True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor
by David Mamet
Mamet’s provocative and inspirational book on the job, craft, art, and life of the actor.

A Practical Handbook for the Actor
by Melissa Bruder, Lee Cohn, Madeleine Olnek, Ned Pollack, Robert Previto, Scott Zigler
6 students from our 1984 summer Vermont workshop with Mamet and Macy were assigned to write this book and it remains very popular. It contains the ideas behind Practical Aesthetics in a very simple and clear format.

How To Be A Working Actor: The Insider's Guide to Finding Jobs in Theater, Film, and Television
by Mari Lyn Henry and Lynne Rogers
This “Bible of the Biz” is a positive, practical and inspirational guide – an essential resource for all actors.

Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting
by Lynn Grabhorn
This book completely changed the way I think. You may or may not subscribe to everything she says, but you will probably be astounded, as I was, at how many daily thoughts are habitually negative until you turn them around.

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
by Steven Pressfield
Exactly what the title says. I love returning to this book. It tells you how to define, understand, and defeat your own resistance to being a creative professional.

Sink Reflections
by Marla Cilley a.k.a. The Flylady
Wonderful, practical and inspirational reading about living and managing your creative and daily life, especially about perfectionism and self-sabotage. Her principles and insights have been a godsend to my own creative work, and I continually hear from actors and other friends who are having wonderful results with them as well. I recommend her (free) site in every class I teach. (See Why Flylady is great for actors on this site).

The Easy Way to Stop Smoking
by Allen Carr
Incredible. Was recommended to me by friends who had quit successfully after they read it. I was able to very easily quit after 20 years of trying to, and continue to have absolutely no desire to start up again.

Body Clutter
by Marla Cilley & Leanne Ely
The FlyLady and Leanne say that it's not about finding the perfect diet, it's about the way you feel about food and your body and understanding sound nutrition. With warm voices, unique lingo, and no preaching, they apply a step-by-step technique, coaching the readers from beginning to end and sharing their own success stories along the way.

VIDEOS

Broadway: The Golden Age
Filmmaker Rick McKay interviewed the remaining legends of Broadway’s Golden age - this is both a history class and a set of acting lessons - guaranteed inspiration!

Moon Over Broadway
This D.A. Pennebaker documentary follows the play “Moon Over Buffalo,” starring Carol Burnett and Philip Bosco, through the start of rehearsals to the New York opening. It is about the wonderful and horrible factors that can go into putting up a commercial show, and is an eye opener about the ways that financial and creative interests can collide. After you see it once, be sure to watch it again with the commentary.

The Five Obstructions
I am not normally a huge Lars Von Trier fan, but I found this movie to be incredibly inspiring and fascinating about the creative process.