U.S. Journal

by Calvin Trillin

Book by Trillin, Calvin

314 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Calvin (Bud) Marshall Trillin is an American journalist, humorist, and novelist. He is best known for his humorous writings about food and eating, but he has also written much serious journalism, comic verse, and several books of fiction.

Trillin attended public schools in Kansas City and went on to Yale University, where he served as chairman of the Yale Daily News and became a member of Scroll and Key before graduating in 1957; he later served as a trustee of the university. After a stint in the U.S. Army, he worked as a reporter for Time magazine before joining the staff of The New Yorker in 1963. His reporting for The New Yorker on the racial integration of the University of Georgia was published in his first book, An Education in Georgia. He wrote the magazine's "U.S. Journal" series from 1967 to 1982, covering local events both serious and quirky throughout the United States.

Reviews

[Nick Lehr · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorites stories (in no particular order):

"A Stranger with a Camera"

"Always Be Polite"

"Hero Investigator"

"The New Morality of Lester Maddox"

"The Black Womens of Wilcox County Is About To Do Somethin'"

"The War in Kansas"

"No, Sir, I Can't Go"

"The Folks at Home"

"Leave the Rest to Me"

"The Sacred Projects"

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend of mine gave me this book to read in 1990. I just got to it. However, it was written in 1971. It is an excellent window into the U.S. at that time. Scary to see what has changed and what has not.

[David]

A memorable piece in the collection begins like the opening scene from a movie: A man in a black suit waits at Penn Station for a train to Long Island. He orders coffee, lights a cigarette and flattens out a sheet of paper in front of him. He is an investigator with the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. His reports determine if people who rescued others from fires, drowning and other calamities deserve a medal and cash award. I could see a movie in which the investigator begins work on what seems like a simple fire case and finds something more disturbing.