Reservation Blues
Sherman Alexie
Mentioned 3 months ago
‘Eddie and the Cruisers’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan
Book Recommendations
The Rewatchables
The Rewatchables, a film podcast from the Ringer Podcast Network, features The Ringer’s Bill Simmons and a roundtable of movie lovers from the Ringer universe discussing movies they can’t seem to stop watching. Listen to the complete archives of over 300 movies, including Pulp Fiction, Silence of th...
Episodes
312
Books
239
Recently mentioned
Latest Recommendations
The Book of Basketball
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How to Find Zodiac
Jarett Kobek
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Zodiac Unmasked
Robert Graysmith
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‘Zodiac’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey
Zodiac
Robert Graysmith
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‘Zodiac’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey
The Films of Eddie Murphy
Mat Bradley-Tschirgi
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‘Another 48 Hrs’ With Bill Simmons Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan
Star
Yukio Mishima
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‘Just One of the Guys’ With Bill Simmons, Kyle Brandt, and Joanna Robinson
Presumed Guilty (Presumed Innocent, 3)
Scott Turow
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'What Lies Beneath’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Mallory Rubin
Moneyball
Michael Lewis
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‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan
The Big Short
Michael Lewis
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‘F1’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Van Lathan
The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck
Mentioned 7 months ago
‘The Sure Thing’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan
Fever Pitch
Nick Hornby
Mentioned 7 months ago
‘High Fidelity’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Joanna Robinson, and Rob Mahoney
Most Recommended
The Killer Angels
The Classic Novel of the Civil War (Civil War Trilogy)
The hosts noted that Billy was seen reading *Killer Angels*, a novel written by Michael Schara that won a Pulitzer and served as the source material for the film.
"
Billy at one point is reading The Killer Angels. He's got books in his hand at a few different points. He's reading The Killer Angels and that of course is written by...
— Episode: ‘For Love of the Game’ With Bill Simmons...
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Episode: ‘For Love of the Game’ With Bill Simmons and Mallo...
The hosts noted that Billy was seen reading *Killer Angels*, a novel written by Michael Schara that won a Pulitzer and served as the source material for the film.
"
Billy at one point is reading The Killer Angels. He's got books in his hand at a few different points. He's reading The Killer Angels and that of course is written by Michael Schara who won a Pulitzer for it. And he is the author who wrote the novel on which this movie is based.
Schindler's List
They claimed it was an example of great art but dismissed it in favor of ProjectX, arguing the movie trumped the book.
"
I think that this is the greatest piece of art that our species have ever accomplished. I mean the Mona Lisa or the Sistine Chapel, Schindler's List like get out of here Shakespeare a...
— Episode: ‘Project X’ With Bill Simmons, David Jac...
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Episode: ‘Project X’ With Bill Simmons, David Jacoby, and C...
They claimed it was an example of great art but dismissed it in favor of ProjectX, arguing the movie trumped the book.
"
I think that this is the greatest piece of art that our species have ever accomplished. I mean the Mona Lisa or the Sistine Chapel, Schindler's List like get out of here Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet, please project X trumps everything.
High Fidelity
Rob recalled having read Nick Hornby's novel before the film's release, noting its London setting and how it shaped his expectations for the movie.
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you'd already read the book. I had Nick Hornby. It's set in London. It's like a twin with Fever Pitch in that sort of like Peter Pan, English male, trying to hang on to the things that he loved as a c...
— Episode: ‘High Fidelity’ With Bill Simmons, Chris...
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Episode: ‘High Fidelity’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Joa...
Rob recalled having read Nick Hornby's novel before the film's release, noting its London setting and how it shaped his expectations for the movie.
"
you'd already read the book. I had Nick Hornby. It's set in London. It's like a twin with Fever Pitch in that sort of like Peter Pan, English male, trying to hang on to the things that he loved as a child as he becomes an adult.
