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Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing

Robert A. Caro

4.40 · Rating details · 1,369 ratings · 210 reviews

Robert A. Caro, 'one of the great reporters of our time and probably the greatest biographer’ (Sunday Times), is one of the most acclaimed writers of his generation, whose biographies are widely considered to be masterpieces.

In Working he offers a captivating account of his life as a writer, describing the sometimes staggering lengths to which he has gone in order to pr

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Kindle Edition, 221 pages

Published April 25th 2019 by Vintage Digital (first published April 9th 2019)

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Apr 12, 2019 Darwin8u rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir-autobiography-diary, american, nonfiction, writing, 2019

"Turn every page. Never assume anyhting. Turn every goddamned page"
- Alan Hathaway, quoted by Robert Caro, Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing

description

It is weird to give a Caro book only four stars. I've read nearly everyhing (except the big Whale: The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York) he's writing and it seems nearly perfect. He is one of my favorite writers of nonfiction ever. His fanatacism to his craft is incredible. His old-school approach to research and writing is fanta ...more

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May 24, 2019 Jean rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: history, audio-book, non-fiction, memoir

Robert Caro is one of my favorite biographers. In this book Caro discusses his life but mostly provides information about how he and his wife do research about a topic. The number one take away I got from this book is do not hurry, take your time and do it right. He tells of hours in the archives, reading other people’s work, newspaper articles, diaries and letters. He also tells of traveling around doing interviews with people. He spent years doing the research, gathering material, organizing i ...more

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Apr 23, 2019 Mehrsa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I think Caro is the greatest living writer out there (may he live forever--or until he finishes the last Johnson book). A lot of material in this book is old stuff--include in his other books or periodicals, but it's still wonderful to have it compiled in one place. My favorite essay in this collection was the one about importance of place where he talks about how living in the Hill Country and experiencing the barrenness of the land helped him understand Johnson's superhuman vote counting abili ...more

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Feb 09, 2019 Chris Molnar rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is an odds-and-ends collection that functions as a brief Making Of documentary companion to his epic (and essential) Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson biographies. The recent New Yorker excerpt is essentially a more narrative alternate version, seamlessly combining information from many of the brief essays into one continuous story. The book is more scattered and not as elegant, but all the additional information is equally fascinating and a real tease for whatever extended memoir he's workin ...more

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Apr 23, 2019 Kurt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, memoir, politics, audio

Lately, a daily ritual for me is to offer a simple, silent supplication or prayer for two people of advanced age – two people I have never met, and whom I am sure I never will meet. I pray that they will live several more years in good health with continued mental acuity.

Robert Caro is one of these people. At age 83 he is still a few years from finishing the fifth and final book in his series The Years of Lyndon Johnson. Eight to twelve years elapsed between the publication of each of the first Lately, a daily ritual for me is to offer a simple, silent supplication or prayer for two people of advanced age – two people I have never met, and whom I am sure I never will meet. I pray that they will live several more years in good health with continued mental acuity.

Robert Caro is one of these people. At age 83 he is still a few years from finishing the fifth and final book in his series The Years of Lyndon Johnson. Eight to twelve years elapsed between the publication of each of the first four books in the series due to Caro's insistence on time-consuming, meticulous research and constant re-organizing and re-writing of the lengthy volumes. But the results are all masterpieces. I am currently more than halfway through Master of the Senate, the Pulitzer-prize-winning third book in the series.

Caro's books are so much more than mere biographies. They tell the story of power in America – how power is won, how it has been wielded, how it has been maintained and lost, and how it has affected, for both good and for ill, those who have it and those who do not.

In this relatively short memoir Robert Caro talks about his work. He gives several insightful and interesting anecdotes. He also describes the details of how he painstakingly obtains the information for his books, through countless interviews and (literally) millions of pages of reading, constantly reorganizing, deleting from, adding to, and rewriting his manuscripts until, years later, he achieves the final product – a published book that he is still and forever wanting to enhance and improve.

