As one of the first top New Yorker
writers in the 1930s and beyond, Liebling helped set the magazine's sophisticated, urbane tone, and his essays are crackling enough to remain unique decades later. The writer took on a range of subjects, from the earthy to the urbane, and blurred the line between reportage and essay writing. Remnick isolates the qualities that made Liebling a powerful force in the magazine's early years, noting that his work was almost invariably vibrant, no matter the topic. Heady words, considering the breadth of subjects in this volume; Liebling's discourses are stuffed with the observations of a savvy globetrotter. Even as a child, he created a "small personal Olympus" that included George Washington, Lillian Russell and Enrico Caruso, and he explains the quirks that landed each in his affections. As an adult, Liebling was fond of food, preferably foreign, and boxing, especially bare knuckled. Also included is considerable WWII reporting, blending description with minor detail. Throughout, Liebling's style is zesty, lifting readers up with erudition, but keeping them grounded: "In the light of what Proust wrote with so mild a stimulus, it is the world's loss that he did not have a heartier appetite." Fans of gourmand and bon vivant Liebling won't have the same complaint. (Sept.)