A Streetcar Named Desire (New Directions Paperbook)
The hosts mentioned it as part of a shortlist of the greatest filmed plays alongside other classic stage works.
"
I think that it is very clearly on the shortlist of like 12 Angry Men and A Streetcar Named Desire and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf in terms of the best filmed plays, right?
— Episode: ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ With Chris Ryan an...
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Episode: ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ With Chris Ryan and Sean Fen...
The hosts mentioned it as part of a shortlist of the greatest filmed plays alongside other classic stage works.
"
I think that it is very clearly on the shortlist of like 12 Angry Men and A Streetcar Named Desire and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf in terms of the best filmed plays, right?
When a Killer Calls
A Haunting Story of Murder, Criminal Profiling, and Justice in a Small Town (Cases of the FBI's Original Mindhunter, 2)
They recalled reading a book called Mindhunter, noting it as a seminal work on criminal profiling that preceded the modern truecrime fascination.
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I think we ... a book called Mindhunter. Remember that?
— Episode: ‘Manhunter’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fenn...
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Episode: ‘Manhunter’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and...
They recalled reading a book called Mindhunter, noting it as a seminal work on criminal profiling that preceded the modern truecrime fascination.
"
I think we ... a book called Mindhunter. Remember that?
I think that the thing that people have to understand, we talked about this a lot with Silence of the Lambs is the rights issues with this Thomas Harris universe ...
I think the book Mindhunter was at the forefront of it, a bestseller I read in one sitting.
The Jaws Log
Expanded Edition (Shooting Script)
The panel referenced Gottlieb's behindthescenes diary as a book that documented the daily production of Jaws and later cited a passage from it while discussing research on the film.
"
If you read Carl Gottlieb's book about the making of Jaws, he was a guy, he's, he's an actor in the movie and worked on the screenplay. And then he kept a diary of every day of working on Jaws pretty...
— Episode: 'Jaws,' With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, a...
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Episode: 'Jaws,' With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fe...
The panel referenced Gottlieb's behindthescenes diary as a book that documented the daily production of Jaws and later cited a passage from it while discussing research on the film.
"
If you read Carl Gottlieb's book about the making of Jaws, he was a guy, he's, he's an actor in the movie and worked on the screenplay. And then he kept a diary of every day of working on Jaws pretty much from preproduction on.
This is a bit from The Jaws Log, which is Carl Gottlieb's book about the making of the movie. We'll call it halfass offline research because it's just a book.
The Great Santini
They referenced the novel as a comparable example of a harsh, authoritarian father figure, calling it probably the best "crueldaddy" example.
"
I would have thrown in Duval in The Great Santini, which I think is probably the best crueldaddy thing.
— Episode: ‘Whiplash’ With Bill Simmons and Sean Fe...
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Episode: ‘Whiplash’ With Bill Simmons and Sean Fennessey
They referenced the novel as a comparable example of a harsh, authoritarian father figure, calling it probably the best "crueldaddy" example.
"
I would have thrown in Duval in The Great Santini, which I think is probably the best crueldaddy thing.
Cujo
The Stephen King novel was referenced alongside other King works the hosts praised.
"
I like Christine. I like Cujo. I like Maximum Overdrive. I like The Dead Zone.
— Episode: ‘Stand By Me’ With Bill Simmons and Chri...
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Episode: ‘Stand By Me’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan
The Stephen King novel was referenced alongside other King works the hosts praised.
"
I like Christine. I like Cujo. I like Maximum Overdrive. I like The Dead Zone.
Sideways (Sideways Series, Book 1)
The hosts noted that the film was based on RexPickett's novel, mentioning that it was supposedly unpublished and that the book was released only a few months before the movie debuted.
"
Is this guy Rex Pickett wrote a novel called Sideways, which my mom claims is an awesome book. Yeah. And the book's never published.
— Episode: ‘Sideways’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan...
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Episode: ‘Sideways’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean...
The hosts noted that the film was based on RexPickett's novel, mentioning that it was supposedly unpublished and that the book was released only a few months before the movie debuted.