I believe that if I had read the printed version of this book rather than having listened to the audio book, I would not have enjoyed it nearly as much. The audio book is read by the author himself, in his slow, purposeful, New York accent. I loved how he pronounced “raw” and “law” as “rawr” and “lawr”. His wife Ina, whom he refers to frequently – always with obvious heartfelt love, respect, and devotion – he pronounces “Iner”.

I cannot recommend Robert Caro’s books more highly. They are not light reading, but they are more illuminating than anything I have ever read before, and so well written. This memoir, however, could probably only be truly appreciated by those who have already had experience with Caro’s writing. ...more

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Apr 10, 2019 Rebecca rated it really liked it · review of another edition

What this does, more than anything, is make you appreciate the craft that Caro puts into his work. Most of these essays, interviews, and passages were printed elsewhere and have been collected into this short volume. Some are original to the book, though. He is also driven by a force which he isn't even able to identify to flesh out the lives, locales, and intricacies surrounding his subjects.

Caro has written five biographies, not including this slim volume. Four are about Lyndon Johnson (he's What this does, more than anything, is make you appreciate the craft that Caro puts into his work. Most of these essays, interviews, and passages were printed elsewhere and have been collected into this short volume. Some are original to the book, though. He is also driven by a force which he isn't even able to identify to flesh out the lives, locales, and intricacies surrounding his subjects.

Caro has written five biographies, not including this slim volume. Four are about Lyndon Johnson (he's working on the fifth) and the first about Robert Moses. With each he extensively researches, interviews, travels, and sometimes lives around the people that influenced his subjects. He is dogged, untiring, and he has a very understanding wife.

In this, you learn about his process, which is defined most simply by some advice he received as a young reporter, "turn every page." As much as Caro and his research assistant (that same understanding wife) are able to, he sticks to this advice. He also writes in longhand, then typewriter, he outlines extensively (LBJ's book five has a 27 page outline), has notebooks for each book chapter, and walks to work every morning dressed in a suit and tie to prove to himself that, though he doesn't have deadlines, he is going to work. When he interviews, asks the same question over and over, over several interviews, until new details emerge. "What did you see?" "What did you hear?" He also remembers to be silent, to let the silence grow, so his interviewee fills that silence with information. When he struggles to stay quiet, he writes in his reporter's notebook "SU" for shut up.

I'm not sure much of this is helpful to the average writer, but it does illuminate the man more than one would expect. We find that as driven as his two subjects are, he is just as driven, by what? To illuminate political power, to teach us how it works, to expose the pieces so that we become better informed. Also to appreciate that, however destructive political genius can be (displacing half a million low income people in New York City, Vietnam), it can also build (civil rights, highways, parks, healthcare, etc.)

As someone who has not read Caro's biographies, I enjoyed this book. It makes me want to read what he's put his life's efforts into. It is a bit repetitive in some places, likely due to it being piecemeal interviews, articles, essays, etc., but it is worth a look.

Select quotes:

"The more we understand the realities of the political process, the better informed our votes will be. And then, presumably, in some very diffuse, very inchoate way, the better our country will be."

"Really, my books are an examination of what power does to people." "...What power always does is reveal...."

"In my defense: while I am aware that there is no Truth, no objective truth, no single truth, no truth simple or unsimple, either....there are Facts, objective facts, discernible and verifiable. And the more facts you accumulate, the close you come to whatever truth there is." ...more

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Apr 16, 2019 Frank Stein rated it really liked it · review of another edition

For Caro, this is a remarkably thin book. He said he wrote it to get down few thoughts on his researching and writing process before he died. The truth is, about half the book is made up of previously published magazine articles, many of which themselves trod over territory from his books, and much of the remainder was just published in a New Yorker article. I imagine the impetus for the book might have been financial.

Still, Caro is a wonderful writer, and it's fascinating to get a glimpse of hi For Caro, this is a remarkably thin book. He said he wrote it to get down few thoughts on his researching and writing process before he died. The truth is, about half the book is made up of previously published magazine articles, many of which themselves trod over territory from his books, and much of the remainder was just published in a New Yorker article. I imagine the impetus for the book might have been financial.

