Crime writer Don Winslow recommends the best films, TV shows, and books for self-isolation

Crime fiction fans in search of a good read during these worrying times should definitely consider Broken, the just-published collection of novellas from Don Winslow. But what films, TV shows, and books does the author himself recommend people consume while they are self-isolating due to the coronavirus crisis? Turns out the writer thinks he is a good person to ask.

"Writers, we’re always socially distanced, you know?" says Winslow, whose other books include 2005's The Power of the Dog and 2017's The Force. "We spend most of our time sitting alone somewhere making sh— up."

Read on for Winslow's recommendations.

MOVIES

"I picked up a bunch of DVDs off my shelf in the office and took them home," Winslow says. "The movies I picked up were The Friends of Eddie Coyle, which I think is the most realistic crime movie ever made, a performance by Robert Mitchum that's stunning; They Live by Night, Nicholas Ray’s fist movie and an old noir which is sort of a precursor to Bonnie and Clyde; Michael Mann’s Thief, with James Caan."

TV SHOWS

"Babylon Berlin is from a series of German crime novels set in the Weimar Republic, and it’s on Netflix," Winslow says. "It’s very smart. Maybe it appeals to me because sometimes I feel like we’re living in the Weimar Republic. The performances are terrific. I've been rewatching NYPD Blue, the first two seasons of that. I don’t know that you get any better TV. But there’s so much good television. It’s crazy. I got hooked on Broadchurch last summer. My wife and I were binging Broadchurch and Happy Valley. My other favorite series this year is Derry Girls, which makes me laugh out loud and I thought was very smart. GLOW is about women wrestlers. I couldn’t think of a topic I’d be less interested in, except it’s really good."

BOOKS

"Oh my gosh. so so many," says Winslow. "Jim Harrison’s Brown Dog, I adore. [But] I think long books, right? If you’re going to be quarantined or social distanced. War and Peace. Middlemarch. Anna Karenina."

For the latest information on coronavirus (COVID-19), including how to protect yourself and what to do if you think you are sick, please visit coronavirus.gov.

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