Best of
Journalism

1973

Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72


Hunter S. Thompson - 1973
    Thompson wrote for Rolling Stone magazine while covering the 1972 election campaign of President Richard M. Nixon and his unsuccessful opponent, Senator George S. McGovern. Hunter focuses largely on the Democratic Party's primaries and the breakdown of the national party as it splits between the different candidates.With drug-addled alacrity and incisive wit, Thompson turned his jaundiced eye and gonzo heart to the repellent and seductive race for president, deconstructed the campaigns, and ended up with a political vision that is eerily prophetic

The Boys on the Bus


Timothy Crouse - 1973
    Flying fleshpots. Lack of sleep. Endless spin. Lying pols.Just a few of the snares lying in wait for the reporters who covered the 1972 presidential election. Traveling with the press pack from the June primaries to the big night in November, Rolling Stone reporter Timothy Crouse hopscotched the country with both the Nixon and McGovern campaigns and witnessed the birth of modern campaign journalism. The Boys on the Bus is the raucous story of how American news got to be what it is today. With its verve, wit, and psychological acumen, it is a classic of American reporting.

The New Journalism


Tom Wolfe - 1973
    Thompson.

The Dogs Bark


Truman Capote - 1973
    Through Truman Capote's eyes and artistry we visit such places as Hatti, Tangier, Hollywood, Paris, Manhattan, Italy and Brooklyn, we encounter such figures as Isak Dinesen, Mae West, Louis Armstrong, Colette, Humphrey Bogart, Ezra Pound, Marilyn Monroe, and Marlon Brando, and we observe the evolution of Capote from a young man in the golden glow of early success to a renowned author viewing his life, work, world and the creation of his last incomplete novel -- Answered Prayers. Reprinted in its entirety is The Muses Are Heard, Capote's fascinating, excruciatingly funny account of the "Porgy and Bess" touring company's visit to the Soviet Union.Every page is stamped with the unique sensibility and inimitable style of Truman Capote and provides vivid evidence of why Norman Mailer has termed him "the most perfect writer of a generation."

The Russians


Hedrick Smith - 1973
    Over steaming samovars, in cramped flats, and on dirt-floors, he has spoken to peasants and bureaucrats, artists and officials. He has studied their customs and their governments and shares his fascinating insights and fresh perspectives with us.

Nightmare: The Underside of the Nixon Years


J. Anthony Lukas - 1973
    Anthony Lukas’s account of the Watergate story to date. Six months later, a second installment ran in another full issue. Later the Times asked him to write a third issue, on the impeachment, which never appeared because of Nixon’s intervening resignation. But all of Lukas’s painstaking reporting on Nixon’s last months in office appears here, along with added information on every aspect of Watergate.Widely acclaimed as a major text of the Watergate saga, J. Anthony Lukas’s Nightmare is a masterwork of investigation, highlighted by in-depth character sketches of the key players. For students of history coming to these events for the first time, this book reveals in depth the particular trauma of a nation in turmoil; for those who remember, the upheaval and what was at stake are once more brought to life.

The Best of LIFE


David E. Scherman - 1973
    Luce set for LIFE in the original prospectus. For the next 36 years the editors kept that promise faithfully, reporting on life, the world, and great events with skill, dedication and imagination. Just how well they did their job the reader will see in the 304 pages - 100 of them in color - and 680 photographs (including 77 LIFE covers) that make up this splendid anthology. -- from the book jacket.

The Best of I.F. Stone


I.F. Stone - 1973
    More than fifteen years after his death, this collection of his work from I.F. Stone's Weekly and elsewhere is astonishing in its relevance to our age, addressing the clash between national security and individual liberty, the protection of minorities, economic fairness, social justice, and the American military abroad. The core of Stone's genius was his newsletter, I.F. Stone's Weekly, published from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s. His meticulous dissection of the news was unsurpassed, a direct descendent of the great pamphleteers like Thomas Paine, and a forerunner to the best of today's political blogs. Stone's brilliant, investigative reporting; his wonderful, impassioned style; and his commitment to his values all make this collection an inspiration, and a revelation.