Still, Caro is a wonderful writer, and it's fascinating to get a glimpse of his work habits. He explains his inner compulsion, and it is a real compulsion, to research every possible question and angle before writing. He explains his habits of interviewing the same people numerous times, and constantly pushing them to tell him "what you saw" and "what you heard," so he can provide a real lived experience of historic moments to the reader. He explains how he would walk the same path as Lyndon Johnson would walk to work as a young congressional aide, but he could never understand why Johnson would break into a run starting at the Capitol. Then, he decided to do the walk at daybreak, the same time Johnson would have done it, and he saw that the entire East Side of the Capitol was covered with a marvelous light, reflecting off the marble and almost burning anyone who stood near it. Even though Caro eschews "psychohistory," he said he now began to understand what Johnson was feeling at those moments. He also explains to the reader great moments in serendipitous discoveries, such as when the sister and best friend of Lyndon Johnson's most beloved mistress, Alice Marsh, came to tell him that "We've read the Power Broker, so we know you're going to find out about Alice," even though he had no clue who she was. Yet Alice Marsh turned out to be crucial to understanding Johnson's changing political and personal habits, down to his more professional and elegant clothing, in the 1940s and '50s.

For non-Caro fanatics, this book is probably too detailed and abstruse. For true-believers, among whom I include myself, it walks over too much old territory. Yet, for true-believers, almost anything he writes has enough nuggets of wisdom and truth to be worth the price of admission. This book is no exception. ...more

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Mar 19, 2019 Stephen Power rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The value here isn’t in just the words. It’s in Caro’s voice. That’s New York.

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Apr 11, 2019 Chris rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019-books

I was so excited for this book. So looking forward to reading more of Caro's beautiful, distinctive writing. He intends to write a Caro-length memoir - and candidly acknowledges that this short book exists in case he runs out of time. I could have read another thousand pages of his methods and anecdotes.

I'm a working historian. I loved his stories of finding buried treasure, convincing a reluctant source to talk, the feeling you get when you figure out how to communicate something to your audie ...more

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Feb 16, 2019 Jeff Swartz rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I have grown up reading Robert Caro. This is both a great introduction to Caro and a great extra if you’ve read the Moses and Johnson bios.
He does a great job of explaining how he works. Fascinating and fun.

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Apr 25, 2019 Anthony Connolly rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I felt rather cheesy reading this Caro book having not read any of the famed biographer's works on Robert Moses or LBJ. I've read "about" Robert A. Caro's prize-winning and highly lauded books on political power; and, I read about Caro's famous slow writing process -- he researches his subjects to death, turning every page of extant documents to find his material; he writes longhand, and then types his manuscripts on a Smith-Corona Electra 210 electric typewriter. The book is intended as a backg ...more

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Apr 15, 2019 Jordan Schneider rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A brief window into a life well lived.

His readers’ reactions to the women of hill county chapter are as good a rebuttal as anyone needs to those who don’t understand how important economic development is.

“Just remember, turn every page.”

Pleasure to listen to how lovingly he speaks of his wife.

“Silence is the weapon.” He writes “su” for shut up in his notebooks.

Get a sense of place by asking people “what did you see” and “what did you hear”

Carbon copies in 79th street boat basin of all of Moses’ ...more

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May 24, 2019 Eli added it · review of another edition

Robert Caro is wired differently. This is the book he wrote with his left hand while his right hand was scouring the Johnson archive for the smoking gun on Vietnam. It's a collection of (mostly previously published) recollections, anecdotes, and lessons from half a century of "researching, interviewing, writing." Weighing in at under three hundred pages, it's a slim volume by Caro's standards. Nevertheless, it manages to be very repetitious, but no worse off for it. Caro has led a unique life, a Robert Caro is wired differently. This is the book he wrote with his left hand while his right hand was scouring the Johnson archive for the smoking gun on Vietnam. It's a collection of (mostly previously published) recollections, anecdotes, and lessons from half a century of "researching, interviewing, writing." Weighing in at under three hundred pages, it's a slim volume by Caro's standards. Nevertheless, it manages to be very repetitious, but no worse off for it. Caro has led a unique life, and he has much to tell us.

