"I read Beloved when it came out in 1987, and it was one of the most difficult books I've ever encountered. The rhythm of the writing, the cadence — it was like learning a new language where you're just banging your head against a wall. Then, after several chapters, a door opens and you're in. To me, the book is all emotion, a big morass of feeling. It's remarkable. What this woman goes through, what she believes she has to do is so horrific — you can't help but think, "How does she survive?"

"This is fiction, but it impressed the hell out of me even though I very rarely have time to read fiction these days. It is the New York Times book review “Notable Book of The Year,” as well. It gives the account of Germans who fought Nazism and were killed or put in jail for life by Nazis for it. A German citizen is killed just for dropping cards all over the city writing his objection of Hitler’s policies. His wife was also sentenced to death, and was in jail indefinitely"

"In college, I took a poetry class with Jorie Graham, an amazing poet. She directed me to Hass, and his stuff moved me so much. His writing is very American, spare, clean. And manly. There’s a ruggedness to his poems. One in particular I’ve always loved is called ‘Dragonflies Mating.’ It combines a sense of abandonment in childhood with natural images. I don’t even know exactly what it means, but I think that’s what poetry does—it evokes all these feelings without our really understanding why or how it’s done."

"I just finished editing my new movie and I basically haven’t slowed down since the shoot in August, so I’m playing catch up on a ton of things I missed. This film has stuck with me like crazy. I’m trying to find some normalcy in life again and writing ideas for a new movie in my note pad, spending time with my girlfriend, and taking care of my cats. I think there is inspiration and beauty in so many small things all around us… This movie has latched on to me and hasn’t let go."

"Carrie was nominated for an Emmy posthumously, and I was asked to accept it on her behalf if she won. So, I reread “Postcards from the Edge,” and it’s such a joy. It’s written in letter form and includes a poem she wrote to her grandmother. There’s such incredible lyricism to her writing, which was not as simple as just documenting her own personal story. I don’t know how she coped with a brain working at warp speed; that she got a good chunk of it down was a relief for her, I’m sure."

"I watched “The Farewell” nearly too late to include it on this list, but thankfully was able to write in and add it at the last minute. I adored this film, not least for its beautiful simplicity. The camera work was gorgeous but never drew attention to itself, the writing was subtle yet smart and emotional, the acting honest and on point. I’ve read quite a few articles about this film and the challenges of getting it made and I’m so grateful it happened without compromises. More like this!!"

"I was 12 or 13 when was introduced to the fantasy/adventure books written by the author of the famous Tarzan series, and first read this novel. The idea of a huge mole machine burrowing to the center of the earth and discovering flying reptiles and other dinosaurish creatures was magical. The writing style now seems somewhat formal and clumsy, but as a young reader I was whisked along into the unknown. Later, in the 1930s, the author has Tarzan make the journey, too. How could that not work?"

"I saw this when I was twenty-five or twenty-six and really confused about my work. I was so discouraged and had stopped writing, and this movie made me excited to start working again. Akerman was doing something with pace and composition and time that I’d always wanted to do but had been too chicken to acknowledge or go toward. Watching this made me realize that you should make the kind of art you want to see, which sounds kind of obvious but was a big revelation to me at the time."

"Fellow physician Larry Dossey made a risky leap in 1985 by applying the new physics to medicine (the book’s foreword is by Tao of Physics-author Fritjof Capra). Mainstream medicine was still spooked and skeptical over the mind-body connection, and here was a doctor speculating on Bell’s Theorem and relativity, making connections between the quantum and the very basis of physiology. Seeing the human body burst into a cloud of subatomic particles thrilled me. No book has been more influential on my own writing career, and Dossey’s intellectual courage was an inspiration."