Newspapers Books

from the very first opening of the cover you know its gonna be a high-classmagazine cover book. It features new artists, and old, with very rich photos and informative captions on many. Very rich color, so rich you forget you're looking at a book on magazine covers. Features Trent Reznor, Marilyn Manson, Green Day, Hole, Nirvana, the Wallflowers (hense the back) and more for those who like the artists. Others such as Elvis, Madonna, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan (hense the cover) and Sharon Stone, exploring all the intimate stories behind some of the MOST famous covers. Documents every, or almost every cover in the history of the infamous Rolling Stone Magazine in their run. An essential for cultural info buffs and makes a nice present.

Seeing many of the covers again (I was a subscriber in the seventies) is like going back in time - and seeing many of the covers for the first time makes me wonder why I stopped being a subscriber.
I bought this book after having seen an exhibition of Annie Leibovitz, and to me she is still one of the greatest.

The book is a graphical historical document, showing all the covers from Rolling Stone magazine until the time of its edition. It could be argued that this is nothing more than a marketing gimmick to leverage off the work of photographers of the stature of Annie Leibovitz. But in fact, just like the Rolling Stone magazine has been since its beginning, this is about the history of music since 1967 until 1997. The deaths and triumphs of everyone are in it: Morrison, Hendrix, Lennon, Cobain, alongside Madonna, U2 and all your favorite stars.

The covers of Rolling Stone Magazine have been controversial, memorable and are a marker for musicians that they have made it. Some covers have created a stir such as a teenage Britney Spears posing in a provocative outfit, a topless Janet Jackson with a pair of male hands covering her and the last photograph session of John Lennon in which he is naked on a bed next to a fully clothed Yoko Ono. Most of the covers are simple photographs of everyone from Bob Dylan to Richard Nixon and even Dr. Hook who sang a song called "Cover Of The Rolling Stone", but they are some of the best works by the some of the best photographers in business like Annie Leibovitz and Herb Ritts.

This book is a virtual history of American rock'n'roll. Each cover says something about the times, such as the now rather melancholy shot of Nirvana, form early 1994, on the verge of a huge comeback, just months before Kurt Cobain shot himself, or Annie Leibovitz's moody 1971 study of John Lennon, then deeply into his Working Class Hero phase. Rock'n'roll stars compete for cover space with politicians and film stars, depending upon what the issue or the hot stuff of the day was - Warren Beatty and Jerry Falwell both feature in political and pop-cultural contexts (the shot of Beatty is from 1975, when he was promoting Shampoo, a film set just days before the Kennedy assassination) and the text is sprinkled with plenty of choice quotes form both camps, making this a book to be slowly savoured for its pictorial and historical content time and time again.

I loved Spy. I remember one issue that had autopsy reports on Jim Croce and someone else, in tiny print, in the margins. This was an outstanding magazine, too far ahead of its time to succeed. Hell, it wouldn't succeed now; way too much narcissism today for anyone to find humor in it. This book is a great tribute to a great magazine.

Did anyone ever win the prize for the errors on the cover?

It was really great when one day my wife & I were at the Jersey shore on a rainy summer afternoon and lo & behold what did appear before my very eyes??? SPY: The funny years! I had to flip through this book and see if any of my contributions (although minor) did appear here (I was an intern in the design dept. during the heyday of SPY) WOW! did that book bring back some really great memories for me. I was even impressed by the fact that every person who ever worked there was listed in the book! I was able to use this to have a little fun with my wife, I called her over and said to her "hey babe, look they published my name in this book!" my wife not realizing I was serious replied "oh wow! Theres a guy with the exact same name as yours!" I laughed and explained that it was really me and told her all about my long internship at SPY. I really miss my friends from SPY and was really saddened to hear about B.W. Honeycutt whom I worked for and held a great respect & admiration (he passed in 1994) but I think I will have to look up a few of my old aquaintances and see "where are they now?"

If you ever read one or more of the great ol' Spy magazines - and miss them passionately - like me . . . getting, perusing & drooling delightfully over this book is a gotta! It's a tasty treat!

How glorious to revisit the magnificent "Checks to Cheapskates" caper! Whereby Spy sent checks for 13 cents to Adnan Koshoggi and Donald Trump, who cashed them. (Cher, Bill Blass, Faye Dunaway, Rupert Murdoch, Mort Zuckerman and others cashed $1.11 checks.)

