Movies:
Early work by directors Scorsese, Polanski and Tarantino, David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Stanley Kubrick, Francis Coppola, Coen Brothers ('No Country for Old Men' is their best since 'Fargo'), Wes Anderson, anything by Michael Mann. The screenplays of David Mamet, the beautiful cinematography of Vittorio Storaro.
Books:
'A Soldier of the Great War' by Mark Helprin, 'Manufacturing Consent' by Noam Chomsky, 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu, 'A People's History of the United States' by Howard Zinn, 'The 9/11 Commission Report,' 'The Accidental Tourist' by Anne Tyler, 'Misery' by Stephen King, 'Women' by Charles Bukowski, "The Uncanny" Essay by Sigmund Freud, 'Tales' by E.T.A. Hoffman, 'Heart of Darkness' by Joseph Conrad, 'Casino' and 'Wiseguy' by Nicholas Pileggi, 'Barbarians at the Gate' by Brian Burrough, 'Presumed Innocent' by Scott Turow 'A Clockwork Orange' by Anthony Burgess, 'Fight Club' by Chuck Palahniuk, 'The Structure of Magic' by Richard Bandler and John Grinder
Heroes:
Thomas Jefferson, Anne Frank, Benazir Bhutto, Adam Smith, Michael Milken, Eliot Spitzer, Ronald Reagon, Anwar Sadat and Yitzak Rabin.