Caro says that his life's work is elucidating the workings of political power through the biographies of powerful men. "The Power Broker" is a step-by-step account of Robert Moses' consolidation and exercise of power over New York. "The Years of Lyndon Johnson" is the same template blown up to a national scale. Moses and Johnson were geniuses at acquiring and exercising political power. "Working" demonstrates that Caro has acquired a power of his own. His is an intellectual, creative power. His biographies are so exhaustively, obsessively researched (the extent to which this is true is made clear on every page of "Working") that they exert a historical gravity of their own rivaling that of their subjects. Even if a comparatively minute number of people have slogged through 1,200 pages on Moses, and thousands more on Johnson (and counting) the impact that these narratives have had on our understanding of these men, and probably American History at large, is exceedingly great. Take it from me, I haven't read any of Caro's books but this one.

Put your hands on a physical copy of The Power Broker. Look at the cover artwork: an illustration of a cracked, Ozymandias-like monument bearing Moses' visage. Pick it up, feel the weight. The book itself is monumental. It is a physical, textual translation of the bottomless ambition of its subject. It is a refutation of that ambition point by point. Caro's intellectual achievements rival Moses' and Johnson's political ones. Reading "Working," it's clear that he's as urgently driven to write about power as those other men were to wield it. You get the sense that every second spent away from his work is utter agony for the guy.

There are many wonderful stories in this little book, from Caro's coaxing repressed memories out of LBJ's notoriously braggadocious brother, to his uncovering a pivotal financial scheme early in Johnson's congressional career. But my favorite has to be the time Caro was first invited to Robert Moses' summer home out on Long Island to interview him. Moses had stonewalled Caro's attempts to contact him or any of his associates, as he had every other plucky biographer who came along. Caro, of course, had managed to make some headway in his research despite Moses' attempts to stop him. So Moses invited him out to his house. Caro entered the main room of the house, the far wall of which had been replaced by an enormous glass window. Out the left side of the window was the Robert Moses State Parkway. Out the right side of the window was the Robert Moses Causeway, leading to Robert Moses State Park, in the middle of which sat Robert Moses Tower. And in front of the window, sitting in a large high-backed chair, was Robert Moses. He was "framed by his monuments," says Caro. And what is "Working," but Caro's attempt to do the same for himself? ...more

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Apr 26, 2019 Alex MacMillan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Mr. Caro is notorious for being meticulous with his research, passionate about his writing, and indefatigable in his pursuit of the truth. Here, the world’s greatest living biographer takes a break from writing the final volume his of LBJ biographies to explain how the sausage gets made, revealing the persistence and sheer luck that it took for Robert and his wife to create timeless classics. He shares the choicest anecdotes from his decades of muckraking, detailing the months and years of inves ...more

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Apr 13, 2019 Ivan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: writing-craft, biography-and-memoirs

I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book ever since I heard he was (ahem) working on it. I was a little disappointed that some of this material has been previously published—and as recently-converted Caro fan I’ve read it all—but I’m glad it’s all compiled here in one book. This isn’t the memoir that Caro would someday like to write, but at 83, with his fifth and final LBJ volume still years from completion, he wanted to share a few things from his work on his Robert Moses and LBJ biographies—really ...more

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Apr 28, 2019 Bob Kuster rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

If you are anxiously waiting for the fifth volume of the The Years of Lyndon Johnson series, you will want to read Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing. Robert Caro is a national treasure. This book answers the question why is there no fifth volume yet. This book also helps explain why I cannot read any biography or non fiction book without thinking "it was a good read but I needed more. I needed the book to be caro'ed", meaning I did not feel as if I was in the room experiencing the even ...more

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Apr 12, 2019 Dan Downing rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Winning a Pulitzer prize is a big deal for writers. Winning two is outstanding. Scarfing up two for the first four books you write, of a total of five, is huge. In Robert A. Caro's case, he has written his sixth book, a much different deal than his first five.
"Working" is brief, personal, insightful and quite well written, a Caro hallmark. In it, he describes his larger goal, beyond simple biography. For his legion of fans, he has met his goal and more: those who read about Robert Moses learned ...more

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May 19, 2019 Rachel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wow. I’m now feeling inspired to up my writing game and dig in to some chunky gorgeous non-fiction.

