You might recognize Carlos Alazraqui as Deputy James Garcia on Comedy Central’s Reno 911, but you will no doubt recognize his voice from his extensive voiceover work. In recent years he has voiced characters appearing in several video games as well as cartoons on Comedy Central and Fox among others. He also has several writing credits under his belt as well, including two episodes of Rocko’s Modern Life, a Nickelodeon show for which he also provided the main voice talent. I was a Reno 911 and Rocko fan for years without realizing the two shared a common talent, but all that changed when I recently reached out to a friend who knows Alazraqui and asked if he would like to share his reading list with us.
 

Alazraqui is a big Anne Rice fan, especially the Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy which includes The Witching Hour, Lasher and Taltos. The trilogy covers several generations of the Mayfair Family, spans the globe, and delves into the demon world to boot. Witches, vampires, demons, history, mythology, and voodoo in New Orleans and beyond make the trilogy a must read for Anne Rice fans.

His love of horror does not end there: Alazraqui is a huge fan of the book The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty’s 1973 novel that spawned the popular movie of the same name. Hailed as one of the scariest books ever written, The Exorcist is a tale of the demonic possession of a little girl and the Jesuit psychiatrist priest called in to save her. Certain aspects of the story were based upon real people and it was later discovered that the exorcism itself was lifted from one performed in the 1949 exorcism of a young Maryland boy. Making the film proved to be a trial of its own: death and serious injuries were abundant with one of its stars, Ellen Burstyn (who suffered permanent spinal damage during the shoot), claiming that a total of nine people’s deaths were connected to the movie. Over 40 years later the book remains popular and terrifying.

It's not all horror on Alazraqui's reading list: he also loves John Irving’s Cider House Rules, Hotel New Hampshire and Prayer For Owen Meany. Irving is an acclaimed author and screenwriter, and won an Academy Award in 2000 for the screenplay he adapted himself for Cider House Rules. His work often deals with controversial themes including abortion, infidelity, feminism, child abuse, and homosexuality, but with a quirky, often humorous approach which has worked well for Irving. In addition to his Oscar Irving has won the National Book Award, the O. Henry Award, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2001. His success isn’t all writing related: the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma inducted him in 1992.

Carlos Alazraqui’s work has brought laughter to children and adults alike. With fifty films and over one hundred television shows under his belt (not to mention his work in advertising and video games) his career so far can only be described as prolific and he shows no sign of slowing down personally or professionally: aside from scuba diving in Hawaii, Alazraqui has completed over 800 skydiving jumps!

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