Top 5 Blog Posts of 2015: "3 Books That Changed My Life by Jason Segel"

We're spending this first week of the new year looking back at the posts you loved the most last year. No surprise to find this one by Jason Segel in the top 5. Who can resist someone who cries after reading Winnie the Pooh?

1. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl I had to include a Roald Dahl book on this list because he was, looking back, a huge influence on the person I became. Good children’s literature is a little bit like the movie Inception; the author is able to implant ideas in the reader’s psyche without it ever feeling like someone is trying to teach you a lesson about morality. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory we are presented with the possibility that a Golden Ticket is right around the corner. However, it’s real potential is only revealed to one who proves their worth by passing a test of character. It’s not just about finding a Golden Ticket, you have to be a good person too. 2. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace I found this book at a time in my life when I really needed to read it. If I am perfectly honest, I sometimes feel that it found me. In Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace is brave enough to send out a distress beacon on behalf of us all, saying, “I’ve been promised my whole life that some combination of achievement, pleasure, and entertainment is going to fill this feeling of emptiness. It hasn’t. Is anyone else with me?” Judging by its devotees, it seems many people are. I am, but I must say that the experience of reading it made me feel a whole lot less alone. 3. Winnie The Pooh by A.A. Milne This book is beautiful. Pure and simple and kind. Every morning while writing The Muppets in London I would read a few pages to get my brain in the right mode to write. On the day I finished I cried. Then I looked up and realized I was in a pub in a somewhat rough neighborhood crying, reading Winnie The Pooh. I’d like to tell you that I didn’t care, that I was proud. I wasn’t. I ran away.  Want to hear more from Jason Segel? Check out our Art Talk interview with him.