Pundits, Poets, and Wits: An Omnibus of American Newspaper Columns - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195060636 ISBN 13: 9780195060638

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1990

Synopsis

Gilbert Seldes once called the newspaper column the most sophisticated of the popular American arts. It is that and more. It is a raft-ride through the white water of American opinion and thought. It is Mark Twain and Ring Lardner, Will Rogers and H.L. Mencken, Walter Lippmann and Joseph Alsop, Russell Baker and Calvin Trillin. It is nothing less than the American voice fortissimo--often blunt, occasionally eloquent, always opinionated, inspiring, infuriating, delightful.
In this wonderfully diverse anthology, New York Times editorial writer Karl Meyer brings together 72 of America's finest columnists, the first such collection ever published. The range of voices is remarkable, stretching from Ben Franklin (who, as Silence Dogood, castigates the evils of demon rum) to Anna Quindlen (who writes on the travails of being pregnant in New York City). H.L. Mencken lambasts Truman's 1948 presidential campaign as "unhampered by anything resembling a coherent body of ideas." Mary McGrory describes sitting in Judge Sirica's courtroom as the Watergate tapes are played on the "little Sony": how Haldeman slumps in his chair, how Mitchell turns faintly pink. Milt Gross renders a demented comic version of Pocohantas and Keptain John Smeet in American Yiddish dialect ("Hends opp!--odder we'll cot you off de scallop wid a tommyhuck!"). Heywood Broun offers a tongue-in-cheek explanation of "How I Became a Red." And I. F. Stone assails our collective guilt in Kennedy's assassination ("We all favor murder, when it reaches our own hated opponents").
To read these columns is to walk through American history and savor the views of some of our finest commentators, declaiming on everything from freedom of the press to yesterday's double-header.

About this title

About the Author

About the Editor:
Karl E. Meyer, a member of The New York Times editorial board, is a Wisconsin-born third-generation journalist. He cubbed for The Milwaukee Journal and was an editorial writer and foreign correspondent for The Washington Post before joining The Times in 1979. His previous books include The Plundered Past, The Pleasures of Archaeology, The Art Museum, and The Cuban Invasion (with Tad Szulc).

Review

"Here's a glittering grab bag of prime prose, a cornucopia of columns, produced and printed in America, from Ben Franklin and Tom Paine right up to George Will, Mike Royko, and Miss Manners....A reviewer burns with a low steady fever trying to decide what examples to select from an
embarrassment of riches....This is a long-needed collection of splendid writing. there's even an appendix with capsule bios of the columnists who didn't make the editor's cut but earn his mea culpa for leaving them out....Every reader should thank Meyer for collecting and preserving so many of
these marvelous pieces. This book is a keeper"--Washington Journalism Review

"This is a book with a large common denominator of interest: It has something for everybody....The book has no serious rival and is an indispensable single source for the study of newspaper column writing in America"--Library Journal

"A classic text for years to come....An irresistibly oddball history of American life."--Washington Post Book World

"Here's a glittering grab bag of prime prose, a cornucopia of columns, produced and printed in America, from Ben Franklin and Tom Paine right up to George Will, Mike Royko, and Miss Manners....A reviewer burns with a low steady fever trying to decide what examples to select from an
embarrassment of riches....This is a long-needed collection of splendid writing. there's even an appendix with capsule bios of the columnists who didn't make the editor's cut but earn his mea culpa for leaving them out....Every reader should thank Meyer for collecting and preserving so many of
these marvelous pieces. This book is a keeper"--Washington Journalism Review

"What a wonderful concept; a compilation of columns throughout history. This is a long-overdue idea. The text will prove an invaluable tool and a source for inspiration for my Editorial and Opinion Writing students this spring. My hats off to Mr. Meyer for making my job as a teacher that
much easier. No longer do I have to research and photocopy, or read and clip."--Shawn W. Murphy, Oklahoma Panhandle State University

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0195060636
• ISBN 13: 9780195060638
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 500
• Editor: Meyer Karl E.