Saturday, June 07, 2008

George Will: five best books on opinion journalism

George F. Will is a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary and the Bradley Prize for Outstanding Intellectual Achievement. His new book is One Man's America: The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation.

For the Wall Street Journal, he named a five best list of books about opinion journalism.

One title on his list:
Between Meals
by A.J. Liebling
Simon & Schuster, 1962

"In bed," wrote A.J. Liebling about one of his Parisian mistresses, "she was a kind of utility infielder." High praise, and enough said. Liebling, who wrote for the New Yorker, is remembered primarily for his collections of writings from the European theater of World War II ("Mollie and Other War Pieces"), his reporting about boxing ("The Sweet Science") and his musings on journalism ("The Wayward Pressman"). "Between Meals" is a neglected feast. Its subjects are food, drink and even better pleasures of the flesh, for which Liebling had a robust appetite and concerning which he wrote with wonderful verve. Some will say that these essays of appreciation and gratitude do not count as journalism, which is about wars and budgets, not mistresses and meals, but why should not journalism also be about the important stuff?
Read about the book that topped Will's list.

--Marshal Zeringue