A Kid in the Newsroom
by Carl Bernstein
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jan 2022
384 pages
Genre: Biography/Memoir
Publication Information
In this triumphant memoir, Carl Bernstein, the Pulitzer Prize-winning coauthor of All the President's Men and pioneer of investigative journalism, recalls his beginnings as an audacious teenage newspaper reporter in the nation's capital - a winning tale of scrapes, gumshoeing, and American bedlam.
In 1960, Bernstein was just a sixteen-year-old at considerable risk of failing to graduate high school. Inquisitive, self-taught―and, yes, truant―Bernstein landed a job as a copyboy at the Evening Star, the afternoon paper in Washington. By nineteen, he was a reporter there.
In Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom, Bernstein recalls the origins of his storied journalistic career as he chronicles the Kennedy era, the swelling civil rights movement, and a slew of grisly crimes. He spins a buoyant, frenetic account of educating himself in what Bob Woodward describes as "the genius of perpetual engagement."
Funny and exhilarating, poignant and frank, Chasing History is an extraordinary memoir of life on the cusp of adulthood for a determined young man with a dogged commitment to the truth.
"Pulitzer Prize winner Bernstein looks back at his early days as a reporter, before his Watergate reporting made him a household name, in this entertaining memoir...Admirers of this remarkable journalist will find much to love in this charming account." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Bernstein catches history in this thoroughly absorbing read." - Booklist (starred review)
"The author's reminiscences of old-school journalism...will please newspaper buffs, those who read the memoirs of H.L Mencken and Joseph Mitchell. Of wider interest is Bernstein's depiction of Washington in a time of desegregation and racial turmoil...An appealingly nostalgic view of a political past unriven by political tribalism, chronicled by a reporter with an eye on history." - Kirkus Reviews
"Chasing History is the brilliantly crafted personal story of Carl Bernstein's self-education as one of the great reporters of all time. He taught himself the genius of perpetual engagement that led us to Watergate―watching, looking, questioning, and overwhelming the moment. His rules―go anywhere, listen hard, push and push some more―are, to this day, the touchstone in investigative reporting." - Bob Woodward, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author of 14 #1 New York Times bestselling books
"I loved getting to know the teenage Carl Bernstein, a smart and spirited kid who happened upon the best seat in the country at an extraordinary moment in our national life. The reader marvels as Bernstein, equipped with infinite curiosity and grit, goes from copyboy to newsman, from chasing history to making it." - Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times #1 bestselling author
"Engaging and vivid, this memoir of the beginning of Carl Bernstein's journalistic journey is a welcome reminder of how important the press is, and how much fun it used to be. Reading it I was put in the mind of Russell Baker―always a good thing. A terrific read!" - Jon Meacham, #1 New York Times bestselling author of His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope
This information about Chasing History was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Carl Bernstein is the author or coauthor of five bestselling books, most notably All the President's Men, written with Bob Woodward. He, Woodward, and the Washington Post were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for breaking and investigating the Watergate story, which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon and set the standard for modern investigative reporting. He is also the author of biographies of Pope John Paul II and Hillary Clinton and a memoir of his family's experiences during the McCarthy era. He is currently an on-air political analyst for CNN and a contributing editor for Vanity Fair. He lives in New York City.
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