Reporting Always: Writings from the New Yorker

This enticing volume of 32 selected works from Ross's tenure at the New Yorker is filled with gems written over the course of the veteran staff writer's seven-decade career. The collection, which is organized into categories such as "Players," "Youngsters," and "Big Cheeses," prioritizes subject over chronology and shows the consistency of Ross's reporting over the years. Several pieces deal with actors and directors. Ross captures Julie Andrews, for example, at the start of her stage career in 1954. She follows Maggie Smith and Judi Dench when they arrive in New York City to promote the 2005 film Ladies in Lavender, carefully observing as the dames navigate a series of newspaper interviews and television appearances. Ross also imbues less famous individuals with punch and personality. In a piece from 1995, he reports on 10th graders who attend private high schools on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The teenagers are blunt and strong-willed, a subculture unto themselves. Writing about celebrities, Ross shows how they can be like the rest of us; focusing occasionally on seemingly mundane folks, she reminds readers that ordinary is not necessarily dull. (Nov.)