Read by Cillian Murphy
What books does Cillian Murphy recommend?
The Cillian Murphy book recommendations here trace the reading of an Academy Award-winning actor, celebrated for Oppenheimer and Peaky Blinders, who is as intense a reader as he is a performer and has a strong pull toward Irish literature. Seventeen titles are gathered from his One Grand Books curated list, interviews with The Irish Times and The Guardian, and appearances such as the Inklings Book Club. Fiction and literature overwhelmingly lead, threaded with psychology, history and philosophy. His top pick is J.P. Donleavy's The Ginger Man, a book he says you read as a young man and become intoxicated with, yet one to be savored over a lifetime. Patrick McCabe's The Butcher Boy he calls one of the most heartbreaking books he has ever read, and Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These moved him so much on a train that he pulled his hoodie over his face because he was crying. He read American Prometheus, which he calls essential, to prepare for Oppenheimer.
Last updated February 2026 · Every recommendation cited to its original source.
byJ.P. Donleavy
2010368 Pages“One of those books that you read as a young man and become intoxicated with, yet it is a book to be savored over the course of a life. It was written with great mischief and humor, but full of empathy for the outsider struggling to imagine a purpose in this world.”
— Cillian Murphy
Source: One Grand Books curated list
Read by Cillian Murphy
byPatrick McCabe
1992224 Pages“An absolutely stunning achievement and one of the most heartbreaking books I have ever read. Dark, fiercely funny, compassionate, and unashamedly Irish. Its depiction of a young boy's descent into isolation and madness in small town Ireland has never left me.”
— Cillian Murphy
Source: One Grand Books curated list
Read by Cillian Murphy
byJohn Banville
2001224 Pages“The book seemingly has little or no plot but the sheer towering beauty of its language, atmosphere and insight make it impossible to put down or to forget.”
— Cillian Murphy
Source: One Grand Books curated list
byClaire Keegan
2021128 Pages“I remember reading it on a train, and I had to pull my hoodie over my face because I was crying. It's a magnificent book... It stayed with me.”
— Cillian Murphy
Source: The Irish Times Interview
Read by Cillian Murphy
byMax Porter
2015114 Pages“One of the most moving books I have read in recent years. It investigates a father's suspended state of unexpected loss and grief with a gorgeously wry sense of humor. Captivating, poetic, and surprising.”
— Cillian Murphy
Source: One Grand Books curated list
Read by Cillian Murphy
Rabbit Angstrom
The Four Novels
byJohn Updike
19951568 Pages“A quartet of Rabbit novels in one edition. For me, it is essential reading... An extraordinary study and description of humanity and life in America between the '50s and the '90s.”
— Cillian Murphy
Source: One Grand Books curated list
Read by Cillian Murphy
byRichard Ford
1986375 Pages“Along with Updike, Ford has of course been the great chronicler of the modern American male. I relished the Bascombe Trilogy, beginning with 'The Sportswriter.' Frank Bascombe worked his way under my skin.”
— Cillian Murphy
Source: One Grand Books curated list
Read by Cillian Murphy
byJohn O'Hara
1934240 Pages“Devastating in its conclusion, it completely drew me into the atmosphere and pressure of what it must have been like to alive in America at that time. All details are present—the cocktails, the cars, and in this book most overwhelmingly, the unhappiness.”
— Cillian Murphy
Source: One Grand Books curated list
Read by Cillian Murphy
Independent People
An Epic
byHalldór Laxness
1997512 Pages“Magnificent work... extraordinary... It's one of those works that stays with you.”
— Cillian Murphy
Source: Inklings Book Club with Jack Edwards
Read by Cillian Murphy
byJames Joyce
1914336 Pages“You got to read Dubliners... it's revolutionary for what he did at that time. Absolutely changed everything.”
— Cillian Murphy
Source: Inklings Book Club with Jack Edwards
Read by Oprah Winfrey, Ryan Holiday, Lex Fridman and 2 others
byCormac McCarthy
2006256 Pages“The last time I cried? Reading Cormac McCarthy's The Road.”
— Cillian Murphy
Source: Interview with The Times (March 2010)
Read by Cillian Murphy
The Grass Arena
An Autobiography
byJohn Healy
2008288 Pages“It is the story of determination and rebirth, the tale of a chess champion who overcomes a savage childhood to live again. A powerful book indeed.”
— Cillian Murphy
Source: One Grand Books curated list
Read by Cillian Murphy
byGeoff Dyer
2009304 PagesSource: One Grand Books curated list
Read by Cillian Murphy
byMax Porter
2023128 Pages“It just broke my heart. They're the sorts of things I love as a reader and as a performer.”
— Cillian Murphy
Source: Variety/Deadline Interview regarding project 'Steve'
Read by Cillian Murphy
byJohn McGahern
1990192 Pages“One of the greatest Irish writers.”
— Cillian Murphy
Source: The Guardian Interview (2023)
Read by Cillian Murphy
American Prometheus
The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
byKai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
2005721 Pages“I read American Prometheus, which is the sort of bible of the whole thing... It’s essential reading.”
— Cillian Murphy
Source: Oppenheimer Press Junket Interviews
Read by Cillian Murphy
byFlann O'Brien
1939224 Pages(14,142)
“It's this classic Irish novel... it's sort of a surreal observists story about literature really... I knew that I had never read anything like this before.”
— Cillian Murphy
Source: Collider Interview (2010)
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Frequently asked questions
What books does Cillian Murphy recommend?
His 17 recommendations include The Ginger Man by J.P. Donleavy, Patrick McCabe's The Butcher Boy, John Banville's Eclipse, Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These, and Max Porter's Grief is the Thing with Feathers.
What is Cillian Murphy's favorite book?
Murphy highlights J.P. Donleavy's The Ginger Man, one of those books he says you read as a young man and become intoxicated with, yet a book to be savored over the course of a life, written with great mischief and humor.
What book did Cillian Murphy read for Oppenheimer?
He read American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin, calling it the sort of bible of the whole thing and essential reading, as preparation for portraying J. Robert Oppenheimer.
Where do Cillian Murphy's book recommendations come from?
They come from his One Grand Books curated list, interviews with The Irish Times, The Guardian, The Times and Variety, and book-club conversations such as the Inklings Book Club with Jack Edwards.
What genres does Cillian Murphy read most?
Fiction and literature dominate his list, especially Irish writers like Banville, McCabe, McGahern and Joyce, alongside psychology, history and philosophy, with the occasional memoir such as The Grass Arena.
All 17 Books Cillian Murphy Has Recommended
- The Ginger Man · J.P. Donleavy
- The Butcher Boy · Patrick McCabe
- Eclipse · John Banville
- Small Things Like These · Claire Keegan
- Grief is the Thing with Feathers · Max Porter
- Rabbit Angstrom · John Updike
- The Sportswriter · Richard Ford
- Appointment in Samarra · John O'Hara
- Independent People · Halldór Laxness
- Dubliners · James Joyce
- The Road · Cormac McCarthy
- The Grass Arena · John Healy
- Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi · Geoff Dyer
- Shy · Max Porter
- Amongst Women · John McGahern
- American Prometheus · Kai Bird
- At Swim-Two-Birds · Flann O'Brien