Most huge fans of Spy will want more reprints of classic articles (and in bigger, more readable type) than appear here. Still, it's wonderful to revisit the definitive article, "It's Yuppie Porn, and we can't help ourselves," as well as pieces on washed-up celebrities after-hours wanderings through the Big Apple, "Separated at Birth," "Logrolling in our Time," "Blurb-o-Matic" and "Celebrity Math."

We also have oddball gems such as "Meet the Nobelists: This month's question: What's the best way to eat an Oreo cookie?"

"Spy: The Funny Years" is a 50-50 split between being a narrative about the founding and history of the 1980s' funniest magazine and excerpts from the more infamous articles.

This book will leave you wanting to rush to eBay for some back issues, or wanting to beg Miramax, the publisher of "The Funny Years," to also bring out a "Best of Spy" compilation of the original articles.

I found myself enjoying the narrative of how Spy came to be, a narrative which may create envy in many a journalist in the stuffy mainstream media, reading about the vastly underpaid minions working at Spy to create its hilarious, information-rich visuals that presaged the Web. Spy also presaged "South Park's" evisceration of pompous celebrities (and Saturday Night Live's "Hollywood Minute").

Spy's founders managed to create articles that were hilarious, visually inspired, tough yet accurate, requiring top-notch lawyering. Will we ever see something comparable for our era?

I thoroughly enjoyed this magazine when it was published. I assumed I would enjoy this book! No. I expected a recap of witty stories, fun articles, and the mirth and humor I used to enjoy.
This book is primarily behind the scenes information. I really was not interested in the goings on of people I did not know, and do not care to meet. I suppose if you were a fanatic 'Spy' fan this book might be for you.
On the plus side, it looks nice in it's hardbound cover.

Sound, practical advice on the basics of getting syndicated. Especially useful for people who have no clue where to even begin.

Of the three books I have on newspaper syndication this is the most useful. However much content is dated.

John Culleton
Columnist, Carroll County Times & Eldersburg Eagle.

This is such a great book that I hate myself for recommending it, it provides so much insight into the world of syndication that it's the best book anyone interested in getting their material, cartoons or writting, can read.

It's not a get-rich-fast kind of book, actually is totally the opposite, it shows with cruel honestly the difficulties of getting your work syndicated, but also gives you great advice on how to conduct your "syndication business", yes, the best you will get out of this book is the understanding that Syndication is not about beauty, great art, funny punch lines, metric, grammar or anything but BUSINESS!!

A real nuts and bolts book. This engaging, well written book tells the real story of the hard work involved in syndication.

While it lays out the challenges point blank, solutions and encouragement are there as the antidote.

I read the book in two days gaining information which I put into practice. This book is worth the money to anyone who is serious about syndicating. And for the less serious, it offers plenty of information to aid in the "syndication" decision: "Am I nuts enough to go for it, or should I bolt."

If you're serious about becoming a syndicated columnist or cartoonist, this book is for you. Sedge describes the process you will have to go through to make a professional submission. There are sample contracts and practical pieces of advice from professionals in the field.

In addition, Sedge provides resources in the form of various syndicates, both large and small, which could start someone on the path to syndication.

What I liked most about this book was that Sedge did not sugar-coat what syndication is like. Rejection is the norm, there are deadlines, and you have to be dedicated and prepared to put a lot of time and effort into your work. There is also a section on self-syndication for those bold enough to go it alone.

While time constraints and obligations do not allow me to be a full time syndicated writer, this book gave me my start and a good foundation. As a result, I have been published on opinioneditorials.com, Pakistan Today, Middle East News Online and the Los Angeles Times. Dreams do come true! This book will help.

I HAVE ALL THE SERIES TO DATE... I REALLY DIDNT ENJOY THIS ONE AS MUCH AS I HAVE PREVIOUS ONES... HOPE NEXT ONE IS BETTER... SOMETHING LACKING IN THIS MYSTERY...UNSURE IF IT DRAGGED ON OR CAME TO A ONE PAGE ENDING THAT LACKED A PUNCH...

An obituary is received at the office of The Alpine Advocate, weekly newspaper in Alpine, Washington, of resident Elmer Nystrom. When Emma Lord, publisher, and Vida Runkel, House and Home editor, go to call on Elmer's wife, she tells them he's alive and well. When they go out to the henhouse to talk to him, they find his dead body lying on the floor half covered with straw. It is soon discovered that he was murdered. Strangest part was that his obituary was mailed before he died. It appears Elmer was well liked, although that can't be said of his wife or his son, the new orthodontist in town.

