BOOK REVIEW

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

MY PAPER CHASE--True Stories of Vanished Times by Harold Evans

OVERVIEW: Andrew Marr calls this "A jaw-dropping social history...the best education possible in what true journalism's all about." In My Paper Chase, Harold Evans recounts the wild and wonderful tale of his newspapering and publishing odyssey, which would take him from Manchester to London and finally to America. In England, he would become the editor of two of the most famous newspapers in the world, The Sunday Times and The Times of London. Along the way, Evans would crack England's biggest spy scandal; expose the cause of the world's deadliest DC-10 air crash; reveal shocking truths about what was happening in Northern Ireland; and uncover one of the greatest health scandals of the century. In New York he began all over again as a book publisher, acquiring the memoirs of Colin Powell, Marlon Brando, Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon--and a then-unknown law school graduate by the name of Barack Obama. He also became a bestselling writer. In an age when newspapers everywhere are under threat, My Paper Chase is a poignant reminder of all that they have been, and all that they can be again.

MY REVIEW: This is my last book review for 2009. There was a time when I thought that I would not be able to complete the review this year. It is a big book of five hundred and eighty pages. My schedule during the holidays, like yours, was full.

If you are interested in journalism and enjoy reading exciting and interesting memoirs, you will love this book. The generous folks at Hachette Books are allowing me to give away five copies of this big, hard cover edition. But if you are not into reading about journalism and stories of vanished times then you will not want to request a copy of this book. In fact, I ask you, please do not request a copy if you know you will not read it. Sure it will look good on your book shelf but that is not what it's for.

I enjoyed My Paper Chase and I know that many others will also. I just do not know if the readers of my blog are among those people. Leave a comment and an e-mail address if you want to be entered in the drawing. I will close this giveaway January 12, 2010.