If you loved
Books like Wired
An unflinching, journalistic descent into the chaotic offstage reality of a beloved comedic icon. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Wired.
- chaotic
- tragic
- tense
- dark
- 01
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
Tom Wolfe · 1968
A kaleidoscopic, hyperkinetic road trip through the birth of the 1960s counterculture that reads like a literary hallucination.
- 02
Live from New York
Tom Shales
A chaotic, polyphonic backstage pass to the messy, drug-fueled, and brilliant creation of a comedy empire.
- 03
Last words
George Carlin and Tony Hendra
A brilliantly profane and deeply reflective backstage pass into the mind of America's sharpest comedic philosopher.
- 04
Professional idiot
Stephen "Steve-O" Glover
A chaotic, shockingly raw plunge into the darkest depths of addiction and the hard-fought climb back to sanity.
- 05
Chuck Amuck
Chuck Jones · 1989
A lively, reflective journey through the kinetic mind and career of an iconic American animator.
- 06
Chronicles
Bob Dylan · 2004
A smoky, non-linear journey through the memories and creative awakenings of an American icon.
- 07
Wishful Drinking
Carrie Fisher · 2008
A razor-sharp, laugh-out-loud survival guide to Hollywood royalty, addiction, and the absurdity of being a human action figure.
- 08
Life in code
Ellen Ullman
A deeply humanistic, late-night reflection on the invisible architecture of code and the people who build it.
- 09
Ghost in the Wires
Kevin Mitnick
A breathless, high-stakes game of digital hide-and-seek that reads like a cyber-heist thriller.
- 10
Reporter
Hersh, Seymour M.
A gritty, unvarnished masterclass in shoe-leather journalism and the relentless pursuit of the truth.
- 11
Naked Pictures of Famous People
Jon Stewart · 1998
A sharp, irreverent collection of comedic essays that bends history and biography into deadpan absurdity.
- 12
The heroin diaries
Nikki Sixx · 2007
A chaotic, visceral plunge into the darkest depths of rock-and-roll excess and the paranoid isolation of addiction.
