Michael J. Fox names his favourite books of all time
Michael J. Fox is probably among the most beloved figures in the film industry, immortalised due to his career-defining role in the popular Back to the Future series. However, that’s not the only reason why fans all over the world respect and admire the iconic actor.
In addition to his acting career, Fox has been a dedicated advocate for promoting research about Parkinson’s disease. He has been struggling with complications caused by the disease since 1991, but the actor hasn’t given up the fight and has established The Michael J. Fox Foundation to further studies on the subject.
During a conversation with The Week, Fox was asked to talk about the literary masterpieces that impacted his life the most. He selected a fascinating lineup featuring American classics such as John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ alongside counterculture gems like Hunter S. Thompson’s ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’.
Fox’s first pick was Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’, and he explained: “It’s kind of surprising for someone who’s a self-described optimist to love this apocalyptic road story so much. But McCarthy captures the step-in-front-of-a-train, protect-at-all-costs mindset of a father and transfers it to the starkest possible context.”
While citing ‘The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay’ by Michael Chabon, Fox commented: “Chabon is so brilliant. I don’t often fall for epics, but Chabon’s award-winning novel about two comic-book artists is a story about two very personal odysseys, told on an epic scale.”
Check out the full list below.
Michael J. Fox’s favourite books:
- ‘The Road’ – Cormac McCarthy
- ‘The Bird Artist’ – Howard Norman
- ‘The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay’ – Michael Chabon
- ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ – Hunter S. Thompson
- ‘Of Mice and Men’ – John Steinbeck
- ‘Easy Riders, Raging Bulls’ – Peter Biskind
‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ by the violently radical Hunter S. Thompson is also an interesting addition to Fox’s list. According to the actor, this was the book that introduced him to the dark realities of the world and exposed him to alternate methods of journalism.
Fox said: “This book was my introduction to the idea of a journalist responding to people and situations we couldn’t trust by deliberately delivering writing you couldn’t trust. To me, as a teenager, Thompson seemed dangerous, and the things he was writing about were dark and twisted. Yet there was something reassuring in the fact that the book existed.”
