10 Books if You Like the Films of Wes Anderson
Posted on June 20, 2023
by Franco V
Wes Anderson’s latest film Asteroid City is hitting theaters, and if you’re into maudlin characters, center-framed shots, and color-coordinated everything, these are the books for you.
The Invisible Collection: Tales of Obsession and Desire by Stefan Zweig
For fans of…The Grand Budapest Hotel
Stefan Zweig was a wildly popular Austrian writer of compelling short fiction: in this collection there are peaks of extraordinary emotion, stories of all that is human crushed by the movements of history, of letters that fill a young heart or drive a person towards death, of obsession and desire. Most importantly, Zweig’s fiction was at least partly the inspiration for Grand Budapest.
Jacques Cousteau: The Sea King by Brad Matsen
For fans of…The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
The venn diagram of similarities between Steve Zissou and Jacques Cousteau is just a single circle. This biography gives you a grand overview of the famous oceanographer’s life.
Collected Stories by Roald Dahl
For fans of… Fantastic Mr. Fox
Sure, you could just read Fantastic Mr. Fox, but Dahl’s short stories are just as good and perhaps a bit more fun than his more famous fiction for young readers.
All Things Left Wild by James Wade
For fans of…Asteroid City
This one might a leap. It’s a western, has all the tropes as of a western, and Wes Andersen has yet to make a western film, even if Asteroid City is set in the American West. Nonetheless, if Andersen ever makes a true cowboy western, it could be based on this novel.
Black Badge by Matt Kindt; illustrated by by Tyler Jenkins; colors by Hilary Jenkins; letters by Jim Campbell
For fans of…Moonrise Kingdom
Meet the Black Badges, a top-secret branch of boy scouts tasked by the government to take on covert missions that no adult ever could. Among their organization, the Black Badges are the elite–the best of the best. They put the Khaki Scouts to shame.
Rusty Brown by Chris Ware
For fans of… Rushmore
Rusty Brown is a fully interactive, full-color articulation of the time-space interrelationships of six complete consciousnesses on a single midwestern American day and the tiny piece of human grit about which they involuntarily orbit. Also very good if you have an obsession with action figures and you’re an adult.
The Atlas of Beauty: Women of the World in 500 Portraits by Mihaela Noroc
For fans of The Darjeeling Limited
Since 2013 photographer Mihaela Noroc has traveled the world with her backpack and camera taking photos of everyday women to showcase the diversity of beauty all around us. The Atlas of Beauty is a collection of her photographs celebrating women from all corners of the world, revealing that beauty is everywhere, and that it comes in many different sizes and colors.
Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton
For fans of… The Royal Tenenbaums
If The Royal Tenenbaums is Wes Anderson’s love letter to New York, Humans of New York is the unromantic reality.
Today I Wrote Nothing: The Selected Writing of Daniil Kharms
For fans of… The Grand Budapest Hotel
Daniil Kharms was a Russian poet who very much wrote within the realm of absurdity and surrealism. While having no direct ties to Andersen’s films, Kharms is just slightly weird enough that there’s definitely some cross over interest the director’s fans will have in Kharms’ fiction.
Did you like this blog post? Keep up to date with all of our posts by subscribing to the Library’s newsletters!
Keep your reading list updated with our book lists. Our staff love to read and they’ll give you the scoop on new tv-series inspired titles, hobbies, educational resources, pop culture, current events, and more!
Looking for more great titles? Get personalized recommendations from our librarians with this simple form.