Sheriff Milo Dodge ends up in the hospital. So Emma and Vida strive to find out who killed Elmer and why. As they start investigating, they uncover a few suspects and motives. Since Elmer was killed, there has to be at least one person out there who didn't like him. Can Emma and Vida uncover the identity of that person without putting themselves in danger?

I really enjoy this series. This was one of my favorite books in this series. I always enjoy when Emma and Vida work together to uncover the killer. I love the setting of these books. I'm originally from Washington State and recognize many of the landmarks listed. I love Emma and her family. I always enjoy her interactions with her staff as well as the sheriff. I highly recommend this book and series.

Don't read this as your first Alpine mystery. To enjoy it you need to know and care about Emma Lord and her fellow Alpine townsfolk. There's not much mystery here, or plot. It's more about human foibles than murder. I enjoyed it, but it's not the best of the series.

It's amazing how enjoyable this series has stayed for all these years, unlike the author's B&B series.

This installment did seem a bit discombobulated after all was said and done. The ending absolutely left me scratching my head. It was somewhat disappointing after investing so much in the rest of the story.

As usual, the one downfall of this series remains the character Vida, who's become so over the top that she's unbearable. Otherwise, one of the best parts of this series remains the fact that not only are the other major characters interesting, but so are the minor characters we've gotten to know over the years.

If you like Murder She Wrote you will love this mystery set in the Cascade Mountains of Washington.

this is a great book for anyone who wants to write articles! it is clear and to the point and was very easy to read, My copy is highlighted and dog eared every page was valuable!

Of limited value. If you're a prospective, current or recent journalism student, you'll find little here that isn't covered in course lectures, labs and texts. If you're an aspiring nonfiction writer who intends to circumvent J-school en route to publication, you readily can obtain volumes of superior writing examples and more insightful commentary.

Most of Sova's instruction is sound. It often smacks of immaturity in terms of on-the-ground journalism and writing savvy, however. Some of her "bad" writing examples are construed. Some of the "good" passages are marred by editorializing, journalese and an amateurish approach. Campus-related events or angles provide the bulk of her writing samples and ideas, raising questions about the breadth of her reporting experience. (Possibly it means she wrote the book specifically for college students. If so, the publisher should have indicated that on the cover; I see no such hint.)

I just finished reading this book about a week ago. It's a fast read packed with a lot of helpful info for any freelance writer who wants to write for magazines or newspapers. I buy a lot of books on freelance writing, and this one is one of the better ones I've read.

This book isn't terrible, but it's hardly authoritative. It's a straight rehashing of the basics of newswriting, no doubt taken mostly from journalism textbooks. The advice isn't bad, but it's given with little flair, and the writing examples (from the author's own clips) are dull and uninspiring.

It's like an extended high school report -- the author is obviously not an expert on the subject, and she pieced together information from better books to make this one. But even on those terms, the book doesn't succeed, because the advice is spotty and unconvincing.

Though this is hardly a definitive source for article writing, HOW TO WRITE ARTICLES FOR NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES by Dawn Sova is certainly a worthy introduction to the craft. IN less than 100 pages, Sova presents a fast paced guide taking the reader from start to finish. Along the way, the perspective writer will find such information as a sample query letter, constructing an effective lead and even grammatical advice.

This brief introduction is well written and easy to understand. It contains practical advice that will surely help aspiring writers. Short on depth, but that is to be expected from such a small introduction. The back cover states the book is "perfect for amateurs and seasoned professionals" but I believe seasoned professionals might find it a bit too basic.

Very funny. I love how Wodehouse uses language. If you like that sort of thing and you haven't read Wodehouse before, shame on you. If you do and you've read other Wodehouse books, well, it's like that.

I ordered this book along with another one(PG Wodehouse's - forgot the name). It was meant to be a gift, so i needed it within 5 days or so, i paid additional shipping charges for it. 3 days later , i get an e-mail saying "item will be shipped when available". What the heck ? I ordered that particular book only because i got an e-mail from amazon recommending the book. I called up the customer service, they seem to have no clue. So I had to cancel my order, purchase ot from another website(way more reliable)

This is the last time i am buying directly from amazon. Even if I use amazon, i am going through a local seller.

Readers of Psmith's previous adventures (Mike and Psmith, Psmith in the City) will appreciate Psmith's adventures in darkest New York. Wodehouse limbers up his dese, dems, and doses as he introduces us to "Bat" Jarvis and his gang of lowlifes, with whom Psmith interacts in an amusing manner-- even, at times, becoming strenuous in his defense of justice and his own corpus! Psmith bonking miscreants over the head with a stick? Yes! Psmith disarming pistol-wielding evil-doers? Yes! And along the way, much of the artful and absurdly witty banter that Psmith and Wodehouse specialize in is served up in heaping dollops. Enjoy!

