Baltimore

This is not a book, and it certainly doesn't make me eager to visit, but the excellent HBO-series "The Wire" gives one of the most thorough portrayals of a city I have ever seen in fiction.

It is also the best series on tv since, well, probably ever, and it reads like a novel. Like one of those huge 19th century novels by Dickens or Dostoyevsky. Highly recommended!

Just visited Baltimore Inner Harbor (and jingoistic Ft. McHenry) in July. Any mention of The Wire elicits funny comments by the locals ... Naturally not venturing into the projects, I felt completely safe in the city center. In fact, in most US city centers the large number of bored cops milling around (always in packs of four or five) reminds me of former communist states. But if this is necessary to protect tourists, so be it.

The Inner Harbor is nice with a good selection of museums and attractions but is somewhat artificial and too extended (compared eg to Copenhagen's cozy Nyhavn).

I picked up David Simon's earlier book Homicide which is a good read (still around page 150) also playing in Baltimore but it could take place in nearly any other US city.

I think I recall Baltimore being mentioned in The Tipping Point, with reference to policing techniques.

Don't forget The Corner also by David Simon & Ed Burns.
Haven't read it yet, but I remember it got very good reviews back when it was published in hardcover.

I did a tagmash on Baltimore, Fiction -- and came up with a bunch by Anne Tyler, the top three being:

The accidental tourist
Back when we were grownups : a novel
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant

plus:

The Poe Shadow : a novel by Matthew Pearl (historical fiction)

What the Dead Know a mystery by Laura Lippman

When I think of Baltimore, I ususally think of H. L. Mencken. He was kind of a crusty essayist and humorist. And got his start through newspaper work in Baltimore. These are the top six books owned by LTers:

The American language; an inquiry into the development of English in the United States, 199 copies, 1 review
The Vintage Mencken, 175 copies
A Mencken chrestomathy, 155 copies, 3 reviews (a chrestomathy is a selection of literary passages).
In defense of women, 75 copies
Prejudices : a selection, 60 copies
Treatise on the gods, 36 copies, 1 review

Hey, I have a friend who recently moved to Baltimore as a post-doc at Johns Hopkins and was interested in learning more about the city's history. My brief tagmash search of 'baltimore, history' came up with over 170 hits, including the following list below. Are any of these readable introductions to the city's history? Are there others that you would recommend to get a sense of the rise and decline of the city? i'm looking for something middle of the road - not too detailed history, but not a picture/guide book either. I will suggest Homicide and The corner, but also want to find something not entirely focused on the underbelly of the city. Thanks!

baltimore then and now
streetwise baltimore
bygone baltimore
baltimore: when she was what she used to be
baltimore: a not too serious history
the old bay line
baltimore, the building of an american city
from mobtown to charm city
the patapsco: baltimore's river of history
the mechanics of baltimore
baltimore in the eighties and nineties
finding the charm in charm city