes to Florida with his wife, and their vacation devolves into a drug-addled disaster. I never fail to look up from an Irvine Welsh book and say, “Thank God my life isn’t like that!”
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
by Junot Díaz
I started reading this book on the plane to Italy and 24 hours later, I had devoured it! It’s about a science fiction-loving, overweight, nerdy guy and his journey to finding sexual/romantic satisfaction before he comes to a tragic end. Diaz uses a kind of Spanglish that brings you into his world.
White Teeth
by Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith’s mother was Jamaican and her father English, and this is the story of growing up in a house with two different cultures. Her facility with language is massive, and her ability to infuse her stories with important ideas is almost magical. It’s one of those books you don’t want to finish reading.