The 13 best books to buy pop-culture lovers this Christmas

Our 2021 guide to all the biographies, memoirs, and art books you'll want under the tree this year

Books Features Hanif Abdurraqib
The 13 best books to buy pop-culture lovers this Christmas
Clockwise from top middle: A Little Devil In America (Image: Random House), The Boys (Image: William Morrow), You Got Anything Stronger? (Image: Dey Street), When Women Invented Television (Image: Harper), A Bathroom Book For People Not Pooping Or Peeing But Using The Bathroom As An Escape (Image: Forge) Graphic: Natalie Peeples

Tired of reading The Night Before Christmas every holiday season? Just can’t make it through another re-read of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas? You’re in luck! We’ve put together our list of the 13 best books to buy pop-culture lovers this year. Whether it’s a comedy legend’s memoir or a film auteur’s art book, these are the tomes you’ll want to give—and get—this holiday season. And trust us: If nothing else, they’re much better reads than The Christmas Shoes.

previous arrowAll About Me! by Mel Brooks next arrow
All About Me! by Mel Brooks
Image Ballantine

All About Me! by Mel BrooksIf you’re a Mel Brooks fan, is the book you’ve been waiting for. Brooks’ first memoir finds the 95-year-old filmmaker and producer looking back at his life and work. All About Me! chronicles Brooks’ journey from Catskills comedian to TV writer, and then onward into the Hollywood stratosphere. Along the way, Brooks offers anecdotes and insights, as well as stories about his friendships and relationships with Sid Caesar, Alfred Hitchcock, best friend Carl Reiner, and wife Anne Bancroft. Brooks’ life is a remarkable one, and even non-comedy fans—if those exist—will probably find something to enjoy in this book.

3 Comments

  • rowan5215-av says:

    thanks for reminding me about A Little Devil in America! I haven’t read it yet but Hanif is my favourite writer working today, he’s absolutely incredible

  • bluesalamone-av says:

    Hey Zombie AVC, how about a little love for your Rushmore former writer Nathan Rabin’s bad-taste celebration, The Joy of Trash, instead.  So gross you went with a deeply inferior, non-AVC alum instead…

  • djburnoutb-av says:

    Cannot wait for All About Me, it’s at the top of my list. Mel is 95, and it’s going to be a very sad day when he passes away – but he has brought so much joy to the world, I’m really glad he wrote a full memoir to preserve even more of his legacy! LONG LIVE MEL BROOKS! 

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