This isn't Wodehouse's funniest novel, but it is definitely the most exciting, with a more dramatic plot than usual. Psmith takes on a crooked slum landlord, hounding him through the pages of 'Cosy moments' a bland family paper that he has transformed with the help of assistant editor Billy Windsor. Psmith is a wonderful character, languid, frivolous and comic on the surface, tough man of action underneath, a modern Pimpernell. there are some wonderful comic characters, especially Bat Jarvis, the tough gangland boss with a passion for cats. I wish Wodehouse had written more about Psmith, he could have been the hero of a whole series of thrillers, with Mike Jackson as his stalwart sidekick. Instead Wodehouse married him off in the next Psmith novel (Leave It To Psmith) and we hear no more of him, what a pity!

Maybe I've had an overdose of Wodehouse lately, having read Piccadilly Jim, Biffen's Millions, Plum Pie, and this book practically in a row, but I was simply not entertained by Psmith Journalist at all.

Perhaps it was Jonathan Cecil's reading (and I know that had a lot to do with it). His characterizations are indistinguishable and his attempt at an American accent is laughable (if you have heard any Monty Python, you'll recognize it).

But I think that could have been overlooked (or overlistened?) if the story had grabbed me. It seemed to be about Psmith taking over a New York rag and making it into a scandal sheet, involving a boxer somewhere along the way, but I can't be sure. I just didn't care, and I found nothing funny at all.

There is nothing to offer the casual Wodehouse fan in this novel. However, I will read his work again, as he has so much to offer in other books.

But I really think it's mainly Jonathan Cecil's fault.

The USA should discover Phryne Fisher. These books are fun! Kerry Greenwood has created a character all women will love - 1920's modern, stylish, independent. Phryne travels through life solving peoples problems, and collecting a wonderful cast of friends. Traveling with Phryne (always first class and in the latest fashions) is a rich adventure.

Kerry Greenwood manages a nice line in self-deprecating humour in this

one, having Phryne go to bed with a murder mystery only to discard it

"having guessed whodunnit by Chapter Three".


Either that or it's unintended irony!


No mystery at all to whodunnit as far as the murder at the eponymous

docks, and none intended, and the minor mystery of the missing girl was

just an excuse for some chick lit melodrama with hidden diaries, incest

etc.


I'm increasingly of the view these are not meant to be bona fide mystery

novels, but heaps of Aussies keep buying them (a baker's dozen of Phryne

Fisher novels alone) so they must be popular with fans of other genres

(and mostly sheilas, I reckon).


This bloke is bowing out at #4.

I want to give it 3.7 stars. I normally give all Phryne Fisher Mysteries 4 stars but this one had too much politics for me. I realize that I should appreciate being educated but really, I just want to relax and read when I pick up one of these books. Maybe I'm being too harsh. There were a lot of great action in this one. It wasn't one of the best but certainly worth reading.

Death at Victoria Dock was a quick read and a nice bit of escapist fun. Phryne Fisher is beautiful, rich, quick-witted, brave, and irreverent, and lives in 1920's Australia. In this tale, she's drawn into anarchist circles by driving down the wrong road at the wrong time. Shots hit her car, and when she stops she sees two men fleeing the scene, and a wounded young man lying in the road, who bleeds his last into her silk shirt.

Not one to suffer indignities gladly, Fisher sets out to avenge her ruined possessions and the death of a beautiful young man. This leads her to the morgue, a tattoo parlor, dubious pubs and parties, and satisfying bedroom encounters with a mysterious Latvian. Along the way she takes, and solves, the case of a missing schoolgirl. And she tries to convince the police to head off a deadly bank robbery being planned by some anarchists who have obtained a machine gun.

Greenwood populates Fisher's world with nicely assorted characters, and keeps the plot(s) moving nicely.

This was the first Phryne Fisher book I've read. The book jacket flap says that there are lots more books in the series, and I'm off to the public library in search of them.

This fourth book in the Honorable Phryne Fisher mystery series begins when Phryne's beloved Hispano-Suiza's windshield is shot out and a young man dies in her arms while bloodying her divine ensemble. With his last breath he utters words that lead Phryne into a nest of communist anarchists with nefarious and dangerous plans. Then Phryne gets hired by a worried father with deep family secrets to locate his missing daughter. This installment of the series wasn't as light and easy to read as the previous ones. I enjoyed the wider cast of characters that were drawn into the plot, many returning characters from the previous books. This makes for a fun read even though the plot didn't quite entertain me as much as the previous books did. However, there were moments of burst-out-laughter from the wonderful use of language and descriptions. I would recommend this book highly.

