Out of Step: Notes from a Purple Decade

by Jonathan Yardley

Reassesses ten years of American cultural life, in a collection of articles and essays that includes such sections as "The Lit'ry Scene," "The American Scene," and "My Scene"

Genres: Essays

263 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Jonathan Yardley is a book critic, journalist, and biographer, and the recipient of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

From 1981 to 2014, he was chief book critic for the Washington Post, where he combined scathingly frank reviews with an appreciation for new talent. He championed the early careers of Michael Chabon, Edward P. Jones, and Anne Tyler, among others.

In addition to biographies of Ring Lardner and Frederick Exley, Yardley published Our Kind of People: The Story of an American Family , a wry memoir about his WASP parents. Second Reading , his most recent book, collects the series of Post columns in which he reconsidered notable or neglected books from the past.

Reviews

[Anissa Kuhar · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to look back at Yardley's collection of opinion pieces at a time when I was in high school (the 80s), paying much less attention to the news. Also of value was comparing Americans' perspectives today and 30 years ago on topics such as same sex relationships, banned literature, higher education standards and curriculum rigor, and our teachers of values--home vs. school. Perspectives on these issues have become much more liberal. I read the book with Wikipedia on hand to serve as a history book for things I'd forgotten or overlooked the first time. It was a welcome look back.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoyed Yardley's book reviews from The Washington Post, but had never read his social commentary. This volume includes selected columns with their publication dates. Many of the commentaries I found to be overly curmudgeonly but interesting in their own way, while the book reviews and columns reflecting his own life and interests were as charming as I remembered them.