Michael Jackson could sell out arenas and command crowds almost anywhere he went, but one of his favorite places was far quieter. Away from the stage, Jackson was an obsessive reader who repeatedly disappeared into bookstores searching through history, science, art, poetry and anything else that caught his attention. His personal collection eventually reportedly reached around 10,000 books.
The habit became especially striking during Jackson’s final years. Former bodyguard Javon Beard recalled almost weekly trips to Barnes & Noble where Jackson could spend thousands of dollars at a time. Then came the purchase that made even those shopping trips seem small: Beard said Jackson once liked a bookstore enough to buy the entire place and pay cash for it.
Michael Jackson’s Love For Books
The story changes the familiar picture of Jackson considerably. Long before smartphones could fill an idle hour, books were apparently one of the ways he occupied long stretches of isolation. Los Angeles bookseller Dave Dutton remembered Jackson as a regular customer and said he particularly enjoyed the poetry section, with Ralph Waldo Emerson among the writers associated with his interests.
It also was not merely a late-life hobby. Jackson was photographed browsing bookstores over many years and was still book shopping in Los Angeles near the end of his life. The scale of the collection raises a more interesting question than simply how many books he owned: what was he actually reading and what did those books reveal about the man behind the performer?
Wesley Snipes Speaks on Michael Jackson’s Library
That is why Wesley Snipes’ recollection makes a useful second chapter rather than another version of the same bookstore story. Snipes has spoken publicly about Jackson’s library, adding an outsider’s glimpse of just how seriously the singer took books. Combined with accounts from booksellers and his security team, it suggests this was not celebrity collecting for display. Reading occupied a genuine part of Jackson’s private life.
For an artist who turned Thriller, Bad and Dangerous into landmarks of popular music, the thousands of books offer a quieter contrast to the Michael Jackson the world normally saw. Behind the stadium shows and elaborate videos was someone repeatedly returning to shelves of history, art, science and poetry. Watch the videos above to discover the book-loving side of Michael Jackson that rarely made the headlines.