Book description
Gay Talese is the father of American New Journalism, who transformed
traditional reportage with his vivid scene-setting, sharp observation
and rich storytelling. His 1966 piece for Esquire, one of the most
celebrated magazine articles ever published, describes a morose Frank
Sinatra silently nursing a glass of bourbon, struck down with a cold and
unable to sing, like Picasso without paint, Ferrari without fuel only
worse . The other writings in this selection include a description of a
meeting between two legends, Fidel Castro and Muhammad Ali; a
brilliantly witty dissection of the offices of Vogue magazine; an
account of travelling to Ireland with hellraiser Peter O'Toole; and a
profile of fading baseball star Joe DiMaggio, which turns into a moving,
immaculately-crafted meditation on celebrity. Gay Talese (born
February 7, 1932) is an American author. He wrote for The New York Times
in the early 1960s and helped to define literary journalism or 'new
nonfiction reportage', also known as New Journalism. His most famous
articles are about Joe DiMaggio, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. He lives
in New York with his wife, Nan Talese.
