Publishers Weekly
★ 11/01/2021
Pulitzer Prize winner Bernstein (All the President's Men) looks back at his early days as a reporter, before his Watergate reporting made him a household name, in this entertaining memoir. With wry humor, he describes his apprenticeship "in the newspaper trade from ages sixteen to twenty-one." Though his poor grades and record as a juvenile delinquent made it seem that "the odds were against my ever amounting to much," Bernstein recounts how in 1960, with the help of his father, he got an interview at the now defunct Washington Star. Thanks to his persistence and charisma, Bernstein secured a job there as a copyboy and moved rapidly up the ranks. He amusingly recounts going from covering local stories to reporting on major political events—such as the fledgling Kennedy administration—all while juggling the mundanities of high school: "Now that I had covered the inauguration of the president of the United States," he recalls, "Mr. Adelman's chemistry class interested me even less." Just as enthralling are his quaint recollections of growing up in D.C., at a time when being raised there felt "akin to living in a small town that also happened to be the capital of the United States." Admirers of this remarkable journalist will find much to love in this charming account. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
A self-contained, beautifully written, powerfully remembered, charmingly honest account of the lower rungs of an already-changing business.”
—David Von Drehle, The Washington Post
“His career spans the profession’s best of times and the worst, though the story he tells in Chasing History evokes only the happy days. . . . Carl Bernstein’s book, which is ultimately a eulogy for print newspapers, is a passionate reminder of exactly what is being lost.”
—Jill Abramson, The New York Times Book Review
“[A] charming new memoir. . . . This is a book chiefly distinguished by nostalgia and warmth.”
—Thomas Mallon, The Wall Street Journal
“Bernstein doesn't mention his later fame in Chasing History—this is a memoir limited to a set period of time, and he resists the urge to look forward. This gives the book its strength: It's not self-aggrandizing; it's content to be what it is, the story of a few years in the life of a young man getting his foothold in journalism. The book is marked by an appealing humility; while others might regard Bernstein as a living legend, his own opinion of himself seems much more measured.”
—NPR
“His picture of life on the Star is both vivid and elegiac. He captures the frantic rhythms of a big newspaper and its multiple editions—the first published at 11am, the last after Wall Street’s close—and the craft of the men and (still relatively few) women who made it all happen.”
—The Economist
“A warm and inviting read.”
—The Guardian
“At its best . . . Chasing History offers a unique view on American history and one journalist's maturation.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“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 best-selling 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
“Carl Bernstein’s Chasing History is an irresistible, beautifully written memoir, not just of Carl’s own coming of age but also of the nation’s capital at a time of momentous social and cultural change. The book spans the period exactly 100 years after the Civil War years, and the epic struggle for racial justice is a major theme. Along the way we meet a host of indelible characters, including some of the greatest journalists of their generation. In a sense, Chasing History is misnamed: Bernstein captures his quarry, magnificently.”
—Eugene Robinson, Washington Post columnist and MSNBC political commentator
“The author’s reminiscences of old-school journalism—with its chaotic newsrooms, hot type, and guarded friendships among sources and writers—will please newspaper buffs, those who read the memoirs of H.L Mencken and Joseph Mitchell. . . . An appealingly nostalgic view of a political past unriven by political tribalism, chronicled by a reporter with an eye on history.”
—Kirkus
“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
Library Journal
12/10/2021
Pulitzer Prize—winning journalists Bernstein and Woodward set the standard for investigative reporting for decades to come with their work on the Watergate scandal. Bernstein (co-author, All the King's Men) chronicles how he got his start as a newspaperman prior to his ground-breaking career with the Washington Post. As a teenager, he was determined to become a journalist, obtaining his first job as a copyboy at the Washington Star through perseverance, knowledge of the Washington, DC, metro area, and the typing skills he acquired in high school instead of taking the shop classes expected of him at the time. Although not academically inclined, he moved up in the organization through his dedication and hard work, eventually taking on political reporting jobs and doing investigative research for the paper. With engaging writing, he details his path from copyboy to a dictationist to an award-winning journalist, offering insight into the political events he covered along the way. VERDICT Aspiring journalists and readers interested in mid-20th-century news events and politics will enjoy this colorful slice-of-life portrait of a bygone era, where once the clatter of a typewriter and the bustle of a newsroom permeated the newspaper industry.—Donna Marie Smith, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., FL
JANUARY 2022 - AudioFile
Carl Bernstein’s investigative reporting on Watergate changed America for the better—or at least shook Americans out of our complacency regarding politicians. Narrator Robert Petkoff, with an occasional assist from the author, takes listeners back to the beginning. Sounding like an indulgent grandfather telling his life story to his grandchildren, Petkoff recounts how a scrappy high schooler managed to worm his way into the WASHINGTON STAR newsroom at age 16. We see the work ethic that drove Bernstein to greatness years later at the WASHINGTON POST, where he and Bob Woodward took down the president by publishing the scandal. This work focuses on his first decade at the POST's competitor, the STAR, and shows how he learned his craft. This audiobook will provide hope to any would-be journalist. M.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2021-10-26
Journalist Bernstein casts a sometimes appreciative, sometimes condemnatory eye on covering the Washington, D.C., of old, from Jim Crow to Camelot.
Best known as Bob Woodward’s partner in cracking the Watergate conspiracy, Bernstein grew up with ink in his blood. Even as a child he was obsessed with newspapers—and it was a golden age for newspaper readers, with nearly every city in the country hosting at least two rival publications. Until the early 1980s, Washington had two dailies: the Washington Postand the Evening Star. As a high schooler, Bernstein bluffed his way into a copyboy position at the latter: “What the copyboys did…was anything the reporters or editors asked. They pretty much made it possible for the whole place to function.” His winning trait? Not any writing ability but a phenomenal typing speed, learned in a class that got him out of shop class. The whole of Washington became Bernstein’s beat, guided by skilled editors who sent him on assignments such as covering the parade at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration with the warning, “Be there at six a.m. Schaden will be the rewrite man. Don’t try to write—just tell him what you saw.” The author’s reminiscences of old-school journalism—with its chaotic newsrooms, hot type, and guarded friendships among sources and writers—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, when city officials drained public pools “rather than allow Black families to swim in them.” Of being raised in D.C., the author writes, “I thought sometimes, [it] was akin to living in a small town that also happened to be the capital of the United States. Washingtonians had a kind of double vision of these people—as ordinary neighbors, but also as historic figures.” Bernstein is now one such figure, and his book bears that weight.
An appealingly nostalgic view of a political past unriven by political tribalism, chronicled by a reporter with an eye on history.
