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49th out of 100 books
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127 voters
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My Paper Chase
by
Harold Evans
In My Paper Chase, Harold Evans recounts the wild and wonderful tale of newspapering life. His story stretches from the 1930s to his service in WWII, through towns big and off the map. He discusses his passion for the crusading style of reportage he championed, his clashes with Rupert Murdoch, and his struggle to use journalism to better the lives of those less fortunate. ...more
Hardcover, 432 pages
Published
November 5th 2009
by Little, Brown and Company
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I really need to stop picking up huge autobio tombs. While this book had many many many pages, at least the font was huge and the way the author wrote his story was very much like Chris Plummer, so the story flew. Man grew up in the UK to become editor of the countries biggest new papers and how things have changed since then. He lives in New York now (of course) and works for online media and oh how the times have changed! He talked a bit about his personal life as a child and his parents, but ...more
Harold Evans' My Paper Chase: True Stories of Vanished Times appears a bit intimidating at first, if only because of the breadth, depth, and heft of it. But Harold Evans' writing flows, I found myself thoroughly engrossed. Born in 1928 from working class parents, Evans became a reporter at sixteen. His natural ability, drive, tenacity, and nose for a good story led him not just to excel in his field but to take on unrecognized and unpopular causes and to sway public opinion. One of the book's gr...more
It's tricky to rate this book. Evans is an editorial legend in journalistic and literary circles so, of course, he can write. He started in newspapers in hot type days and worked his way from small dailies in Northern England to editor of the Sunday and London Times. This is the bulk of the story. Although he came to the US around 1981 and became the publisher of Random House et. al., his time on this side of the pond is neglected. Bottom line--unless you're a journalist, very familiar with B...more
Memoir of a north English man from the working class who became London Times editor and now runs Random House. Married to Tina Brown. Evans began his career as a journalist during the Second World War. Shortly after the war, he was old enough to be drafted into the Royal Air Force. This military service allowed him the financial aid to attend university; but finding one that would let him in was a problem, as the high school (in American terms) he attended (due to results from a test he took...more
Adrian
added it
Is there any life like it? Evans has spent better than fifty years of his life making newspapers and books. He was always after the main chance. His career really begins when he wangles a scholarship that leads to an insightful trip through the US in the early 50s and it ends as an editor at Random House. But the best parts are his years leading the Sunday Times Insight Team in the 60s and 70s. In the best tradition of crusader journalism the IT secured a pardon for wrongly executed Timothy Evan...more
With newspapers threatened by decreased ad revenue, this is the perfect time to ponder their value in a democracy and in the world. Harold Evans has written a personal and often fascinating memoir, recounting his working-class childhood and his eventual climb to editor of both the famous Sunday Times and The Times of London. Why does hard-hitting, investigative journalism matter? Consider the crucial nature of cases cracked by reporters at those papers: from spy scandals to the true cause of one...more
An amazing guy who presents his life story with grace and brevity and humility. I felt like I learned a lot about the newspaper industry that I can actually apply to my own job at my little dinky weekly community newspaper. I learned a lot about history and people (fascinating description of his complex relationship with Rupert Murdoch, and also an eyewitness description of the famous confrontation with the unions at Wapping, one of the all-time great journalism war stories). He dealt also with ...more
I did not love this book, even though I wanted to. he is one of the legendary editors of a newspaper--a hero of his time, and belonging to a bygone era--and maybe what I should have done is read his book about that--but instead, in this one, he throws in his divorce (which he tells nothing about--why not skip it) and his post-Sunday Times life--which he tells us almost nothing about--just that it was grand--what? Hard to believe, and harder to believe given the rest of the book--so why go ther...more
Journalist Harold Evans' memoir My Paper Chase: True Stories of Vanished Times sat on my bookshelf waiting to be read for months. And I've been mulling over its review for almost as long (meaning a few days). At first glance, this looks like an intimidating read—600 pages about journalism by a journalist...OH BOY. You think, "Is this going to put me to sleep? Is it going to be a political rant? Or is Evans just gonna ramble his way through the decades?" And if he sucks at writing, you ...more
My Paper Chase is a fascinating read. Evans’ rich detail provides the back-story to many of the key international events of the 20th century. His book is far more than a memoir; it is a chronicle of the evolution of journalism depicted through the lens of his career.
The era of handset metal type and stories filed without the aid of cell phones and computers comes alive through Evans’ skillful narration. He is a consummate storyteller who gives enough background to provide context, y...more
The era of handset metal type and stories filed without the aid of cell phones and computers comes alive through Evans’ skillful narration. He is a consummate storyteller who gives enough background to provide context, y...more
I'm a huge fan of memoirs. I love to read about someone else's life. My Paper Chase tells the story of Howard Evans who ran a newspaper and the struggles he faced daily. He charged on even when there was a chance that the newspaper would lose it's place in the world.
