Jeff Goldblum’s five favourite books
With all his jazz-playing and general weirdness, it’s important not to forget that Jeff Goldblum is a brilliant actor.
Though he only seems to play himself these days, in his prime, he could deliver a range of stunning performances, encompassing action hero leading men, comedic sidekicks, and just about everything in between.
Some of Goldblum’s biggest onscreen triumphs have come in the form of literary movie adaptations. Given how successful the film franchise is, it’s easy to forget that Jurassic Park was a book first. The actor is probably grateful that Steven Spielberg made a few changes to the narrative, as his character, Dr Ian Malcolm, nearly dies at the end of the first book. Even Wicked, in which Goldblum plays the Wizard of Oz, had its roots in literature before it became a smash-hit musical.
With books at the crux of his cinematic success, the man was asked to list some of his favourite texts as part of an ‘Ask Me Anything’ on Reddit. In true Goldblum style, he gave a varied and highly cultured response: “I sure like The Great Gatsby,” he said. “I sure like [The] Catcher in the Rye. I like One Hundred Years of Solitude. I like American Pastoral. And I like The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.”
Most of his picks don’t need an introduction, as they’ve been the scourge of high school English Literature students for several decades. F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby has two major movie adaptations under its bind, one directed by Warren Beatty starring Robert Redford in the lead role, and the other is a decadent Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle helmed by Baz Luhrmann. This is in stark contrast to JD Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the American bildungsroman that, despite several efforts, has never been translated to the screen. Many acclaimed actors and Bob Dylan have been linked to the role of Holden Caulfield, but, for one reason or another, plans have never materialised.
Magical realist text and milestone in Hispanic literature, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez has also never received an official movie adaptation, although it’s ripe for one. While the Japanese Farewell to the Ark is a loose adaptation, it was never authorised by Márquez or his estate. On the other end, Netflix released the first part of a planned two-part series adapted from the book in 2024, and it generally courted favourable reviews.
American Pastoral signals the beginning of Philip Roth’s American Trilogy, which also includes the two other exciting titles following in quick succession, I Married a Communist and The Human Stain It was adapted into a film in 2016, starring and directed by Ewan McGregor, but unfortunately, as is the case with most Roth adaptations, the complexities of the novel simply didn’t work in motion.
The only author that Goldblum decided to namecheck is Eckhart Tolle, who penned the only non-fiction book he mentioned. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment is a self-exploration-style fare of the idea of spirituality without religion. It was first published in 1997 and gained massive exposure when it was recommended by Oprah Winfrey as part of her book club. Tolle has written a number of books on the subject and is widely regarded as one of the world’s experts in secular spirituality.
A strong selection of school-day classics, heavy-duty literature, and a bit of spirituality is exactly what you’d expect from Jeff Goldblum’s personal library.
Jeff Goldblum’s favourite books:
- The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald
- The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
- American Pastoral by Philip Roth
- The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
