Customer Reviews

Floating Off the Page: The Best Stories from the Wall Street Journal's Middle Column

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The middle column on The Wall Street Journal's front page has always been a refreshing break from the general seriousness and deluge of information throughout the paper. As such it has always been a respository of wit, quirky facts, humanity, and general eccentricity. As an adjunct instructor for Investments at a local college, I like to refer to the existence of the column to alter preconceptions about this otherwise serious newspaper. On occasion I have cut out the stories to leave on our kitchen table for family members. So, a collection of these
wonderful stories is very welcome. I immediately think of the loopy Brit who has constructed a medieval "siege engine" for lobbing dead horses (it was medieval thing) or soon-to-be-dead pianos a hundred yards down range. Many of us can relate to the social perils of inadvertently making a cell phone call by hitting a re-dial button and having our conversations unknowingly monitored. And I fret for the fellow who protects the Stanley Cup as it makes its appointed party rounds among ice hockey's winning athletes. A very different tone is struck in the "struggles of [sea] otter 76" to survive the toxic effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. It is a moving story that sticks to the reader's mind like petroleum goo. A vignette about Serbian snipers is both disturbing and memorable in its grimy banality. I do miss in this collection the oddity of a giant blue anatomically proportioned bug crouching on the roof of a Providence, RI exterminator. I also miss the WSJ's distinctive pixel illustrations of the people and things that are the subject of these columns. Their absence is an unfortunate editorial lapse since so many of the stories are memorable human interest sketches of ordinary people in unusual roles. But readers should not be too disappointed. This is a worthy, reasonably priced gift book and recommended vacation read!

Like many readers checking out this book, I've read the "middle column" for years. I'm bemused to learn everyone else calls it the same thing. What else could it be called? "That funky human interest article in the WSJ that has no direct relationship to anything else in the paper"? Maybe, but that would take too long to say.

"Floating off the Page: The Best Stories from The Wall Street Journal's "Middle Column"" covers all those stories you missed. On one hand, it is just a collection of articles from a well-read newspaper column. On the other, it is a peek into the unusual world we live in. As bizarre as some of these stories are, as much as you'll look and tell the other person with you, "listen to this, there's this guy in New York who...", these are real life.

It isn't all humor, but you'll find many a chuckle in the book. You'll wonder where and how they found these people, but you'll be drawn into every page. The middle column isn't one of those selection of odd newswire stories, but a fully-researched look into one story, and all its oddities. They are written with as much erudite literary prowess as the rest of the WSJ, but without the MBA-level knowledge required.

Coffeehouses should stock this one, as well as waiting rooms at dentists' office everywhere.

I fully recommend "Floating off the Page: The Best Stories from The Wall Street Journal's "Middle Column""

Anthony Trendl

This collection of mostly humorous, occasionally tragic, but always clever stories is a pleasure to read and to consider stealing from. The "middle column" of the Wall Street Journal is where you'll find all kinds of quirky, off-beat pieces on people or issues you thought you might not care about. But the writing draws you in and makes you care about the eccentric Englishman who's built a medieval siege engine, or the doomsday group, or the guy who tests aircraft viability by hurling dead chickens through the air, or the Laotian navy, and the more than 60 other characters presented in this book. While the quirkiness of finding these stories surrounded by the much more serious reporting of financial stories might catch your eye, the content of the material will hold it.
This is a great book for people looking for another view of the world and what's important. And journalists take note: there's a goldmine of story possibilities in this book.

There are the usual dull collections and then there's this fun and easy to read anthology covering stories from the silly (psychedelic toad smokers) to the serious (the post-Sept. 11 torment of a WTC postal clerk) to the sublime (a trip along Australia's dingo fence.) The writing often rises to high-end magazine writing yet you aren't required to wade through 10,000-word pieces. These stories are about 1,500 words on average--perfect bedtime prose bites.

A few times a year we need a gift for someone whose tastes and interests are not well known to us. After perusing the many brief essays that make up this book, I know this will be a choice we'll use again and again.

First, the editor chose widely among dates available, resulting in a selection that includes not only material from the past decade, but studies that reach into the early sixties. It is intriguing to play a little game whilst reading each story: what decade is it? Sometimes you'll win; sometimes the answer will have you scratching your head for a while.

Second, the range of topics is virtually encyclopedic: from the academic ("The Art of the Perfectly Awful", a writing contest), to the esoteric ("The Bean of His Existence", about improving the quality of beans), to the banal ("Naked Assumptions", about nudist prudists), to the frankly bizarre ("Bear Hunting Is Hard on Wives"). There is much here you do not know about; there is probably plenty you have never heard of before.

Finally, some of the material is side-splittingly funny, some is thought provoking, and some is frankly poignant. This is far from being a one-note book; it invokes a full range of emotion whilst it ranges across time, geography, and subjects. This makes it a good gift for yourself or, for that matter, nearly anyone.

It's always been my favorite column in the paper every morning. Snippets about the Sapinta, Romania town with their last tart words ("I was a mechanic. I always worked hard. As long as I lived, I hated the Communists. And I loved the schnpps. Drink one for me."), the wild wallabies in NY ("and they probably were seen by several natives who figured it would be best just to keep quiet - and quit drinking"), the Alaskan otters, and the mailrooms of WTC come to mind. I can't wait for another volume. A story that I particularly enjoyed was too recent to be included in this volume - the one about a reporter with a cubicle in the Pentagon who was last published before I was born. The first reviewer here who gave a low rating based on "dryness" because of the story's "informational" focus rather missed the point didn't she? Sheesh. If you appreciate your daily dose of life's interesting nooks and crannies, you'll enjoy this volume.

I enjoyed this so much that I got a copy for somebody else, who pointed out that chapter 25 ("The Steak Tender, the Soup Positively Rodentine") is apparently cited as an urban legend. That left me wondering how many of these columns are "real" and how many are just cleverly woven yarns. But real or not, it's a terrific read.

This is a fun, lively and provocative reader and a good book for the guy or gal too busy to tackle a 500 word novel or nonfiction book. Most of the stories are on the humorous side--Klingon translators fighting over how to best translate the Bible; teetotalling nudists; dwarf throwers. You get the picture. A few of the pieces are serious and poignant and beautifully written. The haunting tale of the Exxon Valdez otter smeared in oil and struggling to survive is one example. I bought one for myself and one for my father--it's a great Father's Day gift.

For those who enjoy good journalistic writing, these stories are like eating a box of chocolates. Reading one or two a day can be a real treat. Reading a half dozen at a time may leave a saccharine aftertaste.

Editorial arrangement of the stories in topical groups is reasonable enough, but the editor plays coy with the date of composition, putting it at the end of the essay. It's as if the topics are so airy, it makes little difference whether they're true in the recent past or forty years ago. Enjoy the writing, chuckle over the odd characters profiled, don't take the book too seriously.

Admittedly, I knew very little about the Middle Column of the Wall Street Journal before reading this book. Now, I might just have to get a subscription to WSJ! The stories unfold as if they are the creation of some short story writer. Would you ever think that getting a hole-in-one in golf could be a bad thing? Well, in Japan, it is....in a way. And if you think that Stephen King writes a lot of books, wait until you hear about the man who holds the world record. A lot of the stuff you will learn from this book is mainly to entertain friends, but it's just as entertaining as reading a novel. Plus, you will get a perspective of how people thought 25 years ago and just how right they were. The only thing preventing the book from getting 5 stars is that it might be a tad bit on the "long" side and the editor attempts to group the stories by content. Personally, I would have rather had it completely mixed up because one of the chapters is a bit "dry." All in all, a great read that will have you smiling quite a bit.