Mr. Apology and Other Essays [Hardcover]

Alec Wilkinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 2003

Mr. Apology and Other Essays is a miscellany of misfits, cranks, daredevils, nuts, eccentrics, and lone wolves. From a piece on a Romanian cab driver who intends to cross the Bering Strait in his taxi to a celebration of two renowned hockey fighters, from Ry Cooder's collaboration with Cuban musicians in 1996 (which resulted in the celebrated Buena Vista Social Club) to a behind-the-scenes look at a Rolling Stones dinner party in 1983, Wilkinson brings to these pieces an intelligence and compassion that taps our deepest sense of humanity. The breadth of these essays is rare; with the same sensitivity and insight, Wilkinson explores Paul Simon's writer's block as well as the puzzling epidemic of blindness that afflicted 150 Cambodian women, refugees from the Khmer Rouge. In the title piece, Wilkinson describes the experience of a New York City artist who invites people to call and leave an apology -- any kind of apology, for anything -- on his answering machine. When one caller seems to divulge a deadly secret, the line becomes a complicated vehicle for both confession and delusion.
Alec Wilkinson's place in American writing, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, is among "the first rank of literary journalists . . . One is reminded of Naipaul, Mailer, and Agee." Entertaining, revelatory, and exemplary in their craftsmanship, these are essays to ponder, to learn from, to be appalled and inspired by. Mr. Apology displays the art of the essay at its finest.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This collection of essays and vignettes draws upon more than 20 years' worth of writing, primarily for the New Yorker. The magazine's profile writers tend to concentrate on a certain type, and quintessential Wilkinson involves tagging along as a creative personality operates at the fringes of his or her "art world," as in "Mr. Apology," in which a the curator of an apology hotline becomes caught up in one caller's frenetic murder confession. In the book's first section, we encounter the man who does Elmore Leonard's research; a photographer who specializes in taking pictures of "secret" cars before they are brought to market; and a group of urban gymnasts who perform in a vacant lot in the South Bronx. Even the most famous subjects, like Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, maintain some level of obscurity; the profile of rock legend Paul Simon is mostly about the near solitude in which he toils at his craft. The middle section is more personal, about raising a child who may have Asperger's syndrome and about Wilkinson's relationship with William Maxwell (more or less duplicating his previous book, My Mentor). The last five essays, including the title piece, end the volume on a down note, but among them a chilling 45-page portrait of John Wayne Gacy is among the author's best work. It crystallizes three aspects of Wilkinson's talent displayed throughout this collection: vivid descriptions of the settings in which he conducts his interviews, keen psychological insight and an intuitive sense of when to step back and let his subjects speak for themselves.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In My Mentor (2002), longtime New Yorker writer Wilkinson paid tribute to the late great William Maxwell, the man who taught him to write, and Wilkinson's original profiles of Maxwell grace this impressive, even thrilling essay collection, a showcase for his uniquely studied insouciance, driving curiosity, and covert metaphysical inquiry. In his "cameos," Wilkinson appears to be casual and charming but is, in fact, intently precise and shrewdly observant. Confessing his broken dream of being a rock-and-roll musician, Wilkinson allows his love of music to infuse his wholly involving portraits of Bob Weir, Ry Cooder, and Paul Simon. Having served briefly as a small-town cop, he has a thing for souped-up cars, loves hockey, and is drawn to tough, ambitious guys such as Larry King and Elmore Leonard (he actually portrays Leonard's "legman"). Frankly intrigued by criminality and violence, Wilkinson writes with jolting matter-of-factness about suicide, John Wayne Gacy, and, in the eerie title piece, an artist who sets up an "apology" phone line that snares a possible murderer. Powerful stuff. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (October 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618123113
• ISBN-13: 978-0618123117
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,828,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars an eclectic collection, November 7, 2003

By 

Jacqueline R. McCarthy (Arlington, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mr. Apology and Other Essays (Hardcover)

I picked up this book after enjoying some of Wilkinson's numerous "New Yorker" pieces. This collection is truly eclectic, covering subjects/people as diverse as Asperger's Syndrome, John Wayne Gacey, the Rolling Stones, an NHL goalie and survivors of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime. It was a bit difficult to get a concrete sense of Wilkinson's voice, but his breadth of coverage and respect for his topics/themes definitely showed in the essays. I especially liked how elegantly he managed to describe his feelings toward these topics. Worth reading.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Potpourri of Well-Crafted Essays., January 27, 2005

By 

Bohdan Kot (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mr. Apology and Other Essays (Hardcover)

Alec Wilkinson brings a stimulating read with "Mr. Apology and other essays;" most of the essays were previously published in "The New Yorker." The first part hosts a cast of eccentric characters that easily compete with Kramer's adventures on the TV show "Seinfeld." Wilkinson is able to delve into the core of an individual within the space of twenty pages or less. In "Elmore's Legs" we meet Gregg Sutter, the legman for crime-writer Elmore Leonard - the person who does Leonard's research. Wilkinson also explores what makes hockey goalie Mike Richter, drag-strip champion racer John Force and others tick.