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May 06, 2019 Bud Smith rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The best book “on writing” I know of. Passion, tenacity, determination. The importance of turning every page, of understanding duality, of seeking truth despite its inconvenience. This is the pure stuff. The hard stuff. Thanks Bob Caro.

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May 27, 2019 Talia Carner rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: memoirs, great-non-fiction

Unlike Robert Caro’s other tomes, this 240-page account of the his writing journey is a bite-size—and a delicious one.
Due to our close last names, I’ve had the pleasure of sharing a display table with Caro at a yearly literary event—until his piles of door-stopper books became even bigger with each published title, forcing the organizers to give him his own table, (then two of them,) while I shared a table with his wife, Ina Caro, an excellent researcher whose Paris guide book helped me redisc Unlike Robert Caro’s other tomes, this 240-page account of the his writing journey is a bite-size—and a delicious one.
Due to our close last names, I’ve had the pleasure of sharing a display table with Caro at a yearly literary event—until his piles of door-stopper books became even bigger with each published title, forcing the organizers to give him his own table, (then two of them,) while I shared a table with his wife, Ina Caro, an excellent researcher whose Paris guide book helped me rediscover the city I already knew with a whole new historical perspective. Her role in her husband’s success is being fully acknowledged in “Working.” Beyond personal sacrifices, such as when they were broke for years while he was working on his Robert Moses book, “The Power Broker,” she was active in his work. In the years Caro spent huddled in libraries reading tens of thousands of documents, leaving not a single one unchecked, she was there with him, doing the same. She then read his manuscripts, one chapter at a time, which means that she must have also offered her insights and suggestions. Knowing this 80-something couple personally, I enjoyed reading about their lifelong work partnership.
While I write fiction, I was inspired by the way Caro posed questions to himself, questions that compelled him to dig further, to relentlessly pursue the answers. He missed deadlines by years until he reached his goal. Not surprising, his final published tomes were over 300,000 shorter than the manuscript he delivered to his editor. I can only imagine how painful those cuts have been….
I particularly found “Working” enlightening in the way Caro worked on his prose, looking for the literary voice that would hook the reader. What separates a non-fiction book that is written for public consumption from an academic book on the same subject is that perspective of always thinking about the lay reader. It came from Robert Caro’s years as a journalist working for Newsday, a Long Island, NY, a newspaper that at the time ranked as the 8th largest in the country.
“Working” also gave me some insights and a summary of Robert Moses’ character and vision. His stupendous network of highways, bridges, and parks are the infrastructure that any Long Island and New York City resident like me can well appreciate (while hoping that he had included better train services as part of his vision.) I gained fresh insight into the young Lyndon Johnson because of the extraordinary research Caro did in digging for new truths (he and Ina actually moved to the Hill country for three years in order to ingratiate themselves to the locals so that they would open up to him.) But Johnson’s political life is far too complicated and detailed to be summarized in “Working,” but can all be found in Caro’s five volumes, the last of which is still in the process of being written.
This book is recommended to lovers of history, of writing, and to book groups as there is a lot to discuss.

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May 13, 2019 Andrew Langert rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This book was recommended to me by my nephew, who is aware that I am trying to write a non-fiction book about a very accomplished man. By the title of the book, I was expecting to learn a lot about Robert Caro’s techniques, how he put together his books. There was a good amount of that in this book. But he also talked a lot about his subjects, being Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson. He also explained that he wasn’t writing about them as much as he was writing about political power, how such power ...more

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Apr 18, 2019 Brian Willis rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

If you have read any of Caro's five massive and massively important biographies (one on Robert Moses, and four and counting on LBJ), this brief 2007 collection of essays and an interview by Caro on his working methods are essential.

