David Simon's 6 favorite books

The creator of one of TV's greatest crime dramas recommends works by Toni Morrison, Andrew Hacker, and more

David Simon
(Image credit: AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee, with photos by Walker Evans (Mariner, $18). Reading this as a young newspaperman helped me shed much of my callow opportunism. Agee's feelings for his subjects are matched only by his awe of their humanity. The fact that it initially sold only a few hundred copies makes me feel better about those Treme ratings.

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (Vintage, $14). This would be Morrison's masterwork, if, um, she hadn't followed it with Beloved and Song of Solomon. Can a writer have three masterworks?

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