Overview
An exhilarating journey through the world of books, featuring personal reflections on Susan Sontag, Huey Newton, Barbra Streisand, W. G. Sebald, and Christopher Hitchens. ""A troublemaker of the good kind since his youth, Wasserman continues to inspire with his vigorous dedication to the life of the mind, exhibited with clarity and grace in this book."" -Viet Thanh Nguyen Born on the West Coast, the son of Bronx-born parents, Steve Wasserman is a generalist and public intellectual but is perhaps less well known as a cultural essayist and social critic of the first rank. In thirty splendid essays, originally published in such diverse publications as The New Republic and The Nation, The American Conservative and The Progressive, The Village Voice and The Economist, Wasserman delivers a riveting account of the awakening of an empathetic sensibility and a lively mind. Taken together, they reveal the depth and breadth of his enthusiasms and range over politics, literature, and the tumults of a world in upheaval. These essays include the remarkable tale of a bookstore owner who wouldn't let him buy the books he wanted, to his brave against-the-grain take on the Black Panthers, to his shrewd assessment of the fast-changing world of publishing. Here is, as Joyce Carol Oates notes, ""arguably the very best concise history of Cuba and the legendary Fidel Castro; beautifully composed eulogies for two close friends, Susan Sontag and Christopher Hitchens; sharply perceptive commentary on Daniel Ellsberg; a thrillingly candid interview with W. G. Sebald.""
Full Product Details
Author: Steve Wasserman
Publisher: Heyday Books
Imprint: Heyday Books
ISBN: 9781597146470
ISBN 10: 1597146471
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 21 November 2024
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Available To Order
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Reviews
"Advance Praise for Tell Me Something, Tell Me Anything, Even If It's a Lie: ""It's such a pleasure to see the cream of Steve Wasserman's writings now collected, from the remarkable tale of a bookstore owner who wouldn't let him buy the books he wanted to his brave against-the-grain take on the Black Panthers to his shrewd assessment of the fast-changing world of publishing. He is, as he says of his late friend Susan Sontag, an 'omnivore'—about politics, about literature, and about the way the rebellious currents he first encountered in 1960s Berkeley have continued to ripple through American life. The resulting volume is a feast."" —Adam Hochschild, author of American Midnight"
"Advance Praise for Tell Me Something, Tell Me Anything, Even If It's a Lie: ""It's such a pleasure to see the cream of Steve Wasserman's writings now collected, from the remarkable tale of a bookstore owner who wouldn't let him buy the books he wanted to his brave against-the-grain take on the Black Panthers to his shrewd assessment of the fast-changing world of publishing. He is, as he says of his late friend Susan Sontag, an 'omnivore'—about politics, about literature, and about the way the rebellious currents he first encountered in 1960s Berkeley have continued to ripple through American life. The resulting volume is a feast."" —Adam Hochschild, author of American Midnight ""Steve Wasserman's wit and passions are on full display in this collection of fine essays, crammed full of insights and anecdotes from several (apparently very fun) decades in the literary world. Editor, publisher, agent, and bon vivant, Wasserman enjoys books, ideas, friends, and progressive politics, and his love for them all is infectious. A troublemaker of the good kind since his youth, Wasserman continues to inspire with his vigorous dedication to the life of the mind, exhibited with clarity and grace in this book."" —Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of A Man of Two Faces"
Author Information
Steve Wasserman is publisher of Heyday. A 1974 graduate of UC Berkeley, he holds a degree in criminology. His past positions include being deputy editor of the op-ed page and opinion section of the Los Angeles Times; editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review; editorial director of New Republic Books; publisher and editorial director of Hill and Wang at Farrar, Straus & Giroux and of the Noonday Press; editorial director of Times Books at Random House; and editor at large for Yale University Press. A former partner of the literacy agency Kneerim & Williams, he represented many authors, including Christopher Hitchens, Linda Ronstadt, Robert Scheer, and David Thomson. He lives in Berkeley, California.