Political Writings: The Revolutions of 1848/Surveys from Exile/The First International & After, Vols 1-3


Karl Marx - 1973
    In these brand-new editions of Marx’s Political Writings we are able to see the depth and range of his mature work from 1848 through to the end of his life, from The Communist Manifesto to The Class Struggles in France and The Critique of the Gotha Programme. Each book has a new introduction from a major contemporary thinker, to shed new light on these vital texts.Volume 1: The Revolutions of 1848: Marx and Engels had sketched out the principles of scientific communism by 1846. Yet it was from his intense involvement in the abortive German Revolution of 1848 that Marx developed a depth of practical understanding he would draw on in Capital and throughout his later career. This volume includes his great call to arms—The Communist Manifesto—but also shows how tactical alliances with the bourgeoisie failed, after which Marx became firmly committed to independent workers’ organizations and the ideal of “permanent revolution.” The articles offer trenchant analyses of events in France, Poland, Prague, Berlin and Vienna, while speeches set out changing communist tactics. In a new introduction the major socialist feminist writer Sheila Rowbotham examines this period of Marx’s life and how it shaped his political perspective.Volume 2: Surveys from Exile: In the 1850s and early 1860s Marx played an active part in politics, and his prolific journalism from London offered a constant commentary on all the main developments of the day. During this time Marx began to interpret the British political scene and express his considered views on Germany, Poland and Russia, the Crimean War and American Civil War, imperialism in India and China, and a host of other key issues. The Class Struggles in France develops the theories outlined in The Communist Manifesto into a rich and revealing analysis of contemporary events, while The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte contains equally stimulating reflections on Napoleon III’s coup d’etat of 1851. In a new introduction activist and writer Tariq Ali examines the texts that have become essential works in Marx’s canon.Volume 3: The First International and After: The crucial texts of Marx’s later years—notably The Civil War in France and Critique of the Gotha Programme—count among his most important work. These articles include a searching analysis of the tragic but inspiring failure of the Paris Commune, as well as essays on German unification, the Irish question, the Polish national movement and the possibility of revolution in Russia. The founding documents of the First international and polemical pieces attacking the disciples of Proudhon and Bakunin and the advocates of reformism, by contrast, reveal a tactical mastery that has influenced revolutionary movements ever since. In a new introduction the renowned Marxist David Harvey sheds light on the evolution of Marx’s notions of democracy and politics.

A Place Called Sweet Apple: Country Living and Southern Recipes


Celestine Sibley - 1973
    Sibley writes about breathing life into an old house and moving from the city to the country in this story of personal discovery and fulfillment laced with wry humor and good common sense.

Kind and Usual Punishment: The Prison Business


Jessica Mitford - 1973
    A candid examination of American prison practices is based on the author's extensive research and workshop experiences as an inmate.

Precision Journalism: A Reporter's Introduction to Social Science Methods


Philip N. Meyer - 1973
    In this fully updated, fourth edition of the classic Precision Journalism (known as The New Precision Journalism in its third edition), Meyer shows journalists and students of journalism how to use new technology to analyze data and provide more precise information in easier-to-understand forms. New to this edition are an overview of the use of theory and science in journalism; game theory applications; introductions to lurking variables and multiple and logistic regression; and developments in election surveys. Key topics retained and updated include elements of data analysis; the use of statistics, computers, surveys, and experiments; database applications; and the politics of precision journalism. This accessible book is an important resource for working journalists and an indispensable text for all journalism majors.

Any Old Way You Choose It: Rock and Other Pop Music, 1967-1973


Robert Christgau - 1973
    Many believe Christgau invented rock criticism - he applies his intellectual approach to popular music, showing that it is worthy of serious study. He profiles artists as diverse as Frank Zappa and Tom Jones.