Books that made a difference to Ethan Hawke

The actor and author Ethan Hawke told O, The Oprah Magazine about a few books that made a difference to him. One book on the list:

Moby-Dick
by Herman Melville

I found this novel so surprising. I thought it would be a deep, interesting tale like Anna Karenina; instead it's a giant prose poem that, paragraph by paragraph, has some of the most beautiful writing in the English language. But I won't lie; it's homework.

Read about the other books that made a difference to Hawke.

Moby-Dick also appears among John Mullan's list of ten of the best tattoos in literature, Susan Cheever's five best books about obsession, Christopher Buckley's best books, Jane Yolen's five most important books, Chris Dodd's best books, Augusten Burroughs' five most important books, Norman Mailer's top ten works of literature, David Wroblewski's five most important books, Russell Banks' five most important books, Philip Hoare's top ten books about whales, and Carsten Jensen's top 10 seafaring tales.

--Marshal Zeringue