Inside Hollywood's Rare Book Addiction

The Hollywood Reporter reveals what stars collect books.

From the piece...

Highbrows might scoff that Hollywood doesn't respect serious literature, but they obviously haven't discovered the biz's high-end rare-book scene. Johnny Depp collects first-edition works by Jack Kerouac, Arthur Rimbaud, Dylan Thomas and Edgar Allan Poe. Other industry figures have assembled museum-quality collections devoted to everything from exploration (producer Kathleen Kennedy) and aviation (director Tony Bill) to novelizations of silent-era films (business manager Bill Tanner) and the poetry of William Butler Yeats (screenwriter Jeffrey Fiskin). CAA is a particular fan of vintage volumes as gifts. And bibliophiles including Brad Pitt and Steve Martin have been spotted at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair, which this year takes place at the Pasadena Convention Center. "People think I'm a high-end hoarder," says Brett Ratner, who has amassed thousands of photography books including three first editions of Robert Frank's The Americans.

Those in the business afflicted with bibliomania -- they include Whoopi Goldberg, Kelsey Grammer, Sony chief Howard Stringer, director Charles Shyer and Sarah Michelle Gellar -- can find themselves committing serious cash for the hard-to-find, out-of-print books. "I'm about to have a meeting with a gentleman who's nominated for an Oscar this year," says Mark Hime, who runs the appointment-only Beverly Hills shop Biblioctopus.