From the inimitable New Yorker journalist Lillian Ross—“a collection of her most luminous New Yorker pieces” (Entertainment Weekly, grade: A).
A staff writer for The New Yorker since 1945, Lillian Ross is one of the few journalists who worked for both the magazine’s founding editor, Harold Ross, and its current editor, David Remnick. She “made journalistic history by pioneering the kind of novelistic nonfiction that inspired later work” (The New York Times).
Reporting Always is a collection of Ross’s iconic New Yorker profiles and “Talk of the Town” pieces that spans forty years. “This glorious collection by a master of the form” (Susan Orlean) brings the reader into the hotel rooms of Ernest Hemingway, John Huston, and Charlie Chaplin; Robin Williams’s living room and movie set; Harry Winston’s office; the tennis court with John McEnroe; Ellen Barkin’s New York City home, the crosstown bus with upper east side school children; and into the lives of other famous, and not so famous, individuals.
“Millennials would do well to study Ross and to study her closely,” says Lena Dunham. Whether reading for pleasure or to learn about the craft, Reporting Always is a joy for readers of all ages.
Lillian Ross is an American journalist and author who has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1945. She began as a “Talk of the Town” reporter and, over the course of her career, she has written hundreds of pieces, contributing to nearly every section of the magazine.
Table of Contents
Foreword David Remnick xvii
Introduction Lillian Ross xxi
I Players
Young and Happy Julie Andrews 1954 3
Come In, Lassie! 1948 6
Sgt. Pepper 1967 16
Workouts Robin Williams 1986 20
Mr. and Mrs. Williams 1993 24
Auteur! Auteur! Al Pacino 1995 42
Two Dames Maggie Smith Judi Dench 2005 46
II Writers
How Do You Like It Now, Gentlemen? Ernest Hemingway 1950 51
Movement 1960 78
Life Line 1960 83
Theatre Edward Albee 1974 88
Oprah's Understudy Gayle King 2000 93
III Youngsters
Symbol of All We Possess 1949 99
The Yellow Bus 1960 122
Dancers in May 1964 140
Mays at St. Bernard's (Willie Mays) 1973 147
The Shit-Kickers of Madison Avenue 1995 150
IV New Yorkers
El Único Matador 1949 157
Terrific 1954 169
The Big Stone Harry Winston 1954 196
The Sporting Scene John McEnroe 1997 244
Camaraderie Ralph Kiner 2004 246
Ellen Barkin at Home 2005 249
V Big Cheeses
Feeling Lost (Charlie Chaplin) 1950 255
Picture, Part I: Throw the Little Old Lady down the Stairs! 1952 258
