Elliot Page names his favourite books
Elliot Page is one of this generation’s biggest stars. Ever since starring in Pit Pony as a child, the actor has been booked and busy, taking on notable roles in movies such as Juno, Hard Candy and The Umbrella Academy. But beyond acting, Page also wrote a best-selling memoir, engaging with their second love: literature.
Since the 2010s, Page’s career has expanded beyond just appearing on screen. He’s a multi-talented creative who does everything from music to writing to producing projects. Literature is now a key pillar of that as his memoir, Page Boy, shot to the top of the New York Times bestseller list.
Reading and writing naturally go hand in hand. Page is an avid reader. In fact, when asked to describe his dream day, he said, “For me, euphoria is simply the act of waking up, making my coffee, and sitting down with a book and being able to read.”
Sharing some of his favourite books with Esquire, it is an eclectic mix. Considering Page broke out in Hard Candy, a dark psychological thriller, his love of horror isn’t a surprise. The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado stands out as a key book, with Page declaring it “one of my favourite books ever”.
Memoirs appear on the list a lot. Having written his own memoir, Page clearly has a passion for the genre as he dedicates almost the entire list to real-life stories. They range in subject matter from Ashley C. Ford’s Somebody’s Daughter, which deals with a childhood spent with an incarcerated father, to Tanya Tagaq’s Split Tooth, which is in part based on her diaries and poetry as she moved to New York.
Of Tagaq’s book, Page said, “Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. The last two pages of her book are just this whole beautiful piece about: ‘I don’t want to forgive. But I forgive myself.’ I’ll pick it up every once in a while just to read that.”
Since coming out as gay in 2014, Page has been a vocal activist for gay rights. A lot of their projects have dealt with the queer experience, such as My Days Of Mercy and Tales Of The City. Several of their book recommendations are memoirs focused on the experience of growing up gay or coming out. Brandon Taylor’s Real Life is a favourite, as Page said, “It’s fantastic. He’s such a phenomenal writer. It just floors you.”
In 2020, Page came out as trans while working on The Umbrella Academy. Connecting the project to their own coming out, Page recommends a book by one of his colleagues. “Amateur is a beautiful and powerful book written by the superbly talented Thomas Page McBee, who I was lucky to work with on the new season of Umbrella Academy,” he said, adding, “This memoir is such an important piece of trans literature to support and one that spoke to me deeply.”
Elliot Page’s favourite books:
- In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
- Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford
- Punch Me Up to the Gods by Brian Broome
- How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee
- Real Life by Brandon Taylor
- Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq
- Amateur by Thomas Page McBee