And if you simply want great insight in how to write non-fiction in gripping, inclusive, evocative prose, this book is also for you.

Caro has always been focused incisively on power: not democratic power, but the power wielded by people placed in offices of power that ...more

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May 28, 2019 Jessica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Note: I have never read a Caro book, but I have admire him from a distance thru interviews etc. I just can't devote that much time or brain space to Robert Moses or LBJ. I just can't.

Caro is my kind of writer, a thorough researcher. He wants the reader to see it and to feel the moment. This often causes him to go down rabbit holes of research, which extends how long it takes for him to write. Caro has sold his home to have income, moved from New York City to Texas Hill Country and has devoted th ...more

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Apr 30, 2019 Todd rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Pulitzer Prize author Robert Caro is among the most esteemed biographers, famous for his works on Robert Moses and LBJ. In this brief collection of his writings (200 pages may be the shortest of his seminal works!), Caro turns from the work of other figures to himself. Though repetitive at times on certain points due to the nature of the work as a collection of essays and interviews, here we gain a glimpse into the character and methods that have made Caro the respected authority on the wielding ...more

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May 29, 2019 Nancy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

Don't read this book on the page. Listen to Robert Caro's gravelly voice, his New York accent. Listen to him tell how he does his work, "turning every page," illuminating the lives of Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson. While some of this material has been published before in the New Yorker and in the Paris Review, if you are a Caro fan--or even if you aren't but are interested in how writers write, this is your book.

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May 08, 2019 Django rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A great pastiche of advice and remembrances from one of the greatest biographers. However, I have to admit that finally learning about his wife, Ina, about how she worked side by side with him on every book while also stretching their meager finances, I really want to read a book by her or about her (or both!).

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May 04, 2019 Margery Osborne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I had read a lot of this as excerpts in the New yorker and honestly i liked in better in small doses. Still Caro is one of my heroes and learning about his process, especially in such entertaining prose is pretty great. I do wish he had written a bio of de Gaulle!

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May 10, 2019 Jason Allison rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

An incredible, eminently readable glimpse into how one of the greatest storytellers of our age produces his considerable (The Power Broker was originally over a millions words!) output. I devoured this and you will too, whether you’re a writer or not.

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Apr 22, 2019 Melissa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019

Loved his authorial "voice" so much, I ran out and bought a copy of The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. Now, I'm just working up my courage to dive into that massive tome.

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May 10, 2019 thsabari rated it really liked it · review of another edition

GOOODDD

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About Robert A. Caro

Robert A. Caro

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He's the author of The Power Broker (1974), for which he won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize. It's a biography of Robert Moses, an urban planner and leading builder of New York City. President Obama said that he read the biography when he was 22 years old and that the book "mesmerized" him. Obama said, "I'm sure it helped to shape how I think about politics."

Caro has also written four biographies on Lyndo ...more

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The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York

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“But when I began researching Robert Moses’ expressway-building, and kept reading, in textbook after textbook, some version of the phrase “the human cost of highways” with never a detailed examination of what the “human cost” truly consisted of or of how it stacked up against the benefits of highways, I found myself simply unable to go forward to the next chapter. I felt I just had to try to show—to make readers not only see but understand and feel—what “human cost” meant.” — 2 likes

“After a while, the writers of the Allen Room invited me to lunch, which we thereafter ate almost every day in the employees’ cafeteria in the library basement. These writers included not just some who were already famous, but some who were, at the time, little better known than I was, like John Demaray, Lucy Komisar, Irene Mahoney and Susan Brownmiller, who was working on Against Our Will and would sit at the desk adjoining mine for the next two years, her petite feet, clad in brightly striped socks, sticking under the partition that divided our desks, giving me an odd feeling of companionship.” — 1 likes

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