Ed Helms Read ‘Moby-Dick' on His Phone. On the New York Subway.

New York Times

15-05-2025

In an email interview, the actor ('The Office') explained why working in comedy drew him to exploring big mistakes, in a podcast that led to the book. SCOTT HELLER
What books are on your night stand?
'The History of Sound,' by Ben Shattuck, and 'The Library Book,' by Susan Orlean.
How do you organize your books?
I don't. Books migrate between dignified shelves, unruly coffee tables and chaotic piles that sprout around my office like mushrooms.
Describe your ideal reading experience (when, where, what, how).
This might sound strange, but one of my favorite reading experiences was standing on the New York City subway, clinging to a pole with one hand and reading 'Moby-Dick' on my phone with the other. Sometimes I was so engrossed I'd get off the train and just plop down on a bench to finish a chapter. But honestly, nothing beats reading aloud to my kids in our little reading nook at home.
What's the last great book you read?
I've read a lot of good books, but the last truly great book I read was 'The Overstory,' by Richard Powers.
What books are you embarrassed not to have read yet?
'Anna Karenina,' by Tolstoy. In my defense, someone gave me a Russian-language edition and I literally can't read it.
Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What book did you feel as if you were supposed to like, and didn't?
'A Walk in the Woods,' by Bill Bryson. I signed up for soulful reflections on a grueling 2,000-mile trek along the Appalachian Trail. What I got were some chipper musings about a leisurely stroll to a diner. Bryson is hilarious, but I still felt betrayed.
Who is your favorite fictional hero or heroine?
The Lorax.
Were you a 'Captain Underpants' fan before playing the title role in the movie version?
I was only dimly aware of the series before I signed on, but I immediately fell in love with its anarchic spirit. There's a wonderful undercurrent of pure childhood mischief in those books.
What's your favorite book no one else has heard of?
'Longitude,' by Dava Sobel. It's a gripping, soulful history of the race to determine one's longitude at sea, which, I promise, is way more exciting than it sounds.
In 'Snafu,' you ask readers to think of you as their 'unofficial history teacher.' Is there one who made a difference to you?
My brother is a middle school history teacher, and one of the smartest, funniest people I know. He's my go-to for fact-checking and/or spirited debates.
What is it about your personality that makes you fascinated by foul-ups?
I think because comedy is rooted in pain and suffering, I've spent my whole life instinctively tuning in to moments when things go wrong. At this point, it's not so much a fascination as it is a reflex.
Who's the most foolish figure unearthed in the research for the book, and why?
One strong contender is the U.S. military engineer who, during the Cold War, proposed nuking the moon just to show the Soviets how tough we were. Not land on it. Not colonize it. Just … detonate it.
The most heroic?
Jimmy Carter. In 1952, long before he became president, he helped lead a dangerous cleanup of a partial nuclear meltdown at Canada's Chalk River reactor. He and his men risked their lives to contain the disaster, a quiet act of heroism that almost no one talks about today.
Is there a recent event that seems likely to make it into a sequel to this book?
DOGE.
Have you ever gotten in trouble for reading a book?
In fifth grade, I got caught carting around 'The Joy of Sex' at school. It made me wildly popular with my friends and significantly less popular with my teachers and parents.
What's the last book you recommended to a member of your family?
A.D.H.D. has touched my life in a lot of ways, so I've recommended 'Scattered Minds,' by Gabor Maté, to friends and family who've been curious about it. It's a moving, compassionate window into what living with A.D.H.D. actually feels like.
What's the most interesting thing you learned from a book recently?
In David Byrne's 'How Music Works,' I learned how profoundly music is shaped by the spaces it's performed in. Cathedrals, dive bars, stadiums: They don't just host music, they transform how we experience it. As a musician, this was a thrilling revelation, something I'd always felt on some level but had never consciously reflected on before.
'Humanity has demonstrated an uncanny ability to bounce back' from snafus, you write. Still feeling that way?
Yes. But to your point, we also have a nasty habit of bouncing backward just as quickly. Sadly, human progress is not a straight line. It's more like a cosmic game of Chutes and Ladders.
You're organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?
Oscar Wilde, Marcus Aurelius and Anne Lamott. That should make for a good mix of profound insight and hard laughs.