Starred review from January 27, 2020
David Carr (The Night of the Gun), who died in 2015, was a consummate journalist with a gift for memorable expression, as demonstrated in this rewarding volume edited by his widow. Its 56 columns and features span his 25-year career and beats that ranged from Minnesota to Manhattan, where, from the New York Times’s culture desk, he wrote “The Carpetbagger” film industry column. The pieces include celebrity profiles (such as of Neil Young and Philip Seymour Hoffman), a look at the fall of the Tribune Company’s newspaper empire, and dissection of local Washington, D.C., politics. The most powerful selections, about Carr’s early struggles with cocaine and alcohol addiction, frequently serve up observations stunning in their candor and self-awareness: “Crack users are universally paranoid consumptive eunuchs who show little interest in things unrelated to their addiction.” Throughout, Carr’s work is a model of concision, demonstrating a skill at crystallizing an idea in a single resonant sentence as, when writing about 9/11’s impact on New York City’s psyche, he observes, “This is the place where the world seemed to end in a single morning.” Readers will appreciate having this wide-ranging sample of Carr’s inimitable perspective on American life. Agent: Flip Brophy, Sterling Lord Literistic.
April 1, 2020
Journalist Carr (1956-2015) began his impressive career in his home state of Minnesota, then moved to Washington, DC, and finally to New York and the New York Times. The mostly chronological layout of this collection allows readers to see Carr develop his style and hone his skills. He wrote about politics both local and national, media and business news, his home life, show business, and more. His takedowns of media and show business figures are lacerating and precise. He even takes himself to task for being one of the many reporters (including Ta-Nehisi Coates, who contributes a foreword) that "looked away" from the burgeoning sexual assault charges against performer Bill Cosby. He's especially tender with reformed and not-so-reformed addicts, having walked that path himself. While some pieces may seem dated, many address issues and people still on the scene today--Hillary Clinton, Fox News, Robert Downey Jr., the dismantling of newsrooms, government and corporate chicanery. Standouts include a visit with the interview-averse Neil Young, a slow Acela train ride, and articles about Details magazine, the DC social scene, and cats on the internet. VERDICT This collection will make readers wish Carr was still here to share his observations. A must for aspiring journalists and fans of Carr who want to read more of his award-winning reporting.--Liz French, Library Journal
Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from February 1, 2020
A collection of key pieces of the renowned journalist, who died unexpectedly at 58 in 2015. Arranged more or less chronologically, these pieces commence in the 1980s, when Carr (The Night of the Gun: A Reporter Investigates the Darkest Story of His Life, His Own, 2008), a Minnesota native, was a freelancer in his home state. Gradually, we move through his other gigs: Family Times (a monthly local in the Twin Cities), Twin Cities Reader, Washington City Paper, Atlantic Monthly, New York Magazine, and the New York Times, where he died in the newsroom. The earlier pieces include some very personal ones about his substance abuse and struggles with cancer, but there are also investigative pieces about other assorted topics, including hungover airline pilots and a gay political candidate. Throughout are a number of celebrity profiles: Tom Arnold, Sally Quinn, Neil Young, Bill Cosby, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robert Downey Jr. (In the Cosby piece, Carr chides himself for not pursuing the rape allegations about the now-incarcerated comedian.) The author also provides coverage of Bill Clinton's impeachment, 9/11, and the journalism profession (plagiarism, Fox News, the toxic effects of Ann Coulter). Related to all of this is an 11-page copy of a journalism syllabus for a course he taught at Boston University. Sometimes the pieces are thematically arranged. Near the end are two separated by 12 years; both deal with the view as drivers approach New York City (the author was commuting from New Jersey at the time). Throughout the book, Carr displays profound care about his craft, flashes of humor, and, when necessary, genuine fangs: See his 2015 piece about a neighbor's cat, and witness the gleam of his verbal scalpel that vivisects Coulter. Carr's wife, Jill, served as the editor for the book, and Ta-Nehisi Coates, who worked for Carr at Washington City Paper, provides the foreword. A revelatory collection reminding us of what journalism used to be--and what it ought to be.
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