Even the Rhinos Were Nymphos: Best Nonfiction

Better known for his novels (A Mother's Kisses), plays (Scuba Duba) and screenplays (Splash), Friedman has also garnered over the past four decades a reputation as a journalist whose sly wit complements his idiosyncratic insights. This collection of 23 nonfiction pieces, ranging from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s, brings together a sampling of the author's best magazine writing from Esquire, New York magazine and Playboy, among other publications. Friedman is at his most wry when he is writing about theater and Hollywood. In ""Tales from the Darkside"" (published in Smart in 1988), he details how a brief stint as a film producer (a far more prestigious and powerful position than that of a writer) still never got him the access and respect he desired. In ""Some Thoughts on Clint Eastwood and Heidegger,"" a quirky, idolizing meditation on the actor's life and career, he juxtaposes odd musings--such as that his cinematic hero would read the philosopher ""and get something out of it, too, maybe not all of what Heidegger was driving at, but something""--with the curious opinion that ""I don't think that sex is very important to [Eastwood]."" Often, Friedman's profiles provide a frightening glimpse into the past. The 1971 ""Lessons of the Street"" (published in Harper's) details the life and work of a New York City plainclothes detective; as Friedman deftly exposes the cop's racism and violence, we realize how much has and hasn't changed in three decades. While some of the material is (unsurprisingly) dated, the collection provides a vital and sustained look at an important American writer with a unique voice. (Oct.)