To get a picture of what a great writer Michael Lewis is, consider this.
"Outliers" and "David and Goliath" author Malcolm Gladwell says that Lewis is his literary "hero" and "the finest storyteller of our generation."
Gladwell maintains that Lewis' football book "The Blind Side" is as "close to perfect" as any work of nonfiction can aspire to be.
So it's no surprise that his books "Moneyball,""Flash Boys," and "The Big Short" have all become bestsellers.
From where does Lewis — whose pen can shake Wall Street— draw inspiration?
Here's what we found after digging into a decade's worth of interviews with him.
'Charlotte's Web' by E. B. White
The last book that made Lewis cry?
"Charlotte's Web," he said.
We can see why: E. B. White's barnyard parable has a way of tugging on your heartstrings.
Wilbur, the main character and a pig, might be one of the finest antiheroes in literary history.
Fair warning for when you read it the first time: You may wish to pick up a tissue.
'Reminiscences of a Stock Operator' by Edwin Lefèvre
Lewis wrote an incredible finance tell-all with "Liar's Poker."
He was following in the tradition of "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator," a book that follows the life of Jesse Livermore, a specular who bet against the US stock market before the great 1929 crash.
"That something first published in 1923 remains so relevant and readable tells you how little Wall Street has changed in the last century," Lewis said. "(By contrast, it's hard to imagine a book from even 30 years earlier feeling so fresh.) It's crammed with truth about market life: 'Nobody can make big money on what someone else tells him to do.'"
'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' by Mark Twain
The first time Lewis was supposed to read "Huckleberry Finn," he shirked the responsibility.
"I remember being made to read it in middle school and so opting for the CliffsNotes instead,"he told the Daily Beast. "I picked it up more or less voluntarily in college and could not believe how much better it was than the CliffsNotes. The rendering of the various dialects is one of those remarkable literary feats that writers not named Tom Wolfe should avoid attempting at home."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider