Author Guide · Film & Faith
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Martin Scorsese has never written a memoir. What he has done, for more than three decades, is talk: to editors at Faber & Faber for Scorsese on Scorsese (1989), to the critic Richard Schickel for a 448-page book of conversations (2011), and to the Jesuit priest Antonio Spadaro about God, grace and the streets of Little Italy (2024). Almost every book with his name on the cover is a transcript of a conversation, edited into print. The one exception is the companion book to his own documentary on American film, written with Michael Henry Wilson. This guide covers his 6 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 6 key books · 1989–2024 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Martin Scorsese’s books are interview books rather than prose: Scorsese on Scorsese (1989), A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1997), Martin Scorsese: Interviews (1999) and Conversations on Faith (2024, with Antonio Spadaro). The key books about him are Scorsese by Ebert (2008) and Richard Schickel’s Conversations with Scorsese (2011). Start with Scorsese on Scorsese; read on for what each of the others covers.
Where to Start with Martin Scorsese
If you want the films in his own words
→ Scorsese on Scorsese (1989) — film by film, edited by David Thompson and Ian Christie.
If you want his history of American cinema
→ A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1997) — the book of his 1995 documentary.
If you want the longest, most probing interview
→ Conversations with Scorsese (2011) — Richard Schickel’s book of conversations.
If you want his faith and the Catholic themes in his films
→ Conversations on Faith (2024).
6 Martin Scorsese Books, in Order
Scorsese on Scorsese
Scorsese talks through his life and films one by one, in interviews edited by David Thompson and Ian Christie and published by Faber & Faber in London in 1989 as part of its series of directors on their own work. He covers technique, influences and the circumstances behind each project. Faber issued an updated edition in 1996 that carries the story further into the 1990s.
A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies
The book of Scorsese’s documentary of the same name, made for the British Film Institute’s series marking the centenary of cinema. Scorsese walks through the Hollywood films that formed him, from the silent era to the 1960s, and the directors who worked within or against the studio system. Published in New York by Hyperion as a Miramax book, with the British Film Institute, in 191 illustrated pages with a filmography.
Martin Scorsese
A volume in the University Press of Mississippi’s Conversations with Filmmakers series, edited by Peter Brunette. It reprints interviews that different journalists and critics conducted with Scorsese over several decades, so the questions and angles change from piece to piece.
Scorsese by Ebert
Roger Ebert, who reviewed Scorsese’s debut feature in 1967, collects about four decades of his reviews of Scorsese’s films, adds new reconsiderations of several of them, and prints a fifty-page transcript of a 1997 interview with Scorsese at Ohio State University. Published by the University of Chicago Press in 297 pages.
Conversations with Scorsese
The Time critic Richard Schickel interviews Scorsese across 448 pages, published by Knopf in 2011, in the tradition of Truffaut’s book with Hitchcock. It starts with his childhood, Catholic upbringing and film school at NYU, goes through the films one by one, then turns to editing, actors, colour, music and film restoration. Kirkus called it “a feast for cineastes”.
Conversations on Faith
Dialogues between Scorsese and the Italian Jesuit Antonio Spadaro, which began when Spadaro visited him at home to talk about Silence. They cover his Catholic childhood in New York, grace, the nature of Christ, the religious films The Last Temptation of Christ and Silence, and the writers who shaped him, including Dostoevsky, Flannery O’Connor and Graham Greene. First published in Italian as Dialoghi sulla fede (La nave di Teseo, 2024); the English edition followed from Grand Central Publishing in November 2025.
In What Order to Read Martin Scorsese
Start with Scorsese on Scorsese, because it is organised around the films and gives you his own account of each. Then read A Personal Journey to see the American films he grew up on, ideally alongside the documentary itself.
After that, the interview books add depth rather than new ground: Brunette’s collection for other interviewers’ angles, Schickel’s book for the fullest single conversation, and Ebert’s for a critic’s view across forty years. Save Conversations on Faith for last; it reads best once you know the films it discusses.
A reading path
1. Scorsese on Scorsese (1989)
2. A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1997)
3. Conversations with Scorsese (2011)
4. Scorsese by Ebert (2008)
5. Conversations on Faith (2024)
More Books About Martin Scorsese
Beyond the 6 key books: 4 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Studies and biographies
4
4 books · 1992–2008
- 1992Martin Scorsesea critical study by Lester J. Keyser, published by Twayne
- 1996Scorsese on Scorsese (updated edition)Faber’s revised edition of the 1989 interview book
- 2007The Philosophy of Martin Scorseseessays edited by Mark T. Conard, University Press of Kentucky
- 2008Martin Scorsese: A Biographyby Vincent LoBrutto, Greenwood
The years · 1942–2024
Quick facts about Martin Scorsese
- Known for
- Martin Scorsese is known for directing films about violence, guilt and faith in American life, from Mean Streets and Taxi Driver to Goodfellas and Killers of the Flower Moon, and for his work to preserve old films.
- 1942
- Born in Queens, New York
- 1967
- First feature, Who’s That Knocking at My Door
- 1976
- Palme d’Or for Taxi Driver
- 2007
- Best Director Oscar for The Departed
- 2024
- Conversations on Faith published in Italy
- Born
- 17 November 1942, Queens, New York; raised in Manhattan’s Little Italy
- Education
- New York University (film)
- Key films
- Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), The Departed (2006), Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
- Awards
- Academy Award for Best Director (The Departed); Palme d’Or (Taxi Driver)
- Books
- Four books of his own, all interviews or dialogues; two key books of conversations and criticism about him
- Family
- Married five times; married to Helen Morris since 1999
The red mark is 1989: Scorsese on Scorsese, the first book of his own account of his films.
