Back when Norbert Leo Butz starred in Broadway’s “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” the father of two (himself one of 11 siblings) told The Post, “Everything you need to learn about a con artist you can learn from a 4-year-old who doesn’t want to go to bed.” That was 15 years ago. Butz’s oldest is off to college while he heads to Florida to shoot season 3 of Netflix’s “Bloodline” as Kevin, the sweet screw-up of a big, dysfunctional family.
Along the way, he recorded a wonderful CD, “Girls, Girls, Girls,” out this month. Though it may be awhile before “Bloodline” lets him return to the stage, he recently did a benefit reading with Paul Rudd and Amber Tamblyn of a new Neil LaBute play. Here’s what’s in his library.
Lush Life
by Richard Price
Like the rest of the world, I discovered Price in the ’90s with “Clockers.” I was blown away by the quality of his writing, the amazing dialogue. “Lush Life” is a portrait of the Lower East Side, and three hipster white guys who are implicated in a street crime after leaving a bar. One critic said it’s as if Price crouched in a doorway, taking notes, to write it.
The Unwinding
by George Packer
He’s a journalism legend, but I never read him until I found this book at an airport. Packer tries to get at why we’ve become a two-party political system and how that impacts the hopes and dreams of a dozen or so people we follow, chapter by chapter. I’ve never read a better explanation of how America lost its middle class.
Canada
by Richard Ford
Except for “Huck Finn” and “Grapes of Wrath,” I haven’t reread a book as much as this one. It’s a sparse, bleak narrative told by a man whose parents robbed a bank at gunpoint. It’s about how normal people come to do terrible, reckless things, which is why I’m rereading it now, while I’m shooting “Bloodline.”
Selected Stories
by Anton Chekhov
I picked this up because Sam Shepard and other writers invariably say that all roads lead to Chekhov. Most actors have worked on scenes from his plays — I’ve always loved them — and I started exploring his short stories. There are hundreds of them! In just four pages, he can set your mind reeling into another universe.