"
Is this guy Rex Pickett wrote a novel called Sideways, which my mom claims is an awesome book. Yeah. And the book's never published.
The book is published like only a couple of months before the movie comes out, because that's how long it took for it to get published.
A Prayer for Owen Meany
They cited John Irving's novel A Prayer for Owen Meany alongside his other work.
"
my favorite author is John Irving who wrote, um, world according to Garp and Prayer for Owen Meany
— Episode: ‘Out of Sight’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen R...
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Episode: ‘Out of Sight’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, a...
They cited John Irving's novel A Prayer for Owen Meany alongside his other work.
"
my favorite author is John Irving who wrote, um, world according to Garp and Prayer for Owen Meany
The Chocolate War
They suggested watching the prepschool novel Chocolate War as a recommended title for listeners.
"
I'm going to go Chocolate War, which is just a really great prep school movie that had come out in 88.
— Episode: ‘Scent of a Woman’ With Bill Simmons and...
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Episode: ‘Scent of a Woman’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Rya...
They suggested watching the prepschool novel Chocolate War as a recommended title for listeners.
"
I'm going to go Chocolate War, which is just a really great prep school movie that had come out in 88.
Franny and Zooey
They recalled seeing an old, frayed paperback of Franny and Zooey that their mother owned, noting it felt more authentic than buying a new copy.
"
I don't need to buy my own vintage paperback version of Salinger. This old frayed copy of Franny and Zooey that my mom had in college feels better.
— Episode: ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ With Chris Ryan a...
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Episode: ‘The Royal Tenenbaums’ With Chris Ryan and Andy Gr...
They recalled seeing an old, frayed paperback of Franny and Zooey that their mother owned, noting it felt more authentic than buying a new copy.
"
I don't need to buy my own vintage paperback version of Salinger. This old frayed copy of Franny and Zooey that my mom had in college feels better.
Going Clear
Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
The hosts cited the book as the source for details about the Church of Scientology chairman bragging about something on Wikipedia.
"
According to the book Going Clear, it's something Miscavige bragged about to his friends.
— Episode: ‘A Few Good (Re)Men’ Live From L.A. With...
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Episode: ‘A Few Good (Re)Men’ Live From L.A. With Bill Simm...
The hosts cited the book as the source for details about the Church of Scientology chairman bragging about something on Wikipedia.
"
According to the book Going Clear, it's something Miscavige bragged about to his friends.
Ulysses
The hosts discussed reading Ulysses, calling it an incredible novel with many parallels to the film's June16 setting and journey through a single city.
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When I went overseas myself for my semester abroad, I took Ulysses at an Irish university. So it was probably the ideal circumstances. It's an incredible novel. It's a lot of parallel...
— Episode: ‘Before Sunrise’ With Bill Simmons, Chri...
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Episode: ‘Before Sunrise’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, an...
The hosts discussed reading Ulysses, calling it an incredible novel with many parallels to the film's June16 setting and journey through a single city.
"
When I went overseas myself for my semester abroad, I took Ulysses at an Irish university. So it was probably the ideal circumstances. It's an incredible novel. It's a lot of parallels. Both stories are on June 16th. Both involve a journey taking place around a single city.
It's never too late to crack open Ulysses, Bill. It is for me, because my brain is leaking out of my ears.
The Accidental Billionaires
The Founding of Facebook
The hosts noted that Aaron Sorkin's screenplay was based on Ben Mezrich's novel, indicating the film drew from that book.
"
It seemed like he really clicked with the Ben Mezrich novel that the story's based on.
— Episode: 'The Social Network' With Bill Simmons,...
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Episode: 'The Social Network' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fenne...
The hosts noted that Aaron Sorkin's screenplay was based on Ben Mezrich's novel, indicating the film drew from that book.
"
It seemed like he really clicked with the Ben Mezrich novel that the story's based on.
