Deadline Artists: Scandals, Tragedies & Triumphs: More of America’s Greatest Newspaper Columns

For this stellar sequel to the previous Deadline Artists collection, veteran journalists Avlon (Independent Nation), Angelo (executive editor of the New York Post), and Louis (host of NY1’s Inside City Hall) assemble another tantalizing sampler of the finest examples of newspaper writing, spotlighting scribes who wrote “short stories that really happened.” The trio divides the book into sections—scandals, tragedies, and triumphs—and orders the pieces chronologically. Whether it’s Nellie Bly in disguise as a Cuban immigrant exposing patient abuse at an insane asylum in 1887, Damon Runyon giving his colorful take on mobster Al Capone for a 1931 column, or Jim Dwyer’s brief tale of a World Trade Center window-washer’s escape on 9/11, the writing is consistently first-rate. Standouts include John Steinbeck’s 1936 column on the plight of dust bowl farmers, Walter Lippman’s insightful 1948 Gandhi profile, and Bob Greene’s sensitive and revealing 1991 column on Michael Jordan. Also on the star-studded journalistic roster are talents like Jack London, H.L. Mencken, Murray Kempton, Jimmy Breslin, Nora Ephron, and Ellen Goodman. Entertaining and informative, this collection is a timeless celebration of history and its talented recorders. Agent: Ed Victor Ltd. (U.K.). (Dec.)