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1asurbanipal
Concerning their everyday work.
From memory:
Evelyn Waugh's Scoop,
Dreiser's Newspaper Days, Steffens's memoirs.
Let's also include war correspondents
From memory:
Evelyn Waugh's Scoop,
Dreiser's Newspaper Days, Steffens's memoirs.
Let's also include war correspondents
2dcozy
New Grub Street by George Gissing.
3asurbanipal
Bel Ami by Maupassant, Lost Illusions by Balzac.
Kapuscinski wrote a lot about the details of his craft, especially in his early African and Latin American books.
Kapuscinski wrote a lot about the details of his craft, especially in his early African and Latin American books.
4thorold
What about The shipping news? - must be one of the best novels about a local paper.
War correspondents - wouldn't that be Scoop again? Or Graham Greene - maybe The Quiet American?
War correspondents - wouldn't that be Scoop again? Or Graham Greene - maybe The Quiet American?
7rocketjk
Regarding the memoirs of war correspondents . . .
This is probably a tough one to find, but Behind the Spanish Barricades by John Langdon-Davies is fascinating. Langdon-Davies was an English journalist who traveled widely in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and the book is his first-hand report of that sad conflict.
I would concur that Michael Herr's Dispatches is excellent. And, of course, there is This is Your War and Brave Men by Ernie Pyle.
As for best novels about journalists . . . the first thing off the top of my head is The Sportswriter by Richard Ford, although the book doesn't spend much time on the protagonist's work life.
This is probably a tough one to find, but Behind the Spanish Barricades by John Langdon-Davies is fascinating. Langdon-Davies was an English journalist who traveled widely in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and the book is his first-hand report of that sad conflict.
I would concur that Michael Herr's Dispatches is excellent. And, of course, there is This is Your War and Brave Men by Ernie Pyle.
As for best novels about journalists . . . the first thing off the top of my head is The Sportswriter by Richard Ford, although the book doesn't spend much time on the protagonist's work life.
8twomoredays
I loved Hunter S. Thompson's The Great Shark Hunt. Since it's thompson, it's part journalism part memoir.
I wouldn't recommend Reporting Back by Lillian Ross. I found it pretty so-so.
But of course, nothing can beat All the President's Men. It's not typical of journalism, especially now. But it's such an exciting story.
I wouldn't recommend Reporting Back by Lillian Ross. I found it pretty so-so.
But of course, nothing can beat All the President's Men. It's not typical of journalism, especially now. But it's such an exciting story.
9Jesse_wiedinmyer
As the person who originally recommended All the President's Men, you might like to bear in mind that there are supposed to be some factual inconsistencies, iirc.
John O'Hara spent quite a bit of time as a reporter and often used such a persona for his narrators. You might like to check out The Collected Stories of John O'Hara.
Not a memoir, nor a novel, but The first casualty : from the Crimea to Vietnam : the War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist, and Myth Maker by Phillip Knightley was excellent.
John O'Hara spent quite a bit of time as a reporter and often used such a persona for his narrators. You might like to check out The Collected Stories of John O'Hara.
Not a memoir, nor a novel, but The first casualty : from the Crimea to Vietnam : the War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist, and Myth Maker by Phillip Knightley was excellent.
10Jesse_wiedinmyer
You may also want to check out something like Reporting Vietnam : American Journalism 1959-1975.
11twomoredays
If you are interested about nonfiction about journalism, I'd recommend The News about the News by Leonard Downie and The Elements of Journalism by Kovach and Rosenstiel.
I read the latter as a textbook in an intro to journalism class, but it wasn't written as one and is very readable.
I read the latter as a textbook in an intro to journalism class, but it wasn't written as one and is very readable.
13nemoman
In my opinion any one of these could be the best journalist memoir I have read: The Days Of H L Mencken collecting Happy Days, Heathen Days, and Newspaper Days; Liebling Abroad collecting, inter alia, The Road back To Paris and Between Meals; and, A Child Of The Century by Ben Hecht.
14asurbanipal
Günter Wallraff
In 1977 Wallraff worked for four months as an editor for the tabloid Bild-Zeitung newspaper in Hanover, calling himself "Hans Esser". In his books Der Aufmacher (pun, meaning both "Lead Story" and "the one who opens") and Zeugen der Anklage ("Witnesses for the Prosecution") he portrays his experiences on the editorial staff of the paper and the journalism which he encountered there, which at times displayed contempt for humanity. (Wikipedia)
In 1977 Wallraff worked for four months as an editor for the tabloid Bild-Zeitung newspaper in Hanover, calling himself "Hans Esser". In his books Der Aufmacher (pun, meaning both "Lead Story" and "the one who opens") and Zeugen der Anklage ("Witnesses for the Prosecution") he portrays his experiences on the editorial staff of the paper and the journalism which he encountered there, which at times displayed contempt for humanity. (Wikipedia)
15Schmerguls
Here is my comment on an newspsper editor's book:
4089 The Eve of 1914, by Theodor Wolff translated from the German by E. W. Dickes (read 7 Nov 2005) Back on 5 Dec 1964 I read The Twelve Days 24 July to 4 Aug 1914, by George Malcolm Thomson, which listed this book and I noted that it would seem worthwhile to read it. The author was the editor of a leading Berlin newspaper from 1906 till 1933, and this book was published in German in 1934 and in English in 1936. Time said historians hailed it as the best study of the Great War's origins since Sidney Fay's volumes on that subject (which I read 29 May 1968). Wolff is very fair and tends to blame Germany and Austria more than anyone else for the war's outbreak. I think there can be no doubt that Germany's blank check given early to Austria after the Sarajevo murders was a crucial mistake, and had the most to do with the war starting. This is a very excellent book, and I found it absorbing reading. The author was personally present and in on things in Berlin during the pertinent time and this adds to the immediacy of his account. This book lives up to what one expects from books dealing with the momentous year, 1914. My computer tells me I have read 44 books which have "1914" in their title!
4089 The Eve of 1914, by Theodor Wolff translated from the German by E. W. Dickes (read 7 Nov 2005) Back on 5 Dec 1964 I read The Twelve Days 24 July to 4 Aug 1914, by George Malcolm Thomson, which listed this book and I noted that it would seem worthwhile to read it. The author was the editor of a leading Berlin newspaper from 1906 till 1933, and this book was published in German in 1934 and in English in 1936. Time said historians hailed it as the best study of the Great War's origins since Sidney Fay's volumes on that subject (which I read 29 May 1968). Wolff is very fair and tends to blame Germany and Austria more than anyone else for the war's outbreak. I think there can be no doubt that Germany's blank check given early to Austria after the Sarajevo murders was a crucial mistake, and had the most to do with the war starting. This is a very excellent book, and I found it absorbing reading. The author was personally present and in on things in Berlin during the pertinent time and this adds to the immediacy of his account. This book lives up to what one expects from books dealing with the momentous year, 1914. My computer tells me I have read 44 books which have "1914" in their title!
