Synopses & Reviews
The inner workings of a writers life, the interplay between experience and writing, are brilliantly recounted by a master of the art. Gay Talese now focuses on his own life—the zeal for the truth, the narrative edge, the sometimes startling precision, that won accolades for his journalism and best-sellerdom and acclaim for his revelatory books about
The New York Times (The Kingdom and the Power), the Mafia
(Honor Thy Father), the sex industry
(Thy Neighbors Wife), and, focusing on his own family, the American immigrant experience
(Unto the Sons).
How has Talese found his subjects? What has stimulated, blocked, or inspired his writing? Here are his amateur beginnings on his college newspaper; his professional climb at The New York Times; his desire to write on a larger canvas, which led him to magazine writing at Esquire and then to books. We see his involvement with issues of race from his student days in the Deep South to a recent interracial wedding in Selma, Alabama, where he once covered the fierce struggle for civil rights. Here are his reflections on the changing American sexual mores he has written about over the last fifty years, and a striking look at the lives—and their meaning—of Lorena and John Bobbitt. He takes us behind the scenes of his legendary profile of Frank Sinatra, his writings about Joe DiMaggio and heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson, and his interview with the head of a Mafia family.
But he is at his most poignant in talking about the ordinary men and women whose stories led to his most memorable work. In remarkable fashion, he traces the history of a single restaurant location in New York, creating an ethnic mosaic of one restaurateur after the other whose dreams were dashed while a successors were born. And as he delves into the life of a young female Chinese soccer player, we see his consuming interest in the world in its latest manifestation.
In these and other recollections and stories, Talese gives us a fascinating picture of both the serendipity and meticulousness involved in getting a story. He makes clear that every one of us represents a good one, if a writer has the curiosity to know it, the diligence to pursue it, and the desire to get it right.
Candid, humorous, deeply impassioned—a dazzling book about the nature of writing in one mans life, and of writing itself.
From the Hardcover edition.
Review
"A Writer's Life will do nothing to diminish Talese's legacy, but this new book is harder to categorize than his previous work....Even with the passage of time these reported pieces in A Writer's Life remain fresh and compelling." Chicago Sun-Times
Review
"Given the cultural significance of many of Talese's works...as examples of long-form nonfiction and of a particular kind of journalism, this memoir serves as an important addition to his writings." Library Journal
Review
"Talese shows in an amiably digressive way that this writer's life has comprised not just celebrity and success, but many false starts, failures and frustrations." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Talese fans, language lovers, and anyone who takes pleasure in the company of an engaging conversationalist will be drawn to this work." Booklist
Review
"A Writer's Life is only a failed book, not a failed life. One hopes that Talese has purged himself, and can start anew, with a fresh story he's passionate about telling honestly and clearly. And maybe stew a little less, and write a little faster." New York Times
Review
"In a memoir-obsessed moment like ours, when tell-all sometimes means exaggerated or condensed 'truth' that truly isn't, Talese's memoir is remarkable. Expect no groveling self-exposure and only limited, albeit explosive, self-analysis." Portland Oregonian
Review
"Mr. Talese's life occupies only 80 pages or so of this 430-page book. The rest merely clears the files of four beloved projects that didn't turn out as he had hoped.... Had Mr. Talese's publisher succeeded in extracting an actual memo" Wall Street Journal
Review
"Talese became a notable journalist for his ability to capture a person....Not surprisingly, the best writing in A Writer's Life is not about Talese himself, but rather the people around him, the fellow writers, editors and night owls, an occasional gangster, and a good many restaurateurs." Newsday
Review
"Throughout his career, Talese has agonized over finding the best voice for telling the story....Talese eventually reached an uneasy peace with first person so that he could complete A Writer's Life. He is probably the better for it." Dallas-Ft. Worth Star Telegram
Synopsis
The inner workings of a writer's life, the interplay between experience and writing, are brilliantly recounted by a master of the art. Gay Talese now focuses on his own life the zeal for the truth, the narrative edge, the sometimes startling precision, that won accolades for his journalism and best-sellerdom and acclaim for his revelatory books about
The New York Times (
The Kingdom and the Power), the Mafia (
Honor Thy Father), the sex industry (
Thy Neighbor's Wife), and, focusing on his own family, the American immigrant experience (
Unto the Sons).
How has Talese found his subjects? What has stimulated, blocked, or inspired his writing? Here are his amateur beginnings on his college newspaper; his professional climb at The New York Times; his desire to write on a larger canvas, which led him to magazine writing at Esquire and then to books. We see his involvement with issues of race from his student days in the Deep South to a recent interracial wedding in Selma, Alabama, where he once covered the fierce struggle for civil rights. Here are his reflections on the changing American sexual mores he has written about over the last fifty years, and a striking look at the lives and their meaning of Lorena and John Bobbitt. He takes us behind the scenes of his legendary profile of Frank Sinatra, his writings about Joe DiMaggio and heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson, and his interview with the head of a Mafia family.
But he is at his most poignant in talking about the ordinary men and women whose stories led to his most memorable work. In remarkable fashion, he traces the history of a single restaurant location in New York, creating an ethnic mosaic of one restaurateurafter the other whose dreams were dashed while a successor's were born. And as he delves into the life of a young female Chinese soccer player, we see his consuming interest in the world in its latest manifestation.
In these and other recollections and stories, Talese gives us a fascinating picture of both the serendipity and meticulousness involved in getting a story. He makes clear that every one of us represents a good one, if a writer has the curiosity to know it, the diligence to pursue it, and the desire to get it right.
Candid, humorous, deeply impassioned a dazzling book about the nature of writing in one man's life, and of writing itself.
About the Author
Gay Talese was a reporter for The New York Times from 1956 to 1965. Since then he has written for the Times, Esquire, The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, and other national publications. He is the author of eleven books. He lives with his wife, Nan, in New York City.