This is the starting place if you are looking for a book about Tarantino.
This page is under construction
“Your website does one thing in particular that I appreciate. I wouldn’t have known at least 6 of the books about me that have come out in the last years. I wouldn’t have known about them if I hadn’t found them on your website. So it’s like, you know, “hey, there’s a new book about me, hey gosh I gotta find that and read that book and put it in my library”… the ones I like the most are the more film-criticism type ones, the more subtextual stuff. I really got a big kick out of that western one that’s come out, what was that, Westerns from Shane to Kill Bill” – Quentin Tarantino
Introduction
Whether you are new to the films and life of Quentin Tarantino, or you are a fan or expert and want to know more, reading a book about the man and/or his movies is certainly a clever approach. Yet ever since Tarantino’s films exploded unto the screens in the early 90s, a huge amount of books have been written about him and for a person new to this subject the range of books can certainly be confusing. What book to read first? What book to avoid? What book for what purpose? This page tries to compile information on all available Tarantino books and come up with helpful reviews, tips and categorizations as well as a ranking of the best books and possible guides on what books to read for what purpose (and of course what books for what kind of person, newbie or expert). We will also try to cover books written in German, French and other languages. Please support our effort by buying the book of your choice by using our links to Amazon that we provide. Enjoy reading.
Books by Tarantino: Cinema Speculation | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – The Novel
English books
| Title | Author | Year | Publisher | Short Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Sundance Kids: How the Mavericks Took Over Hollywood | James Mottram | 2006 | Faber | |
| How to Analyze the Films of Quentin Tarantino | Mary K. Pratt | 2010 | Essential Critiques | |
| Quentin Tarantino FAQ – Everything left to know about the original Reservoir Dog | Dale Sherman | 2015 | Applause | FAQ series; latest book on Quentin |
| Quentin Tarantino – Life at the Extremes | Aaron Barlow | 2010 | Praeger | Modern Filmmakers series |
| Quentin Tarantino: Poetics and Politics of Cinematic Metafiction | David Roche | 2018 | Mississippi UP Press | / |
| Quentin Tarantino and Philosophy | Richard Greene and K. Silem Mohammad | 2007 | Open Court | Theoretical examinations of Tarantino’s films. Oct. 2007 |
| Tarantino – The Man, the Myths and His Movies | Clarkson, Wensley | 2007 | John Blake | |
| Tarantino | Smith, Jim | 2005 | Virgin Books | excellent analysis of Tarantino’s works in chronological order |
| Pulp Fiction (BFI Modern Classics) | Polan, Dana | 2000 | BFI Publishing | |
| Quentin Tarantino | Holm, D.K. | 2005 | Pocket Essentials | compact and complete overview of everything with refreshingly new aspects |
| The Kill Bill Diary… | Carradine, David | 2006 | Harper | |
| The Tarantinian Ethics | Bottig, F. & S. Wilson | 2001 | Sage | lengthy analysis |
| Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Film | Biskind, Peter | 2004 | Simon and Schuster | about the rise and falls of the independent film industry around Miramax. |
| Rebels on the Backlot: Six Maverick Directors and How They Conquered the Hollywood Studio System | Waxman, Sharon | 2004 | HarperCollins | |
| Kill Bill: An Unofficial Casebook | Holm, D.K. | 2005 | Glitter Books | a minute-by-minute companion to Kill Bill serving as an ideal companion to the DVD releases of the films. |
