David Simon Goes To The Jewish Weekly

The Last Publicized Center Of American Writing Was Manhattan. Its Writers Became Known As The New York Intellectuals. With Important Connections To Publishing, And Universities, With Access To The Major Book Reviews, They Were Able To Pose As The Vanguard Of American Culture When They Were So Obsessed With The Two Joes--mccarthy And Stalin--that They Were To Produce Only Two Artists, Saul Bellow And Philip Roth, Who Left Town.

I Have Black Guys Who Tell Me They Put My Books On Their Bed Stands To Read At Night Like Something For Guidance Or Information. That Really Pleases Me A Lot. I Think My Work Has Changed Some Things. It's Changed Me.

I Was On A Panel With Light Skinned Blacks And A Famous Gay Science Fiction Writer, Who Were Complaining About How Blacks Are Against Gays And Light Skinned Blacks And How Intolerant Blacks Are Of Different Groups. My Position Was That Blacks Were Among The Most Humanistic, Tolerant Groups In The Country And That Across The Street From My House In Oakland Was One Inhabited By White Gays.

One Of The Joys Of Reading Is The Ability To Plug Into The Shared Wisdom Of Mankind.

The Cultural Wars Of The Sixties Are Over. I've Reconciled With Those Who Were My Critics And Opponents Years Ago. I Was At Odds With Some Those Who Were Black Nationalists. Yet When Feminists Attempted To End My Career And Leave Me As Literary Road Kill, It Was The Black Nationalists Who Came To My Rescue.