I was first introduced to the musings of the late, great Lewis Grizzard in 1988, when I was a freshman at college. I noticed even my Dad would split his sides reading Grizzard's latest commentary, so I became a fan. Then my best friend was given one of his comedy tapes, and I was hooked.

So in the summer of 1993, I moved to Little Rock, and while waiting for cable to be installed, I needed a hobby. Reading books from the base library sounded good to me, so I picked up and ran through several of Grizzard's tomes while my wife enjoyed her new favorite author, John Grisham.

I liked all of the other books, but the first time I read this one, I really hated it. It didn't seem funny, the type was small, and it seemed a third-person biography that nobody could care about other than Grizzard himself. I liked the beginning, but it didn't do much for me.

It all changed when I read the final chapters and the sad saga of Lewis versus Lacey J. Banks, a sportswriter for the Chicago Sun-Times who also happened to be black and whom Grizzard suspended for insubordination when he was the sports editor. The story was tragic, something even Grizzard acknowledged in the years he had matured, and he even took the blame for some of what happened.

Yet if you've read Grizzard's books - as opposed to some of the later ones where they just put out a bunch of his columns - you notice that he references things he discussed earlier in the book. So when the Banks case told of an earlier court appearance, I realized I had to go back and read the entire thing to understand what Grizzard was saying.

I did, and I laughed out loud hysterical a number of times.

I wanted to be a journalist when I was in high school, but a talent show victory in music and a momentary lapse of reason (with apologies to Pink Floyd) put me in the Music department. Grizzard told stories of the strange people who work - or more precisely used to work - in newspaper publishing houses.

The book, originally released in 1990, is somewhat dated. Lewis died before the Internet made every half-baked nitwit with a computer a political advisor, and I wonder how he would have adjusted. But the story had a lot of laughs, regrets, tears (particularly over his divorces), and a touching end.

Perhaps I perceive it different than other readers. In 1975, I moved to England with my family for three years. When we returned in 1978, we arrived in Atlanta, Georgia just as the sun was going down. Grizzard wrote about being rehired at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution by Jim Minter, the guy who had originally hired him in 1968 upon his graduation from Georgia. It was freedom and a return to the South for a man who had spent three winters in Chicago and bailed out in the spring of the same year I returned, 1978. Thus, the book spoke to me on a different level than most people because I appreciated what it was like to return back home to the native South.

Grizzard did, in many ways, lead a charmed life that he probably didn't appreciate until this book (as the book makes clear). He had a faulty heart valve problem, discussed in many of his books, that kept him out of the social experiment of his youth, the Vietnam War. He got a big break when Ed Thelenius, the sports announcer for Bulldog Football, offered him a job as a spotter his freshman year. And he was in Atlanta when Hank Aaron thumped home run number 715, a story told in this book about how he put together the paper that evening and worked 23 straight hours with a first-day intern.

The problem with the book is this: unless you already adore Grizzard, you are not going to like it. It's just that simple. It is actually a well-written chronology, complete with his smart aleck remarks and comebacks as well as his self-deprecating humor. But it is a major drawback: unless you are already familiar with a few of the stories, it is simply not going to be a good read.

For Lewis Grizzard fans only.

The titles of Grizzard's books are the most funny part of them. He talks in this book how he always concentrated on having a zippy title for his content so that the reader would want to read on. This book is his life story in the newspapers and when he was growing up. I get the impression he is a anti-intellectual common man who loved his sports, tabloid people stories, pretty ladies, beer, cigarettes, and the Elvis diet. And he especially loved newspapers. His story is not all comedy and he has many stories of his news buddies dying an untimely death. I will say that's probably due to the long hours, low pay, divorces, newsroom stress, beer, cigarettes, traditional southern diet, and lack of sleep. But no matter, these quirky characters loved the newspapers also, so they lived a good short life.

Grizzard even went up north to Chicago in a management position for one of its papers. It was folly though. He should have remembered that southerners don't like the north and vice-versa. He didn't like the two seasons of weather, "winter and the fourth of July", as he puts it. And he couldn't get any grits or pork barbeque. He alsos had trouble with an affirmative action hire that played the race card when he got fired for being a terrible writer and columnist who wouldn't listen to advice. There was a lawsuit and Grizzard was tarred as a racist from the south. The plaintiff won and was back in the newsroom again, although Grizzard appears to be a fair-minded, but naïve man who just wants a quality paper put out. He does make a lot of sarcastic comments about political correctness. Ironically, it was political correctness that helped win the suit against him.