In the second part the laughs taper off as a tone of seriousness envelops his reflections about his son who has many of the characteristics of Asperger's syndrome. "The world with its lights and intensities bears down on them with terrific force." He also warmly remembers his mentor, William Maxwell, an editor at "The New Yorker." Although the subjects are obviously close to his heart, he does not stray into sentimentality and is objective so much so that it seems like he is interviewing himself.

Within the third part Wilkinson examines the rule of the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot as seen by two Cambodian women who are now mysteriously blind like numerous others from that tribulation period. The author effectively translates the daily horror and puts the reader in the women's vantage point. The text is difficult at certain moments to digest. But his essay on John Wayne Gacy, convicted of killing thirty-three boys, the most in America, is ultra creepy; some of these passages you might want to skip entirely. However, even if you have a weak stomach, the rest of the essays should be considered compulsory reading due to the author's ability to articulate clearly each person's reason for being.

Bohdan Kot

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elegant and Intelligent Writing, September 12, 2007

By 

Dan Bogaty "Mr. Congeniality" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Mr. Apology and Other Essays (Hardcover)

Alec Wilkinson's MR. APOLOGY is a collection of essays covering a wide variety of subjects and, while I believe that anyone who picks up this book will find at least some stories of interest, I found nearly all of them fascinating. The reason for this, besides the obvious - that Wilkinson chooses interesting subjects - is that he is an outstanding writer. He writes reportorially, with a non-judgemental and elegant grace.

The book is divided into three sections. The first consists of stories about, among others, interesting creative people (Paul Simon, Bob Weir), athletes (hockey enforcers Tony Twist and Joe Kocur), and people with unusual occupations (funny car driver Joe Force). There is a terrific story about Larry King which has nothing to do with his TV career, but deals humorously with his life as a child and a teenager. Many writers would play some of these stories for laughs, poking fun at or distancing themselves from at least some of the subjects of these stories (for example a cab driver in New York whose goal is to drive his cab to the Arctic Ocean). Wilkinson does not do this and treats all of his subjects with respect and dignity.

The second and third sections deal with weightier matters. To mention a few there is an essay about instances of non-organic blindness in Cambodian women who witnessed and lived through brutal torture during a war. I found this section difficult to read because of the inhuman (or, actually, tragically human) mistreatment of captive Cambodians, but not because of Wilkinson's writing which was the only reason I was able to finish the piece.

There is an amazing piece which resulted from the author's many hours of interviews with convicted serial murderer John Wayne Gacy. I cannot imagine reading a better interview with this kind of subject, although I would also recommend Robert Mladinich's masterful FROM THE MOUTH OF THE MONSTER about another serial killer, Joel Rifkin. Given the sheer savage soullessness of Gacy's crimes, Wilkinson's writing is understated and is not at all sensational. I'd like to mention a couple of his many comments about Gacy I found interesting. At one point he likens Gacy, who would clearly be an unappealing person had he not committed any crimes, to a person in a bar with whom you have begun a conversation and cannot subsequently get rid of. And later he writes that Gacy "lives with the knowledge of having done something horrible by refusing to live with it. He is like someone who inhabits a parallel world..." This is an incisive description, and, parenthetically, seems a stunningly apt description of President George W. Bush's relationship with his Iraq war. But I guess that's another conversation.

I have saved for last Wilkinson's achingly touching essay about the birth of his son, and his wife's and his gradual realization by the time he is pre-schooler that he is socially awkward and probably has Asperger's Syndrome. Wilkinson's love for the child and his fear of what he will encounter in the world are heartbreaking. The next essay is a companion piece about a friend's grown son who has Asperger's. Both of these essays, while emotionally intense, are dignified and Wilkinson never lapses into melodrama or self-pity.

Alec Wilkinson writes intelligent prose for intelligent readers. I'd give
MR. APOLOGY 100 stars if I could.