How Martin Scorsese Writes: In Conversation
Scorsese’s books are spoken before they are written. Scorsese on Scorsese and Martin Scorsese: Interviews are edited interviews; Conversations on Faith is a dialogue; even Schickel’s and Ebert’s books about him are built around long transcripts of him talking. The voice that comes through is the one familiar from his commentaries: fast, digressive, full of film titles, and precise about how a shot was made and why.
A Personal Journey is the closest he has come to an argument. It grew out of a documentary made for the British Film Institute, and it treats the Hollywood director as a craftsman working inside a system, sometimes slipping personal films past the studios, sometimes breaking the rules outright. It is history told by a fan who became a director, and it names the films he wants readers to go and see.
Conversations on Faith turns the same method to religion. Spadaro, a Jesuit and for years editor of La Civiltà Cattolica, asks; Scorsese answers about the mix of family ties, violence and the sacred he grew up with, and about grace as something that arrives when you do not expect it. For directors and writers with a similar mix of crime, guilt and city streets, see Authors like Martin Scorsese.
Watch
Martin Scorsese on faith and Silence
Fr. James Martin SJ talks with Scorsese for America, the Jesuit magazine, in January 2017 about his faith, his films and Silence.
Frequently asked questions about Martin Scorsese’s books
How many books has Martin Scorsese written?
Four books carry his name as author or co-author, and all of them are interviews or dialogues: Scorsese on Scorsese (1989), A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1997, with Michael Henry Wilson), Martin Scorsese: Interviews (1999) and Conversations on Faith (2024, with Antonio Spadaro). This page also lists two key books about him, by Roger Ebert and Richard Schickel.
What are Martin Scorsese’s books in order?
Scorsese on Scorsese (1989), A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1997), Martin Scorsese: Interviews (1999), Scorsese by Ebert (2008, by Roger Ebert), Conversations with Scorsese (2011, by Richard Schickel) and Conversations on Faith (2024).
Where should I start with Martin Scorsese’s books?
Scorsese on Scorsese. It is the nearest thing he has to a memoir, organised film by film, so it also works as a guide to watching his films in order.
What is Martin Scorsese’s most famous book?
Scorsese on Scorsese (1989), edited by David Thompson and Ian Christie and published by Faber & Faber, with an updated edition in 1996.
Who wrote Conversations on Faith with Martin Scorsese?
The Italian Jesuit priest Antonio Spadaro. Their conversations began when Spadaro interviewed Scorsese about Silence. The book first appeared in Italian as Dialoghi sulla fede (La nave di Teseo, 2024) and in English from Grand Central Publishing in November 2025.
Who is Martin Scorsese?
An American film director, producer and screenwriter, born on 17 November 1942 in Queens, New York, and raised in Manhattan’s Little Italy. His films include Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Departed and Killers of the Flower Moon.
Is Martin Scorsese still alive?
Yes. He was born on 17 November 1942, so he is 83 in October 2026 and turns 84 in November 2026.
Where is Martin Scorsese from?
He was born in Queens, New York, and grew up in Little Italy in Manhattan, the neighbourhood behind early films such as Mean Streets. He studied film at New York University.
Is Martin Scorsese Italian?
He is Italian-American: his grandparents emigrated from Sicily to New York. His Italian-American upbringing runs through his films, from Mean Streets to Goodfellas, and he made a documentary on Italian cinema, My Voyage to Italy.
Is Martin Scorsese Catholic?
Yes. He was raised Catholic, briefly studied for the priesthood as a teenager, and has called his relationship with the faith lifelong. He discusses it at length in Conversations on Faith and in Richard Schickel’s Conversations with Scorsese.
Why was The Last Temptation of Christ controversial?
Scorsese’s 1988 film of Nikos Kazantzakis’s novel shows Jesus imagining an ordinary life, including marriage, while on the cross. Christian groups protested before and after its release, some countries banned it, and in October 1988 a cinema in Paris showing it was set on fire. He talks about the film and the reaction in Conversations with Scorsese and Conversations on Faith.
Is Martin Scorsese married?
Yes. He has been married to Helen Morris since 1999, his fifth marriage. His earlier wives were Laraine Brennan, the writer Julia Cameron, the actress Isabella Rossellini and the producer Barbara De Fina.
How many movies has Martin Scorsese directed?
More than 25 feature films, from Who’s That Knocking at My Door (1967) to Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), plus many documentaries.
How many Oscars does Martin Scorsese have?
One competitive Academy Award: Best Director for The Departed, presented in 2007, after many earlier nominations without a win.
Footnotes
- Martin Scorsese bibliography — Wikipedia
- Conversations on Faith — Harvard Book Store
- Dialoghi sulla fede — La Civiltà Cattolica, 2024
- Conversations with Martin Scorsese — Kirkus Reviews
- Scorsese by Ebert — Screening the Past
- 2013 Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities — NEH
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“You have to preserve it, all of it.”
— Martin Scorsese, Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities, “Persistence of Vision: Reading the Language of Cinema” (2013)
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