Grizzard enjoyed the first part of his career most when he worked for a new newspaper that was competing with a really bad local one in Athens, Georgia. He liked the competition of getting a scoop before the other paper did and the tabloid people stories, such as a woman getting her pet chicken stuck up in a tree. Grizzard loved the local news and didn't really care about "riots in South Yemen", as he put it. He also did a story on a police chief who threaten him with violence when he asked him about speed traps in a small community. The extent of the story was that one question and reaction, but it got the chief fired--mission accomplished. To be a good newsman, it helps if you like making a nuisance of yourself.

But that paper got bought out by the rival, and it was on to the Atlanta Journal and then the Constitution. He met one of his heroes and then after getting to know him, found out that he was the tyrant of news room, always ready to blame others for supposed mistakes in the sports section. Grizzard also had trouble with the printer's union that often gave some workers an uncooperative attitude towards getting things done before the dead line. He even had someone called the Reverend, a printer who started speaking in tongues right before a deadline. This event made the paper go over the deadline. One guy died in the ever stressful printing/composing room where everyone is screaming at each other to get the paper out on time. They put his obit in second edition and carried on. After reading through it, I thought that a normal person would be disappointed about being a journalist, but no matter to Grizzard, he still loved newspapers.

This is a good book for finding out how journalism worked during the sixties and seventies. It's got some chuckles throughout, although nothing as roll-on-the-floor funny as "The Dog that Bit People" by James Thurber or as good a style as Class by Paul Fussell, those other famous satirists. Grizzard seems to make some errors in logic in the book; must have been the beer.

This book was spectacular. Not only did you get to see how he adjusted from college to the workforce in journalism, but you also got to see some of the shortcomings in his life. I read this book while I was in high school and it was one of the things that prompted me to study communications in college. Thanks for the encouragement, Lewis. Rest in peace.

I love Lewis Grizzard's humor, but most of the time, I found him more heartwarming when he wasn't trying to be funny. That is why I have read this book many more times than any other Grizzard novel. Don't overlook this jem just because it wasn't labeled as funny as say 'Elvis is dead...'.
This book is all about the newspaper trade. It tells us of Lewis growing up trying to break into the newspaper game, all the way to his life as a humorist weekly writer in Georgia. It's a quick, funny, informative book I have re-read many times.
I go back and forth on which is a better book about growing up in the news business, this one or Charles Kuralt's book 'A life on the road'.

IMO, this is one of Lewis's best works. It is not a collection of columns as many of his books were, but an autobiographical account of his career as a journalist, spanning from his days at the University of Georgia and working for the Athens newspaper to his brief career in Chicago to his eventual, grateful return to Atlanta.

Inspiring, thoughtful, and downright funny at the same time (the scene with one of Lewis's editors planning coverage of the Second Coming is a riot), If I Ever Get Back to Georgia would make a great gift for any college student aspiring to break into newspapers. What better way to be inspired than to read one of the great Southern humorists!

This book begins from a very demure and subdued persepective then slowly lashes out with the meticulous research on the part of the authors.

You WILL see a pattern of a co-opted agenda at the New York Times foreign policy desk, but the book refuses to go the extra mile and portray the deeper journalistic and personal conflicts of the offending reporters.

While the book avoids mudslinging about the Times' new questionable real estate acquistions, it also avoids impugning the paper too much. For example, where the author could have and SHOULD have come down hard on the felonious misinformation of Mr. Chalabi, it did not. When it could have covered the greater implications of Iraq or Vietnam and cleared up chronic misconceptions about both conflicts, it failed to and only waved the ideologies of the authors.

If you're a straight shooter, you probably won't like the almost childish way that the authors try to suddenly hammer their point in half a page after subtly pushing it, as if they were unsure of their work. Also, the book's starting point that the New York Times has committed egregious errors while admitting that only the Times is targeted because of its stature in the nation and in the hearts of the authors makes them sound like fans who have been betrayed than sophisticated experts.

All in all, the research itself is among the most extensive on the technical level and will be referenced for years if not decades by ideologues and political analysts alike. The chapter about the recent events in Venezuela is an astounding touch and is actually the highlight of effective research and the government's doublethink tendencies. If you're remotely interested in world events, journalism, or just truth as a whole, try to read at least half of this book. It may take some time, but you'll like it.

