Books
One Nightstand With Judd Apatow
The Comedy Nerd author reflects on the books that shaped him into a better writer and, ultimately, led to Knocked Up.
In One Nightstand, celebrity readers and writers join us at The Blond in 11 Howard to discuss some of their favorite books, allowing us to learn about their tastes and lives in the process.
Around the time Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann welcomed their second child, the filmmaker decided to take a break from work. He spent much of the year or so hiatus caring for newborn Iris, but it also marked an unexpected turning point: Apatow began reading more than he ever had in his life. “I think it was the specificity of describing the human condition [in these books] that, through osmosis, reoriented me somehow. I got less dumb,” Apatow tells Bustle ahead of the release of his latest book, Comedy Nerd. “Then as soon as I was done, I went right into making The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up and started that run of work.”
One of the first books he gravitated toward in that period was Selected Stories by Andre Dubus, a collection exploring the effects of faith, family, and grief. “As I get older, you start a book and you’re like, ‘How am I going to remember these 14 names?’ In his work, I never have that feeling,” Apatow says. “The prose is so beautiful that within a paragraph, I’m completely deep in a world.”
Shortly after, Apatow discovered The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers — a novel he loved for many reasons, particularly its portrayal of an outsider finding belonging. “I’ve always been interested in people who feel like outcasts in some way, and even in the silliest stuff I’ve done, I think that’s where my heart usually is,” he says.
Another tale of a lone wolf discovering his place in the world, Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up, also resonated with Apatow. “A lot of people consider that the best book about the life of a comedian and what it takes to be a stand-up comedian,” Apatow says. “You see Steve Martin’s journey as he figures out his ‘character,’ but it’s just beautifully written and really funny. It’s like candy to comedy people.”
But the book that has brought Apatow the most lasting comfort is The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer, which focuses on helping readers quiet the negative voices in their heads. “Someone like Michael Singer is very good at explaining how everything that happens to you in your life leads to some sort of defense mechanism adjustment. Then, before you know it, you have a thousand adjustments for how you move through the world,” Apatow says. “He just talks about being able to let go of those, and all this blocked energy.”
And if self-help isn’t your vibe? Apatow has another suggestion for shedding all that negative energy.
“At some point you’re just going to have to go to psychedelics,” he says. “Just a lot of ayahuasca.”
Watch the full interview below.