Where Men Win Glory
The Odyssey of Pat Tillman
The hosts mentioned they had read the Pat Tillman book while discussing how scandals are often concealed.
"
I think it's also a unbelievable reminder of how often these scandals turn out and just be like, well, I remember reading the Pat Tillman book and all the people that were involved in the cover-up wit...
— Episode: ‘Spotlight’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Rya...
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Episode: ‘Spotlight’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Rye...
The hosts mentioned they had read the Pat Tillman book while discussing how scandals are often concealed.
"
I think it's also a unbelievable reminder of how often these scandals turn out and just be like, well, I remember reading the Pat Tillman book and all the people that were involved in the cover-up with that.
Absalom, Absalom! (Modern Library)
The novel was noted as being on a character's nightstand, highlighting a literary reference within the film's world.
"
He has Absalom Absalom by William Faulkner on his nightstand.
— Episode: ‘Primal Fear’ With Bill Simmons, Chris R...
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Episode: ‘Primal Fear’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and S...
The novel was noted as being on a character's nightstand, highlighting a literary reference within the film's world.
"
He has Absalom Absalom by William Faulkner on his nightstand.
Marathon Man
The hosts explained that the book served as the source material for the film, noting it was published in 1974 and stemmed from William Goldman's premise about Mengele seeking medical treatment in New York. They highlighted Goldman's role in both writing the novel and adapting it into the screenplay, providing context for the movie's origins.
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Episode: 'Marathon Man' With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan
The hosts described the novel as the source material for the film, noting it was published in 1974 and originated from a premise about Mengele hiding in New York.
"
Goldman's idea. So this is based, Goldman wrote the screenplay based on his own novel and his, I think the genesis for the novel was what if Mengele had to come out of hiding or go to New York to get medical treatment.
So he writes the book, he publishes it in 74.
The Minority Report and Other Classic Stories By Philip K. Dick
The hosts noted that the film's central ideas--precrime police, precogs, and the 2054 Washington, D.C. setting--were taken straight from Dick's novel. They described the book as the source of the movie's futuristic worldbuilding and its moral questions about free will.
"
But a lot of the side characters, a lot of the conception of the future, of us being constantly surveilled, of us all being hooked up on our devices and all being mildly addicted to drugs is all out o...
— Episode: ‘Minority Report’ With Bill Simmons, Chr...
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Episode: ‘Minority Report’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, a...
The hosts noted that the film's central ideas--precrime police, precogs, and the 2054 Washington, D.C. setting--were taken straight from Dick's novel. They described the book as the source of the movie's futuristic worldbuilding and its moral questions about free will.
"
But a lot of the side characters, a lot of the conception of the future, of us being constantly surveilled, of us all being hooked up on our devices and all being mildly addicted to drugs is all out of Philip K. Dick. And he obviously wrote this.
The things from that book are, he has a precrime police department that apprehends criminals. He has the precogs and it's in D.C. in 2054, which by the way, Van is now less than 30 years away.
I thought that was gonna be an AVN award for a second... Minority Report... Total Recall... Blade Runner... The Adjustment Bureau...
Casino Royale (James Bond 007)
The hosts noted that the film is based on the very first JamesBond novel, published in 1953, and referenced its original cover art as inspiration for the episode's graphics.
"
the graphic design in the beginning was inspired by the cover of the book you mentioned. 1953. 70 years. The original design of a playing card bordered by eight Red Hearts stripin flood.
— Episode: ‘Casino Royale’ With Bill Simmons, Sean...
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Episode: ‘Casino Royale’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey,...
The hosts noted that the film is based on the very first JamesBond novel, published in 1953, and referenced its original cover art as inspiration for the episode's graphics.
"
the graphic design in the beginning was inspired by the cover of the book you mentioned. 1953. 70 years. The original design of a playing card bordered by eight Red Hearts stripin flood.
I think it's the first Fleming book. This is the first James Bond story. I think it's 1953.
Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.