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In My Library: Dana Delany
By Barbara Hoffman / October 3, 2015
© FilmMagic
Emmy winner Dana Delany gets around: her latest TV husbands include Billy Crystal (from the short-lived FX sitcom "The Comedians") and Ron Perlman, the "Hellboy" star who plays her judge-turned-vigilante husband on Amazon's new "Hand of God"series. "They're both great guys, and obviously very different," says Delany, best known for TV's "China Beach."
"It's funny what they say about comedy and drama — comedy's much harder! Billy is more serious and Ron's more jovial." Delany, a Wesleyan grad, is a prodigious reader who recently learned French — she just starred in a French miniseries based on her friend Harlan Coben's thriller, "No Second Chance" — opposite Harlan Coben.
Here's what's in this actress' library:
Police by Jo Nesbo
I've been reading detective novels since I was a kid, starting with Raymond Chandler. This is the latest in Nesbo's Harry Hole series. I read them because I'm in love with Harry, who's battling alcoholism: Is he going to drink again? Is his love affair going to work? It's more a moral tale than a detective novel.
Lulu in Hollywood by Louise Brooks
When I was in my 20s, Nick Kazan — Zoe's dad — told me I reminded him of Louise Brooks, but I didn't know who she was. Then I saw "Pandora's Box" and was blown away. Her acting was so naturalistic, sexual and innocent at the same time. She didn't find her voice until the end of her life, with these essays, which were published in the New Yorker.
The Novellas of John O'Hara by John O'Hara
This was given to me by John Sacret Young, who created "China Beach." The novella "A Few Trips and Some Poetry" is about a man and a woman who never marry but go in and out of each other's lives. It's spare, tough and kinda creepy, and when I last read it, tears rolled down my face.
The Game of Life and How to Play it by Florence Scovel Shinn
Shinn was a society girl who married an artist, went through some kind of spiritual transformation and wrote this book. No one wanted to publish it, so she sold her family's silver to do it. It's as good as Eckhart Tolle's "The Power of Now" and better than "The Secret." Basically, it says that what you think, you are.
"It's funny what they say about comedy and drama — comedy's much harder! Billy is more serious and Ron's more jovial." Delany, a Wesleyan grad, is a prodigious reader who recently learned French — she just starred in a French miniseries based on her friend Harlan Coben's thriller, "No Second Chance" — opposite Harlan Coben.
Here's what's in this actress' library:
Police by Jo Nesbo
I've been reading detective novels since I was a kid, starting with Raymond Chandler. This is the latest in Nesbo's Harry Hole series. I read them because I'm in love with Harry, who's battling alcoholism: Is he going to drink again? Is his love affair going to work? It's more a moral tale than a detective novel.
Lulu in Hollywood by Louise Brooks
When I was in my 20s, Nick Kazan — Zoe's dad — told me I reminded him of Louise Brooks, but I didn't know who she was. Then I saw "Pandora's Box" and was blown away. Her acting was so naturalistic, sexual and innocent at the same time. She didn't find her voice until the end of her life, with these essays, which were published in the New Yorker.
The Novellas of John O'Hara by John O'Hara
This was given to me by John Sacret Young, who created "China Beach." The novella "A Few Trips and Some Poetry" is about a man and a woman who never marry but go in and out of each other's lives. It's spare, tough and kinda creepy, and when I last read it, tears rolled down my face.
The Game of Life and How to Play it by Florence Scovel Shinn
Shinn was a society girl who married an artist, went through some kind of spiritual transformation and wrote this book. No one wanted to publish it, so she sold her family's silver to do it. It's as good as Eckhart Tolle's "The Power of Now" and better than "The Secret." Basically, it says that what you think, you are.