Andrew McCarthy hiked up Mount Kilimanjaro, dodged mosquitos on the Amazon and slogged through Costa Rican rain forests. So, where did this intrepid traveler finally settle down? “The Upper East Side,” says the ex-Brat Packer, who, many roles later, is still best known as one of the guys in “Pretty in Pink” and “St. Elmo’s Fire.” After 25 years in the West Village and four in Hell’s Kitchen, he and his wife “became those people who live near their kids’ school,” says McCarthy, now editor-at-large for National Geographic Traveler. Family figures as much as travel in his book, “The Longest Way Home: One Man’s Quest for the Courage to Settle Down.” Here, along with Molly Ringwald’s novel (“I haven’t read it yet”), is what’s in his library.
Stoner
by John Williams
A friend I don’t ordinarily listen to recommended it, and I loved it. The author begins by saying that the main character has died and will be quickly forgotten — then proceeds to mesmerize you about him for 300 pages. A really elegant, restrained book that you wouldn’t want to see turned into a movie.
Red Harvest
by Dashiell Hammett
I never read any of the books I was supposed to read in school — Dashiell Hammett’s books were the first books I read by choice, and I devoured one after the other. I’ve reread this one a dozen times. The Continental Op, “Poisonville” and a mysterious moll — throw in whisky, a crooked police chief and a gangster named Whisper and you’ve got a classic.
The Old Patagonian Express
by Paul Theroux
I’ve never met Paul Theroux — I heard he can be crotchety, so I don’t need to — but he’s been a great influence on me. His travel writing in particular changed my life. This was the first book of his I read. In it, he walks out the door of his home in Massachusetts and takes one train ride after the next until the tracks run out in Pantagonia.
Long Day’s Journey Into Night
by Eugene O’Neill
This obviously isn’t a book, but I’ve reread the play scores of times. I finally got to act in it — I was Jamie, the older brother, at Hartford Stage. Ellen Burstyn was spectacular as the mother. If you’ve got a family, “Long Day’s Journey” will break your heart. You don’t have to be Irish Catholic, but it certainly helps.