cover image The Art of Fact: An Historical Anthology of Literary Journalism

The Art of Fact: An Historical Anthology of Literary Journalism

. Scribner Book Company, $35 (560pp) ISBN 978-0-684-83041-4

There is a lot of wonderful writing here, but the book is organized more as a textbook than as a collection for general readers. The headnotes not only are sketchily biographical but often furnish pithy, stylistic particulars about technique when the writer displays an approach that sets off his or her work from others'. Yet despite the care in the selection of historical extracts (from Defoe to Jack London) as well as of more contemporary examples, there are no explanatory notes. The journalists represented are both name figures, such as Hemingway and Mailer, and top newspaper and magazine pros; and the selections range from appalling to moving to hilarious. Although many memorable lines are too idiosyncratic to be lessons to aspiring writers, Rosemary Mahoney's description of two Irishwomen--one with short hair ""laid on in clumps, like sod,"" the other with longer hair ""like Spanish moss""--inspires admiration. Perhaps the shortest and certainly among the best is Michael Winerip's 800-word column from the New York Times in 1987, ""Holiday Pageant: The Importance of Being Bluebell,"" a gem of observation, selective quotation and sensitivity. As the editors Kerrane (Dollar Sign on the Muscle) and Yagoda (Will Rogers) demonstrate, there is an art of fact. (Aug.)