| Quintessential Tarantino | Page, Edwin | 2005 | Marion Boyars | easy-to-read analysis of the films in a literary studies approach. |
| Quentin Tarantino: The Film Geek Files | Woods, Paul | 2000 | Plexus Books | (Revised Edition) includes five new articles on Kill Bill. |
| Raised by Wolves: The Turbulent Art and Times of Quentin Tarantino | Charyn, Jerome | 2006 | Thunder’s Mouth Press | a bio in the form of a long, book length essay. |
| Quentin Tarantino | Gallafent, Edward | 2006 | Pearson Longman | part of the “On Directors” series. arguably the best critical study of Tarantino so far, arranged thematically. |
| King Pulp: The Wild World of Quentin Tarantino | Woods, Paul A. | 1998 | Plexus | .. |
| Quentin Tarantino: Interviews | Peary, Gerald | 1998 | U of Mississippi P | collection of great interviews with Tarantino. |
| Tarantino: A to Zed | Barnes, Alan & Marcus Hearn | 1996 | ? | ? |
| Quentin Tarantino: Shooting From the Hip | Clarkson, Wensley | 1995 | Piatkus Books | ?? |
| Ultraviolent Movies: From Sam Peckinpah to Tarantino | Bouzerau, Laurent | 2000 | ? | soon |
| Quentin Tarantino: The Cinema of Cool | Dawson, Jeff | 1995 | Applause Books | soon |
| Quentin Tarantino: The Man and His Movies | Bernard, Jami | 1995 | HarperPerennial | the best biography to date. |
| Pulp Fiction (York Film Notes) | Langley, Neville | 2000 | ? | ? |
| Contemporary Authors : Biography – Tarantino, Quentin (Jerome) (1963-) | Gale, Thompson | 2006 | ? | 16-page eBook |
| From Shane to Kill Bill: Rethinking the Western | McGee, Patrick | 2006 | Blackwell | soon |
| Race on the QT: Blackness and the Films of Quentin Tarantino | Nama, Adilifu | 2015 | UT Press | On race in QT’s films |
| Tarantino: A Retrospective | Tom Shone | 2017 | Insight | In-depth look into his movies. |
| My Best Friend’s Birthday: The Making of a Quentin Tarantino Film | Andrew J. Rausch | 2019 | Bear Manor |
German Language Books / Deutsche Tarantino Bücher
| Title | Author | Year | Publisher | Short Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quentin Tarantino | Robert Fischer | 2004 (2) | ? | Bestes deutschsprachiges Kompendium über Tarantino |
| Der rote Faden aus Blut: Erzählstrukturen bei Quentin Tarantino | Uwe Nagel | 1997 | ||
| Narrative Strategien in den Drehbüchern von Tarantino | Karl Tebbe | 1997 | ||
| Hitchcock – Greenaway – Tarantino: Paratextuelle Attraktionen des Autorenkinos | Lutz Nitsche | 2002 | ||
| Filme von Quentin Tarantino | Sonja Neiß | 2007 | ||
| Unfinished Business: Quentin Tarantinos “Kill Bill” und die offenen Rechnungen der Kulturwissenschaften | Achim Geisenhanslüke, Christian Steltz | 2006 | ||
| Quentin Tarantino Unchained: Die blutige Wahrheit | Michael Scholten | Dezember 2015 | Riva Verlag | |
| Quentin Tarantino. Einführung in seine Filme und Filmästhetik | Susanne Kaul, Jean-Pierre Palmier | Juli 2013 |
French Language Books
| Title | Author | Year | Publisher | Short Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quentin Tarantino | Alberto Morsiani | 2006 | Gremese | A good analysis of his different movies and the main themes of his work |
| Quentin Tarantino: D’Alabama à Killing Zoe | Yannick Surcouf | 1998 | Mereal | Based on the same concept as the book by Alan Barnes & Marcus Hearn, Tarantino A to Zed. |
| Quentin Tarantino, Fils de pulp | Jean-Pierre Deloux | 1998 | Fleuve Noir | A very good biography and analysis of his influences. |
| Critiquer Quentin Tarantino est-il raisonnable? | Célia Sauvage | 2013 | Vrin | Written by a Tarantino Archives member. |
| Le musée imaginaire de Quentin Tarantino | Philippe Ortoli | 2012 | Le Cerf | ….les sources qui l’alimentent comme les pellicules mouvantes qui s’y exposent… |
Screenplays
For more information on screenplays/film scripts go to our Film scripts section
