Given that he’s sometimes played God, it shouldn’t surprise you to know that one of Morgan Freeman’s favorite books is . . . the Bible.
“It’s just an interesting read,” he tells The Post’s Barbara Hoffman. “Genesis is the best part.”
Beginnings are always of interest, especially on Broadway. Forty years after Freeman made his debut in “Hello, Dolly!” with Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway, the Oscar winner with the authoritative voice (“Shawshank Redemption,” “Million Dollar Baby,” “March of the Penguins”) is finally back on Broadway in a revival of Clifford Odets’ 1950 play, “The Country Girl,” opening April 27. Directed by Mike Nichols, it also stars Frances McDormand and Peter Gallagher.
Freeman plays a washed-up star who’s hoping to make a comeback – an unlikely scenario for a man who hasn’t stopped working long enough to breathe, let alone require a “comeback.”
Here are some highlights of a reading list he calls “eclectic.”
Black Beauty
by Anna Sewell
It was the first book I read. I don’t recall if it was a librarian who [suggested it] or if I just stumbled on it, but the idea of reading a book – not a comic book – was part of it. This was in the ’40s, when all we had for entertainment was radio and the movies, so reading was a big deal.
At Play in the Fields of the Lord
by Peter Matthiessen
He’s a terrific writer and I liked the subject matter – the attempt to spread the Baptist religion around the world, and the damage it can do.
Moby Dick
by Herman Melville
This classic instilled an interest in sailing and began my lifelong love of the sea.
The Poisonwood Bible
by Barbara Kingsolver
Some of the best writers are women writers – Barbara Kingsolver, Joyce Carol Oates. They just don’t get enough play.