If you are a "red stater" you will not like this book.

Not much to argue with, if you are a fan of America-bashing and Israel-bashing dressed up as a criticism of the NewYork Times. Howard Friel is a hardcore leftwing dogmatist who does not hesitate to lie, freely, to advance his cause, and this book is a desperate attempt to shore up his cause: ostensibly, that the NYT is a puppet of the evil American-Jewish axis. He also supported North Vietnam against the US and objected to the first GulfWar.

If you take your hate-filled leftism straight, this book is for you. P.E.S.T. sufferers should take this book in moderation, as it will excite unnatural impulses.

I just heard the author, Mr. Friel being grilled and cross-examined by Mr. 'Kenny Boy' Adelman{Reagan-Bush} Hawk on C-Span 2. *Mr. Adelman continually badgered & baited Howard Friel, interupted him, belittled him; there was obvious tampering with the audio(Mr. Friel's mic) esp when he would try to respond to Adelman's condescending, inflamatory tone.
This book has obviously hit a raw nerve with the powerful Jewish lobby within our Gov't. Esp the Neo-con's(Zionists) who propagated this faux war for Israel, control of M.E., and oil. No other ally has the influence and financial sway of AIPAC, ADL, Z.O.A.--that's OK--until the 'dumb unsuspecting masses(gentiles) are fighting and dying for poor Israel's defense. But--will this escalation in killing of innocents truly bring peace? Hell No!! The 'Project For A New American Century'..written by Neo-Con's--.calls for the germination of further regime changing conflicts in M.E.,Iran, Syria, Yemen,etc. Many from left & right, have finally begun speaking out about this insane foreign policy, to eliminate Israel's enemies. Fortunately, the Likudniks & Sharon have been failing miserably, along with their puppets Blair & Bush. Imagine that, 2 Anglo's at Sharon's mercy? Brent Scowcroft, Pat Buchanan, Howard Dean, Ralph Nader,have all spoken out regarding the mysterious inside work of Wolfowitz, kagan, Perle,etc.,etc. Clinton, Albright almost fell hard for the 'LiberAL'-vers. Neo-Con's idea of invading Iraq in 98. They were booed off the stage at OSU,(Col.,OH.); upon their revelation of how we had to take 'our' boy Hussein out. The college kids proved they were much better informed than the stupid-sleeping masses, who have been brainwashed by the Corp controlled media.(NYTIMES,etc.}. Bill Cohen, and Sandy Berger, all Jewish by the way, were laughed off the stage--and Clinton quickly dropped the plan; only after talking to Marc Rich,(Rem.last scandalous pardon); Rich has been proven to be an inside MOSSAD agent. Don't take my word for it, look it up. Nuthin's what it seems in all of this. Many things we cannot see are there. But--Iraq was no clear & present danger' to us. So why are we killing their innocent men, women & children?

The New York Times has for the last 50 years refused to consider international law as relevant to US foreign policy. This outstanding book shows how this failure has distorted the Times' news and views and led to regular acceptance of the US state's deceptions.

The authors show how the Times has consistently echoed the US government. For example, it ignored the 1954 Geneva peace accords, reported as fact President Johnson's lies about Vietnamese aggression in the Tonkin Gulf in 1964, backed the illegal US interference in Nicaragua, misreported the 1986 World Court's condemnation of this interference, and denied the US role in the coup attempts against Venezuela's elected President.
Recently, the Times endorsed the illegal Bush/Blair aggression against Iraq, a violation of the UN Charter, which prohibits the use of force. In its 70 editorials on Iraq between 11 September 2001 and 21 March 2003, it never mentioned the UN Charter or international law.
The Times presented Iraqi possession of WMD as fact, ignoring the IAEA's 60 reports showing it had destroyed Iraq's nuclear programme. The Times also ignored the UNMOVIC and IAEA reports that they had inspected eight of the nine suspected WMD sites listed in Blair's September 2002 dossier, and found no evidence of WMD. The Times failed to note that possession of WMD, even if proven, is not a casus belli.

The illegal invasion of Iraq led inevitably to all the other illegalities, the illegal occupation, the killing of more than 100,000 civilians, the illegal detention of 40,000 Iraqis, the systematic abuse and atrocities, the destruction of 70% of Fallujah's homes.

The authors point out that torture thrives where detainees are illegally held in secret without charge or trial, that is, kidnapped. This crime by the US and British leaders led inevitably to breaches of the US Constitution, which forbids cruel and unusual punishment, and of the Geneva Conventions and the 1984 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

I've always tended to trust the New York Times, and I know many other people have as well. It's just always been around, giving us "all the news that's fit to print". It's reliable. But that's why The Record of the Paper is so important. Everyone takes the Times' trustworthiness for granted, but it isn't as trustworthy as we think it is.

