One More Time: The Best of Mike Royko - Hardcover

Royko, Mike

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0226730719 ISBN 13: 9780226730714

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 1999

Synopsis

With the incisive pen of a newspaperman and the compassionate soul of a poet, Mike Royko was a Chicago institution who became, in Jimmy Breslin's words, "the best journalist of his time." Culled from 7500 columns and spanning four decades, from his early days to his last dispatch, the writings in this collection reflect a radically changing America as seen by a man whose keen sense of justice and humor never faltered. Faithful readers will find their old favorites and develop new ones, while the uninitiated have the enviable good fortune of experiencing this true American voice for the first time.

"A treasure trove lies between these covers. Royko was in a class by himself. He was a true original."—Ann Landers

"The joy of One More Time is Royko in his own words."—Mary Eileen O'Connell, New York Times Book Review

"Reading a collection of Royko's columns is even more of a pleasure than encountering them one by one, and that is a large remark for he rarely wrote a piece that failed to wake you up with his hard-earned moral wit. Three cheers for Royko!"—Norman Mailer

"Powerful, punchy, amazingly contemporary."—Neil A. Grauer, Cleveland Plain Dealer

"This crackling collection of his own favorite columns as well as those beloved by his fans reminds us just how much we miss the gruff, compassionate voice of Mike Royko."—Jane Sumner, Dallas Morning News

"A marvelous road map through four decades of America."—Elizabeth Taylor, Chicago Tribune Books

"Royko was an expert at finding universal truths in parochial situations, as well as in the larger issues—war and peace, justice and injustice, wealth and poverty—he examined. Think of One More Time as one man's pungent commentary on life in these United States over the last few decades."—Booklist

"Royko was one of the most respected and admired people in the business, by readers and colleagues alike. . . . Savor [his sketches] while you can."—Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World

"Book collections of columns aren't presumed to be worth reading. This one is, whether or not you care about newspapering or Chicago."—Neil Morgan, San Diego Union-Tribune

"A treasure house for journalism students, for would-be writers, for students of writing styles, for people who just like to laugh at the absurdity of the human condition or, as Studs Terkel said, for those who will later seek to learn what it was really like in the 20th century."—Georgie Anne Geyer, Washington Times

"Full of astonishments, and the greatest of these is Royko's technical mastery as a writer."—Hendrik Hertzberg, New Yorker

"A great tribute to an American original, a contrarian blessed with a sense of irony and a way with words."—Bob Minzesheimer, USA Today

"In this posthumous collection of his columns, journalist Royko displays the breezy wit that made him so beloved in the Windy City."—People

About this title

About the Author

Mike Royko (1932–97) worked as a daily columnist for the Chicago Daily News, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Chicago Tribune. His Pulitzer Prize–winning columns were syndicated in more than six hundred newspapers across the country. He is the author of Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago; One More Time: The Best of Mike Royko; For the Love of Mike: More of the Best of Mike Royko; and Early Royko: Up Against It in Chicago, the latter three published by the University of Chicago Press.

From the Back Cover

With the incisive pen of a newspaperman and the compassionate soul of a poet, Mike Royko was a Chicago institution who wrote a daily column for nearly thirty-five years - first for the Chicago Daily News, then the Sun-Times, and finally the Tribune - and his Pulitzer Prize-winning commentary was syndicated in more the 600 newspapers nationwide. Pretension and hypocrisy were his targets, and his well-aimed salvos, delivered with blunt honesty and penetrating wit, won him fans and foes alike. One More Time collects the best of Royko's columns from his long, celebrated career. Culled from 7500 columns and spanning four decades, from his early days to his last dispatch, the writings in this collection reflect a radically changing America as seen by a man whose keen sense of justice and humor never faltered. From the Cold War to the Persian Gulf War, from Richard J. Daley to Richard M. Daley, Royko trained his eye on it all.

Reviews

An insightful, at times amusing walk through America's collective psyche and history by one of this century's most popular newspaper columnists. For nearly 35 years, Royko (Like I Was Sayin' . . ., 1984, etc.) entertained newspaper readers and alternately cajoled and aggravated bureaucrats. By the time the Chicago-based Pulitzer Prizewinning writer died in 1997, his columns were syndicated in more than 600 papers nationwide, and his ``characters'' (convenient pals, such as Slats Grobnik, who acted as literary foils) were fixtures in many Americans' lives. Here his widow and some longtime colleagues have culled 100 of Royko's best from nearly 8,000 columns. They are remarkable on many levels, not least for his ability to churn out five columns weekly (his only real break came after the death of his first wife). Royko also impresses with the breadth of his work. Sometimes he is the outraged muckraker: ``A Faceless Man's Plea'' decries the Veterans Administration for refusing to pay for plastic surgery that would enable a Vietnam veteran to chew food once more. (The VA changed its mind almost within hours of the column appearing in print.) At other times he is the voice of just-plain-folks, questioning exactly why our government is acting in a particular way. Sometimes he's just funny, as in the columns bemoaning his allegedly ugly feet. A gruff, no-holds-barred writer, Royko spoke for the many who are voiceless. Despite his success and the rise of celebrity journalists, he remained refreshingly unimpressed with himself. ``I just hope my next column is readable, doesn't bore people, he said in a 1993 interview. I don't have any grand scheme.'' Yet the continued relevance of these columns reminds us that good journalists can make a difference. A terrific compendium for those who always meant to clip and save Royko's words but didn't. (17 photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Chicagoans think of Royko as a Chicago kid from the Northwest Side whose newspaper column--in the Daily News and then the Sun-Times and finally the Tribune, over the course of 34 years--was a regular feature of their days. But that column was syndicated to some 600 papers around the country and won fans and multiple awards until Royko's death in 1997. Friends helped Royko's widow go through his thousands of columns and narrow this selection to just over 100. Good buddy Studs Terkel provides an introduction, and friend and coworker Lois Wille supplies an overview for each decade from the '60s through the '90s. Royko's classic characters like Slats Grobnik are here; and Chicago pols get more attention than they perhaps deserve. But Royko was an expert at finding universal truths in parochial situations, as well as in the larger issues--war and peace, justice and injustice, wealth and poverty--he examined. Think of One More Time as one man's pungent commentary on life in these United States over the last few decades. Mary Carroll

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226730719
• ISBN 13: 9780226730714
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 275