The Princeton Anthology of Writing: Favorite Pieces by the Ferris/McGraw Writers at Princeton University. - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691086818 ISBN 13: 9780691086811

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2001

Synopsis

In 1957--long before colleges awarded degrees in creative nonfiction and back when newspaper writing's reputation was tainted by the fish it wrapped--Princeton began honoring talented literary journalists. Since then, fifty-nine of the finest, most dedicated, and most decorated nonfiction writers have held the Ferris and McGraw professorships. This monumental volume harbors their favorite and often most influential works. Each contribution is rewarding reading, and collectively the selections validate journalism's ascent into the esteem of the academy and the reading public.

Necessarily eclectic and delightfully idiosyncratic, the fifty-nine pieces are long and short, political and personal, comic and deadly serious. Students will be provoked by William Greider's pointed critique of the democracy industry, eerily entertained by Leslie Cockburn's fraternization with the Cali cartel, inspired by David K. Shipler's thoughts on race, unsettled by Haynes Johnson's account of Bay of Pigs survivors, and moved by Lucinda Frank's essay on a mother fighting to save a child born with birth defects. Many of the essays are finely crafted portraits: Charlotte Grimes's biography of her grandmother, Blair Clark's obituary for Robert Lowell, and Jane Kramer's affecting story of a woman hero of the French Resistance.

Other contributions to savor include Harrison Salisbury on the siege of Leningrad, Landon Jones on the 1950s, Christopher Wren on Soviet mountaineering, James Gleick on technology, Gloria Emerson on Vietnam, Gina Kolata on Fermat's last theorem, and Roger Mudd on the media. Whether approached chronologically, thematically, randomly, or, as the editors order them, more intuitively, each suggests a perfect evening reading.

Designed for students as well as general readers, The Princeton Anthology of Writing splendidly attests to the elegance, eloquence, and endurance of fine nonfiction.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"This book is a delight for the general reader as well as an excellent resource for undergraduate or graduate students of journalism. It represents many of the finest nonfiction writers of the past several decades. There are many treasures here--and some real surprises. This is compelling stuff, wide ranging and beautifully balanced."--Evan Cornog, School of Journalism, Columbia University

"The range, care, and thoughtfulness with which this volume has been edited is hugely impressive. It is an extraordinary work whose greatest strength lies in the selections themselves. It will be exceptionally useful as a supplemental text for undergraduate instruction and is very likely to find a receptive audience among the public as well."--David Abrahamson, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University

About the Author

John McPhee is the author of twenty-five books, including The Control of Nature, Irons in the Fire, and Annals of the Former World, for which he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1999. Carol Rigolot is the Executive Director of the Council of the Humanities at Princeton University. She is a faculty member in the Romance Languages department, specializing in twentieth-century French literature.

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0691086818
• ISBN 13: 9780691086811
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 376
• Editor: McPhee John, Rigolot Carol