This was a very interesting book that allows you to look back in time and understand that nothing comes easy and everything has a price.
This was a very interesting book that allows you to look back in time and understand that nothing comes easy and everything has a price.
I really wanted to like this book but I had a hard time getting into it. I'm not sure if it was too historical or political or just talked about stuff that I don't really know anything about. I felt like there were a lot of references that had I known more about world or British history I would have gotten a lot more out of it. Harold Evans is a good writer but the book seemed to jump around too much to stick to any sort of cohesive story. I made it half way through in three months and decid...more
Quite long-winded, but mostly interesting. The earlier chapters on Evans' childhood could have been a lot more brief, to clear up more space for the interesting chapter on his issues with the print unions and Rupert Murdoch. As with most autobiographies, the author is obviously rather fond of himself, but you have to admire the marvellous things he did, especially as editor of the Sunday Times.
It was no surprise that a journalist and newspaper editor would write a fine book.
I liked the first half of the autobiography best, in which Evans describes his home life, struggles in wartime Britian, his battle to gain a university education and his rising career in newspapers. Many fascinating insights are given to the role of journalism in exposing such scandals as the treatment of thalidomide victims. Although the writing has plenty of pace, the book is dense with facts, nam...more
I liked the first half of the autobiography best, in which Evans describes his home life, struggles in wartime Britian, his battle to gain a university education and his rising career in newspapers. Many fascinating insights are given to the role of journalism in exposing such scandals as the treatment of thalidomide victims. Although the writing has plenty of pace, the book is dense with facts, nam...more
The book was OK but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I were a Brit. I am not familiar with the workings of the British government and it's effect on journalism and I feel some background information would have been helpful prior to reading. I was also not familiar with some of the events recorded, so felt left in the dark. Of course, none of this is not the author's fault but it did affect my enjoyment of the book.
A loooong book, thick, looks like to much to read . . .but I found it completely interesting. The life of a British editor, whose newspapers cracked some amazing stories over the years.
a great review of the newspaper world from 1940s to date.. Evans has a great way of telling a story; this is the guy who broke the thalidomide and great 60s spy story in Britain.
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Pat
marked it as to-read
File this under: "Picked it up at a publishing thing as a freebie, so I don't know if I'll ever read it, but I'd sure like to."
Interesting and engaging memoir of a life in the newspaper business.
Great story about the behind the scenes world at a major newspaper.
I won this book on First-reads
I see a lot of (presumably non-Brit) readers are thrown off by Evans' political tales but this was his area of expertise and is integral to his bio. I enjoy learning about other cultures, especially their political impact, from firsthand stories such as Evans', and very much appreciate the lessons found in the book.
Besides that, it's a well-written memoir, especially for someone in the journalism field, or interested in learning the evolution of this communication medium over severa...more
Besides that, it's a well-written memoir, especially for someone in the journalism field, or interested in learning the evolution of this communication medium over severa...more
Fabulous! A really engrossing memoir from Harold Evans, Sunday Times editor-in-chief and later Random House President and Publisher.
Almost gave this a 4, but couldn't convince myself. This was about a newspaperman. It's about what makes good journalism and a good newspaper. Evans had me totally involved in some chapters, and just skimming others. The news he's telling about is British, and none of it I remember personally, most from before the 80's. I did think it interesting in his many examples, how an editor and the journalists can influence public opinion, and set the wheels in motion for reform.
This book took a long time to read -- talk about hefty. The problems with the book were problems with my ignorance, not his writing. I don't know that much about British politics or what was happening during that timeperiod. But it was still intereting and engrossing. I especially liked learning how a newspaper used to run -- definitly not for the faint-hearted. I suppose it still isn't...
Christy Stewart
rated it
A book about a man I don't know, a world I don't know, and an age I don't know; so, needless to say it was all news to me. Interesting book, even to one such as I who isn't interested in journalism. The problem was the book wasn't written like a story, or written like one was telling a story, but more like commentary on a story.
I enjoyed this book, primarily because as a fellow journalist, I'm always fascinated with stories about journalism as it used to be and yet sometimes it also makes me sad that it has changed so much.
Harold Evans is a great writer with an engaging life story, but I could not stay interested in this book. I made it to page 175 and hung it up.
My review of this title is on my blog, A Reader's Place:
http://areadersplace.net/2010/01/03/a-pi...
http://areadersplace.net/2010/01/03/a-pi...
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Sir Harold Evans, is the author of The American Century (Knopf, 1998), 700 pages with 900 photographs. In 2004 he completed work on a history of 200 years of innovation entitled They Made America: From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators. (Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group USA). Thus 500-page book was the basis of a four-part PBS series, pr...more
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