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Richard Dreyfuss books: every book Richard Dreyfuss wrote and recommended
Across 2 podcasts. Every show Richard Dreyfuss appears on, in one place — not just one.
Books by Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor. He emerged from the New Hollywood wave of American cinema, finding fame with a succession of leading man parts in the 1970s. He has received numerous acting honors, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Satellite Award, a David di Donatello Award, a Saturn Award, and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for two Actor Awards, two Photoplay Awards, and a Grammy Award. During podcast appearances, Dreyfuss has discussed several notable works of literature, particularly addressing themes of censorship, politics, and historical narratives. On The Rubin Report, he talked about Howard Fast's novel Spartacus, arguing against the notion that it should be dismissed as communist propaganda. In the same conversation, he mentioned George Orwell's renowned works Animal Farm and 1984, asserting that brilliant books should not be feared or kept away from children simply due to the political beliefs or backgrounds of their authors. Later, during an appearance on The Megyn Kelly Show, Dreyfuss referenced Jonathan Swift's classic satire Gulliver's Travels—accidentally attributing it to Daniel Defoe—while discussing the historical role of independent thinkers and truth-tellers speaking power to authority. Through these various literary references, Dreyfuss consistently emphasizes the enduring value of classic texts and cautions against the impulse to censor or fear controversial ideas in art and literature.
Books recommended by Richard Dreyfuss
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1984
1984 by George Orwell is a classic dystopian novel that explores totalitarianism, surveillance, state control, and the manipulation of truth.
Discussed“and I and I don't want anyone to really care if you're a communist and you've written a brilliant book like Animal Farm or 1984. do you really think you're gonna be poisoning the the brains of your children”
Where to get it
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Animal Farm
Animal Farm by George Orwell is a classic allegorical novella that uses a farmyard setting to satirize the corruption of socialist ideals and the rise of totalitarianism following the Russian Revolution.
Discussed“and I and I don't want anyone to really care if you're a communist and you've written a brilliant book like Animal Farm or 1984. do you really think you're gonna be poisoning the the brains of your children”
Where to get it
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Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift is a classic satirical novel that follows Lemuel Gulliver on extraordinary voyages to strange and fantastical lands.
Discussed“The first name for people like you was flat doodles and they were the ones that made an independent decision to open the flaps of the eyes and ears of the the people who were running the world which were uh it looked like elephants and it was in daniel defoe's gulliver's travels”
Where to get it
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Spartacus
Discussed“you're talking about some book that was he wrote Spartacus that's a that's a pro-communist book what are you nuts”
Where to get it
Appearances
Other mentions (2: passing, ad reads, own books)
“and i have just finished a book it's taken me six years to write and four years spent at oxford and i came back and said to myself i am going to do introduce this on any show that megyn kelly is on”
“i want you to read my book and i think that and if you like it and i don't think there's an if involved this book is called one thought scares me”