Reporting Back

by Lillian Ross

For nearly 50 years, Lillian Ross has been writing remarkable literary journalism for The New Yorker . Her unerring "Talk of the Town" pieces and her incisive profiles have won her a legion of admirers. Many credit The New Yorker for inspiring the refinement of literary journalism, and Ross was an integral part of that effort.

In that time, Ross has built up an arsenal of journalistic techniques, which she shares here in some detail. She discusses her feelings about journalism, praising her New Yorker colleagues (notably the late editor William Shawn) and offering her definition of journalism (factual reporting built of good writing and singular humor). The majority of the book is filled with Ross's deconstruction of some of her best-loved pieces, including 1949's "Come In, Lassie!" (about politics in the film business); 1950's "How Do You Like It Now, Gentlemen?" (a profile of Ernest Hemingway); and 1960's "The Yellow Bus" (concerning a group of tourists visiting New York City).

Genres: Journalism

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Lillian Ross was an American journalist and author, who was a staff writer at The New Yorker from 1945 until she retired.

Librarians note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Jan]

The book would be better if the author was less self-congratulatory.

[Stewartrussell]

its really very charming. shes the "friend" in all those new yorker pieces "our friend from zanzibar writes. . . " and she writes about herself just the way she writes about all those other people she bumps into in her peripatetisms. she claims her effortless style is really effortless, and its hard not to believe her, even though i dont. the only minor clink is a sort of super niceness and kindness to all gods creatures great and small that might be a holdover survival strategy from her egg-tooth days in a world of journalism that was less than nurturing of non-white or non-male practicioners of the art. but there is alot to learn in it if you read carefully; shes telling us more than shes telling us, and she knows it.

[Tamara]

I've been slowly reading this for the last three years. Who knows how long it will take me, but the little bits of it that I digest here and there I've found immensely valuable. Ms. Ross spent most of her career writing New Yorker profiles, and I adore so many of the "Talk of the Town" vignettes she shares in the book.

[Nhadz Mohammad]

It so funny that I've been reading this book for almost 6 months now and I have not done yet reading it...I've been trying to absorb thoroughly those news features article pieces and I love every bit of it! I think every aspiring journalist who loves news features writing should get a copy of it!