When you make a purchase using links on our site, The Week may earn a commission. All reviews are written independently by our editorial team.

Across a long career, London native Keith McNally has created many of New York City's buzziest restaurants, including the Odeon, Balthazar, and Minetta Tavern. In his best-selling recent memoir, I Regret Almost Everything , he describes how books and films shaped him.

'Bel-Ami' by Guy de Maupassant (1885)

I often gravitate to books with an amoral central character, and Bel-Ami contains one of the most compelling. Georges Duroy arrives in Paris as an innocent but opportunistic young man from the provinces who ascends several rungs up the social ladder by exploiting his charm and good looks. Even shallow, uneducated men can succeed if they're

See Full Page