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  <description><![CDATA[The inner workings of a writer&#8217;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&#8212;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 <em>The New York Times (The Kingdom and the Power), </em>the Mafia <em>(Honor Thy Father), </em>the sex industry <em>(Thy Neighbor&#8217;s Wife), </em>and, focusing on his own family, the American immigrant experience <em>(Unto the Sons).  </em><br/><em> </em><br/>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 <em>The New York Times;  </em>his desire to write on a larger canvas, which led him to magazine writing at <em>Esquire </em>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&#8212;and their meaning&#8212;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.<br/><br/>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 successor&#8217;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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Candid, humorous, deeply impassioned&#8212;a dazzling book about the nature of writing in one man&#8217;s life, and of writing itself.]]></description>
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    <![CDATA[The inner workings of a writer&#8217;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&#8212;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 <em>The New York Times (The Kingdom and the Power), </em>the Mafia <em>(Honor Thy Father), </em>the sex industry <em>(Thy Neighbor&#8217;s Wife), </em>and, focusing on his own family, the American immigrant experience <em>(Unto the Sons).  </em><br/><em> </em><br/>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 <em>The New York Times;  </em>his desire to write on a larger canvas, which led him to magazine writing at <em>Esquire </em>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&#8212;and their meaning&#8212;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.<br/><br/>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 successor&#8217;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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Candid, humorous, deeply impassioned&#8212;a dazzling book about the nature of writing in one man&#8217;s life, and of writing itself.]]>
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    <body><![CDATA[<p>The disjointed feel of Gay Talese's &quot;memoir&quot; provokes accusations of a &quot;notebook dump&quot; (<em>Wall Street Journal</em>), a sentiment all the more galling when considered against his sterling reputation as a founding voice of New Journalism. A few critics did think the Bobbitts' story worth ...</p><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/45462113">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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    <![CDATA[The inner workings of a writer&#8217;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&#8212;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 <em>The New York Times (The Kingdom and the Power), </em>the Mafia <em>(Honor Thy Father), </em>the sex industry <em>(Thy Neighbor&#8217;s Wife), </em>and, focusing on his own family, the American immigrant experience <em>(Unto the Sons).  </em><br/><em> </em><br/>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 <em>The New York Times;  </em>his desire to write on a larger canvas, which led him to magazine writing at <em>Esquire </em>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&#8212;and their meaning&#8212;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.<br/><br/>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 successor&#8217;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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Candid, humorous, deeply impassioned&#8212;a dazzling book about the nature of writing in one man&#8217;s life, and of writing itself.]]>
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    <body><![CDATA[In his latest (and final?) literary installment, “A Writer’s Life” Gay Talese is rather frank about the stuff from which it is woven. While not tarrying over the matter, the master of literary fiction makes it quite clear that some time in the ’90s he was pretty late with a book to his publi...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/34880078">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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      <review>
  <id>11906181</id>
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    <name><![CDATA[Christopher]]></name>
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    <![CDATA[A Writer's Life]]>
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  <description>
    <![CDATA[The inner workings of a writer&#8217;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&#8212;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 <em>The New York Times (The Kingdom and the Power), </em>the Mafia <em>(Honor Thy Father), </em>the sex industry <em>(Thy Neighbor&#8217;s Wife), </em>and, focusing on his own family, the American immigrant experience <em>(Unto the Sons).  </em><br/><em> </em><br/>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 <em>The New York Times;  </em>his desire to write on a larger canvas, which led him to magazine writing at <em>Esquire </em>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&#8212;and their meaning&#8212;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.<br/><br/>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 successor&#8217;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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Candid, humorous, deeply impassioned&#8212;a dazzling book about the nature of writing in one man&#8217;s life, and of writing itself.]]>
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  <read_at>Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
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    <body><![CDATA[I very much enjoy the writing of Gay Talese - he writes nonfiction and often focuses on life in New York City, such as in his books &quot;Fame and Obscurity&quot; (1964), &quot;The Kingdom and the Power&quot; (1969) and &quot;Unto the Sons&quot; (1992). <br/><br/>Some have compared Talese to a lat...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/11906181">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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      <review>
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    <name><![CDATA[Jennifer]]></name>
