Inside the strange universe of the characters in Kyle MacLachlans head

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Set us as preferred Kyle MacLachlan is living up to his reputation as the Internet’s Dad.It’s an especially warm day in August, and the bespectacled actor, best known for his many projects with the late auteur David Lynch, is approaching with a coffee (black, naturally) in one hand and a massive cookie in the other.The snack, it turns out, is meant for us to share.On the Shelf Fictional Selves: A Memoir By Kyle Maclachlan Crown: 320 pages, $34If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.“Whatever it is, it’s very healthy,” he says when I ask what sort of confection he chose.

“It’s cranberry, oatmeal and gluten-free.Who knows if there’s any sugar in there?”At 67, MacLachlan isn’t necessarily a health nut.

But he is highly amenable and willing to roll with my vegan cafe selection, which is conveniently located near our photo shoot location.“I come from Eastern Washington state — it’s a desert,” he says assuringly when I offer to move us to an indoor seat with air conditioning.

Later, as we prepare to leave for the shoot, he clocks my car, a rare station wagon, and dubs it “spec-TAC-u-lar.”That’s MacLachlan for you — all it takes is one word (he also drops an “Aces!” during our meeting) or enthusiastic gesture (very likely a swooping thumbs up) to channel the type of eccentric and upbeat characters he’s spent the last 40 years playing.Now, with the release of his thoughtful new memoir, “Fictional Selves,” MacLachlan gives us a much closer look at the man behind the chin-jutting grin, and, in doing so, introduces us to his doppelganger, “Other Kyle,” an image-conscious shadow figure constantly trailing behind, questioning his choices.“There’s definitely another entity, an observer, the ego, ...