Most of us know him as Gil Chesterton, the pompous restaurant critic of “Frasier,” but Edward Hibbert — now starring in Broadway’s “It Shoulda Been You” — is more than an actor: He’s also a literary agent.
“A very dear friend of mine was understaffed at a small boutique agency and said, ‘Please come in and help,’ ” Hibbert recalls. “There’s no school for representing writers and I’ve always been a voracious reader, so I put a toe in.”
That was 22 years ago, during which time Hibbert gave Chuck Palahniuk, then working for a trucking company, the happy news about his manuscript for “Fight Club.”
As Hibbert recalls it, “he was under a truck when I rang him!”
Here are four books by other writers that he admires enormously:
Ghost Light by Frank Rich
This is mandatory reading for any theater aficionado, and I found it the most beautiful and often moving memoir. What I found most delightful is how Frank sums up a young boy’s escape from his parents’ troubled marriage into theater. The title refers to the tradition of always leaving a light burning on stage to keep the ghosts at bay.
Asylum by Patrick McGrath
I’ve been a longtime admirer of McGrath and his gothic storytelling, which covers the demons in people’s lives. This is his masterpiece. It’s a tale of erotic obsession and madness, related by a psychiatrist. It’s hypnotic — a dark, dark tale. There are scenes you can’t get out of your head.
Writing Home by Alan Bennett
[Bennett] is, for the English, a national treasure: sublimely witty, idiosyncratic and wildly funny. This is a cornucopia of his reviews, diaries and a wonderful piece, “Lady in the Van,” the true story of an eccentric woman who moved her van into Alan’s garden and stayed for 20 years. Nick Hytner just did a movie about it with Maggie Smith.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Nothing prepared me for this amazingly assured first novel. The book is set in a college in Vermont, and it’s basically about a closely knit group of very interesting, intelligent friends and the huge effect the death of one of them has. I remember reading it and thinking, OMG, I’m on page 310. I have to ration myself!