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    <![CDATA[The inner workings of a writer&#8217;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&#8212;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 <em>The New York Times (The Kingdom and the Power), </em>the Mafia <em>(Honor Thy Father), </em>the sex industry <em>(Thy Neighbor&#8217;s Wife), </em>and, focusing on his own family, the American immigrant experience <em>(Unto the Sons).  </em><br/><em> </em><br/>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 <em>The New York Times;  </em>his desire to write on a larger canvas, which led him to magazine writing at <em>Esquire </em>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&#8212;and their meaning&#8212;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.<br/><br/>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 successor&#8217;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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Candid, humorous, deeply impassioned&#8212;a dazzling book about the nature of writing in one man&#8217;s life, and of writing itself.]]>
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  <read_at>Sat Mar 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009</read_at>
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    <body><![CDATA[I got this from the library today, though i was looking to research Princeess Diana so I could summarize her life in a pithy paragraph for a current project, I saw it on the shelf and remembered how consistently terrific he is. of course I want to know what he thinks about even John Bobbit, and that...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/49927576">more...</a>]]></body>
    
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    <![CDATA[The inner workings of a writer&#8217;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&#8212;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 <em>The New York Times (The Kingdom and the Power), </em>the Mafia <em>(Honor Thy Father), </em>the sex industry <em>(Thy Neighbor&#8217;s Wife), </em>and, focusing on his own family, the American immigrant experience <em>(Unto the Sons).  </em><br/><em> </em><br/>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 <em>The New York Times;  </em>his desire to write on a larger canvas, which led him to magazine writing at <em>Esquire </em>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&#8212;and their meaning&#8212;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.<br/><br/>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 successor&#8217;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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Candid, humorous, deeply impassioned&#8212;a dazzling book about the nature of writing in one man&#8217;s life, and of writing itself.]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

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  <date_added>Tue May 26 07:51:07 -0700 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue May 26 07:52:14 -0700 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Autobiography, but mainly unpublished manuscript wrapup]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/57359966]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/57359966]]></link>
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      <review>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[A Writer's Life]]>
  </title>
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    <![CDATA[The inner workings of a writer&#8217;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&#8212;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 <em>The New York Times (The Kingdom and the Power), </em>the Mafia <em>(Honor Thy Father), </em>the sex industry <em>(Thy Neighbor&#8217;s Wife), </em>and, focusing on his own family, the American immigrant experience <em>(Unto the Sons).  </em><br/><em> </em><br/>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 <em>The New York Times;  </em>his desire to write on a larger canvas, which led him to magazine writing at <em>Esquire </em>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&#8212;and their meaning&#8212;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.<br/><br/>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 successor&#8217;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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Candid, humorous, deeply impassioned&#8212;a dazzling book about the nature of writing in one man&#8217;s life, and of writing itself.<br/><br/><br/><em>From the Hardcover edition.</em>]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
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  <read_at>Sat Jun 28 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Sat Dec 08 19:00:11 -0800 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Jun 28 14:44:33 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Don't pick this up hoping for how-to stuff or writing tips. Instead, what you'll do here is take a bunch of disparate trips with a great storyteller, with subtle tension arising from his effort, and often inability, to produce a book (or in at least one case even a publishable story) out of his exha...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/10158035">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/10158035]]></url>
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</review>
      <review>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[A Writer's Life]]>
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  <average_rating>3.79</average_rating>
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    <![CDATA[The inner workings of a writer&#8217;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&#8212;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 <em>The New York Times (The Kingdom and the Power), </em>the Mafia <em>(Honor Thy Father), </em>the sex industry <em>(Thy Neighbor&#8217;s Wife), </em>and, focusing on his own family, the American immigrant experience <em>(Unto the Sons).  </em><br/><em> </em><br/>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 <em>The New York Times;  </em>his desire to write on a larger canvas, which led him to magazine writing at <em>Esquire </em>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&#8212;and their meaning&#8212;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.<br/><br/>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 successor&#8217;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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Candid, humorous, deeply impassioned&#8212;a dazzling book about the nature of writing in one man&#8217;s life, and of writing itself.]]>
  </description>
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  <read_at>Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006</read_at>
