In an email interview, the author of four previous memoirs talked about why he prefers books that reach him emotionally — and how recent books by Charlie Sheen and Matthew Perry did just that. SCOTT HELLER

What kind of reader were you as a child?

I was always an avid reader, though very rarely books on the class reading list. I had a hard-core Agatha Christie habit as a preteen. As a teenager, this grew into a passion for noir: Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, among others.

What’s the last great book you read?

“A Gentleman in Moscow.” Amor Towles’s prose, pacing and character development are unrivaled. His work evokes a rare and unfailingly beautiful sense of longing.

Describe your ideal reading experience.

I always prefer to hold a book in my hands, but unfortunately Parkinson’s makes it difficult, and sometimes downright impossible. So, much of my reading has become listening. Other than that, my reading habits are pretty much the same: I always have two books cued up on Audible at once — one nonfiction (anything from political commentary to history to natural history); and the other fiction (historical, classic literature, crime fiction, mysteries and satire). I tend to “read” nonfiction at night, if only because it’s easier to find my place. When I think of fiction I think of beach, days off, travel and found time during any point of the day.

What book might people be surprised to find on your shelves?

The Torah.

Your earlier memoirs have followed the course of your life to the point they were written, but this one goes back in time. Why revisit this period?

“Future Boy” sprang from one specific moment in my life, when I tackled two acting roles simultaneously. Often people asked me how I managed to pull off that feat, and I began to wonder myself. So on the heels of Davis Guggenheim’s documentary “Still,” it occurred to me that this period might make for an interesting book. Strictly speaking I suppose it is a memoir, but it’s much more ad hoc than my other books.

Do you have any favorite time-travel books?

I have to point to Jack Finney’s books, especially “Time and Again,” in which the low-tech Dakota-building-as-time-machine device is particularly genius.

Do you prefer books that reach you emotionally, or intellectually?

I can always tell if an author is reaching for my mind or my heart. If he or she is reaching for my mind, I confess they can overshoot and leave me frustrated for lack of comprehension. An author that reaches for my heart can often end up in the ballpark. Emotional work sneaks up on you and leaves you feeling something you might not otherwise.

You’ve described yourself as an incurable optimist, but who are your favorite literary pessimists?

Edgar Allan Poe. With so grim a body of work (“The Raven,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “The Fall of the House of Usher”),it’s amazing that I still find his masterpieces involving and difficult to put down. As to pessimism, all I can say is no matter what mood I’m in when I launch into one of Poe’s stories, it’s guaranteed to wipe the smile off my face.

What are your favorite memoirs by entertainers?

This can also be the answer to what are the last books that made me cry:two memoirs especially compelling for me, because they were authored by contemporaries of mine in the film and television business.

The first, Matthew Perry’s “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” was heartbreaking and terrifying. I can’t honestly recall whether I read it before or after his tragic passing. Neither would’ve been any less tear-producing. Charlie Sheen’s story, as told in “The Book of Sheen,” was an equally gripping cautionary tale, and surprisingly one of the funniest memoirs I’ve ever read. Charlie’s just that good and deliciously twisted. Charlie survived what he details in this book. Thank God.

Which genres do you avoid?

Self-help books. They don’t. Maybe I’m just not trying.

Where would Alex P. Keaton stand in today’s American political landscape?

Like most noteworthy television sitcom characters, Alex P. Keaton is not wholly a creation of the actor, so to give a complete answer, I’d have to consult with the writers and other actors I worked with on “Family Ties,” who helped to shape this iconoclastic ’80s yuppie. Still, it’s safe to say Alex would continue to be conservative, but the 1980s Reagan version, not what passes for conservatism today.

You’re organizing a literary dinner party. Which three writers, dead or alive, do you invite?

Mark Twain, for his eloquence and timeless humor. To add a little sublime to the ridiculous, I’d have Patti Smith over. In “Just Kids,” a document of her friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe, she proved that she’s a writer of towering talent. And seriously, doesn’t the thought of her and Samuel Clemens breaking bread crack you up? Finally, I’d save a plate for Shakespeare — because he’s Shakespeare — although I’d have to invite a fourth party to translate.