Brian Baumgartner, better known as Kevin Malone in the hit comedy Officegave Marie Claire a look at its shelves, filled with classics like Shakespeare and Truman Capote, in the latest episode of Portrait Shelf (opens in a new tab)—our video series in which celebrities, influencers and famous bookworms show off their personal libraries.
In the video, Baumgartner shares some of his favorite books, including Truman Capote’s. In cold blood (opens in a new tab) (take it if you like true crime!), Delia Owens Where Crawdad sings (opens in a new tab)by David Sedaris Let’s explore diabetes with the owls (opens in a new tab)and William Shakespeare The Sonnets (opens in a new tab) (Kathy Bates wrote this book for him before they worked together!).
Baumgartner also loves John Irving A prayer for Owen Meany (opens in a new tab) and John Kennedy Toole A confederation of dunces (opens in a new tab) (Ignatius J. Reilly is a character he always wanted to play!). Like most of us, his favorite childhood book was by Shel Silverstein. The tree that gives (opens in a new tab) and, naturally, the author wishes the inimitable Steve Martin could read to him before bed.
Watch the hilarious video above, then order Baumgartner’s new book, Welcome to Dunder Mifflin: The Ultimate Office Oral History (opens in a new tab), out now.