  <date_added>Sat Jan 26 08:39:30 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sat Jan 26 08:42:02 -0800 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[(Debbie, this is the one I was telling you about recently, with the Chinese female soccer player.) <br/><br/>Weaving, rambling, odd tales balanced on the backs of more odd tales--if I didn't like Talese so much, I might not have liked the book at all, but I do, and did... I didn't mind the endless...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/13616760">more...</a>]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/13616760]]></url>
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</review>
      <review>
  <id>20734923</id>
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    <id>231308</id>
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    <![CDATA[A Writer's Life]]>
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  <average_rating>3.79</average_rating>
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  <description>
    <![CDATA[The inner workings of a writer&#8217;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&#8212;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 <em>The New York Times (The Kingdom and the Power), </em>the Mafia <em>(Honor Thy Father), </em>the sex industry <em>(Thy Neighbor&#8217;s Wife), </em>and, focusing on his own family, the American immigrant experience <em>(Unto the Sons).  </em><br/><em> </em><br/>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 <em>The New York Times;  </em>his desire to write on a larger canvas, which led him to magazine writing at <em>Esquire </em>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&#8212;and their meaning&#8212;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.<br/><br/>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 successor&#8217;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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Candid, humorous, deeply impassioned&#8212;a dazzling book about the nature of writing in one man&#8217;s life, and of writing itself.]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
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  <date_added>Tue Apr 22 13:03:03 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Apr 22 13:05:19 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Again, an inspiring view into how a great writer works... this work bounces from topic to topic, but is still intriguing and well-written. I just like his writing style - simple, straight-forward, and well-researched...]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20734923]]></url>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20734923]]></link>
</review>
      <review>
  <id>7481798</id>
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    <id>79222</id>
    <name><![CDATA[carrie]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Madison, WI]]></location>
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  <title>
    <![CDATA[A Writer's Life]]>
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  <average_rating>3.79</average_rating>
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  <description>
    <![CDATA[The inner workings of a writer&#8217;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&#8212;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 <em>The New York Times (The Kingdom and the Power), </em>the Mafia <em>(Honor Thy Father), </em>the sex industry <em>(Thy Neighbor&#8217;s Wife), </em>and, focusing on his own family, the American immigrant experience <em>(Unto the Sons).  </em><br/><em> </em><br/>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 <em>The New York Times;  </em>his desire to write on a larger canvas, which led him to magazine writing at <em>Esquire </em>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&#8212;and their meaning&#8212;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.<br/><br/>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 successor&#8217;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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Candid, humorous, deeply impassioned&#8212;a dazzling book about the nature of writing in one man&#8217;s life, and of writing itself.]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
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  <recommended_by><![CDATA[]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Tue Oct 09 09:41:24 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Tue Oct 09 09:44:00 -0700 2007</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[i love it when writers explain the story behind the story. that's what talese does here - a glimpse at the mechanisms behind the finished product. helpful to have read some of his work, but not essential.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7481798]]></url>
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      <review>
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    <![CDATA[A Writer's Life]]>
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  <average_rating>4.00</average_rating>
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  <description>
    <![CDATA[The inner workings of a writer&#8217;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&#8212;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 <em>The New York Times (The Kingdom and the Power), </em>the Mafia <em>(Honor Thy Father), </em>the sex industry <em>(Thy Neighbor&#8217;s Wife), </em>and, focusing on his own family, the American immigrant experience <em>(Unto the Sons).  </em><br/><em> </em><br/>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 <em>The New York Times;  </em>his desire to write on a larger canvas, which led him to magazine writing at <em>Esquire </em>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&#8212;and their meaning&#8212;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.<br/><br/>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 successor&#8217;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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Candid, humorous, deeply impassioned&#8212;a dazzling book about the nature of writing in one man&#8217;s life, and of writing itself.]]>
  </description>
  <published>2006</published>
</book>

    <rating>4</rating>
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  <read_at>Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Sep 09 19:31:11 -0700 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Dec 17 09:49:09 -0800 2009</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[Disjointed essays strung together but definitely fascinating.  Talese is witty and a good story-teller.  I also share his name.]]></body>
    
  <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5967669]]></url>
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</review>
      <review>
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