I don't know how likely the Times is to change its reporting to include international law, as Friel and Falk request, and so it is important for people to read this book, so that if they are being misinformed about vital issues, at leas they will know it what ways the information is skewed. The book also explains international law in a way that is clear and easy to understand.

Daniel Akst bases "Webster Chronicle" on the true stories of the big Satanic hysteria in the 1980s involving daycare. It was a scare that ruined many lives. Akst makes uses a fictionized town, when a real place would have been more effective since satanic scares really did happen in the 1980s, even in Massachusetts. Good characters who are appriopriately flawed, and there is doubt in the beginning, but we learn that innocent gestures are turned into dark and sinister "conspiracies" by adults who have their own agendas. Good, haunting reading

In just his second novel, Daniel Akst has certainly grasped a level of cynicism that nearly overshadows a brilliant book about the loss of innocence in small-town America.

Akst's The Webster Chronicle captures a town in termoil after an allegation of spanking at a local day care evolves into a national drama with the town's newspaper editor at the center of it all.

Akst weaves the plot and characters so deftly as to marvel at his level of craftsmanship. But in the midst of a thought-provoking tale, he defaces any and all societal institutions, including a tabloid media, religion, government, the justice system and corporate America, which leaves the reader with a sour taste.

With so many integral parts to the puzzle, the message is so muddled and gets lost in a maze that eventually reaches a lousy ending in the final two pages.

While Terry Mathers, Akst's complex and pot-smoking protagonist, eventually reaches an obvious epiphany, the fate Akst's creates for him is so far from what anyone might expect, particulary his final career and relationship destinations. Mathers, like his father and his wife, end the novel with no redeeming qualities.

But that is Akst's ultimate goal and message. In a complex and inter-connected world, nothing and no one are as innocent as they appear.

Daniel Akst takes his readers into the small town of Webster, where Terry Mathers and his estranged wife Abigail run the weekly newspaper, The Webster Chronicle, in a time of change. The local department store is embroiled in a takeover bid that threatens the downtown as Webster knows it (no matter that most people shop at the mall), and the Alphabet Soup preschool is so popular that they admit children on a competitive basis (even though it is used primarily for day-care and not academic enrichment.) Single parenthood is on the rise. In this environment, the stage is set for an unknowning reenactment of the Salem witch trials: a drunken, bereaved mother shouts out a single, misunderstood accusation, and the town is forever changed by hysteria.

Akst is best here when he explores Webster through the eyes of Terry Mathers, the stuttering, struggling, editor who feels that he will always be living in the shadow of his father, a well-known newscaster. Emily,the owner of the preschool who is accused of child abuse, also has a compelling perspective, but some of the others water down the central thrust of the novel. Akst, in his attempt to fully explore the issues, spreads himself too thin, sometimes glossing over areas he has carefully introduced, other times concentrating on a minor aspect. However, the quality of the writing carries this story through its weaknesses with aplomb.

Although THE WEBSTER CHRONICLE does not have the emotional energy of Akst's debut, ST. BURL'S OBITUARY, it does have the mark of a maturing novelist. Akst is a literary talent to watch.

I recommend this book for readers of literary fiction as well as for those interested in issues of small town America, false memories, child abuse, and mass hysteria.

A thought-provoking tale of America in the 80's. This a rich multi layered tale that careens from child abuse, witchcraft, sexual yearning and the deceptive complexities of life in small town America. Terry Mathers, the flawed everyman "hero" is as richly drawn a personality as those created by Updike, Pynchon and Bellow. Akst expertly juggles many themes, weaving them into into a glittering iridescent fable. I have been of fan of Akst's since his first non-fiction book "Wonder Boy" and this clearly continues the arc of what has already been a compelling body of work. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants to experience one of America's finest young writers.

Worst book I've read all year (this is being written in late November) and strong contender for worst book of the decade. Flat, leaden, dull prose. Cardboard characters with no depth. Silly little trivial asides. No sense whatever of plotting, timing or narrative. The author uses a true story from the pages of the Wall Street Journal as the basis for this book, but does not realize that he still has an obligation to write well and make the characters come alive -- you can't hang your words on an extoskeleton; the book has to have internal structure. The ending is farcial, and the subplot conflict between father and son is a genuine embarassment to read. Avoid at all costs. I want my money back!!