Pulitzer: A Life [Hardcover]

Denis Brian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 14, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0471332003 | ISBN-13: 978-0471332008 | Edition: 1

Acclaim for Denis Brian's Einstein: A Life

"The best account.... Superb insight." --The Times (London)

"Denis Brian's convincing picture...only makes our wonder grow at Einstein's sublime achievements." --The Washington Post

"Does much to reveal the man behind the image.... Brian's intimate work proves that in literature, as in science, taking a careful look can be a rewarding endeavor." --Detroit Free Press

"A fascinating, vastly enjoyable, deeply researched and fair account of Einstein the man." --Physics World

"Exhaustively researched, almost obsessively detailed, written with unobtrusive informality, the book is exemplary as a record of Einstein's personal and professional life." --The Spectator (u.k.)

"An utterly fascinating life of a great scientist, full of new insights and very readable." --Ashley Montagu

"A fascinating read with more interesting material about Einstein as a human being than I have ever seen before.... Once I started it, I couldn't put it down." --Robert Jastrow, astrophysicist and bestselling author

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Without question, newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer lived a notable life. Born in 1847 in Hungary, he traveled to the U.S. as a teenager to fight for pay in the Civil War. He learned English, became a lawyer, got involved in politics and later in journalism. He bought the struggling St. Louis Post-Dispatch, then turned the New York World into a superb daily newspaper by upholding the following fool-proof tenet: "cater to the masses and earn their trust." By the time of his death in 1911, Pulitzer had achieved global fame. Unfortunately, Brian delivers a largely warmed-over version of Pulitzer's life. In the acknowledgments, Brian (biographer of J.B. Rhine, Ernest Hemingway and Albert Einstein) thanks previous chroniclers of Pulitzer's life. If Brian's study contains anything of significance missed by those biographers, it is well hidden. The endnotes only occasionally mention primary documents (such as the many extant letters to and from Pulitzer), citing instead, over and over, earlier books about the publisher. Brian details Pulitzer's big newspaper stories, such as "A Dastard's Deed: Cold-Blooded Treachery at Last Conquers Jesse James," concerning the official price on James's head and the confidante who betrayed him. Though interesting, the rehashed news stories don't make for a meaty biography. In 1994, Brian published a book about the life-writing craft that is relentlessly critical of prominent biographers; the title was Fair Game: What Biographers Don't Tell You. Here, Brian fails to tell readers why they should read this highly derivative biography.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Joseph Pulitzer emigrated to the United States from his native Hungary in 1864 for a bounty offered by Union army recruiters. Discharged in 1865, he made his way to St. Louis, where with little command of English at the start, he got involved in local politics, entered the newspaper business, and eventually gained control of the Post-Dispatch. In 1883, he bought the New York World, then revolutionized American journalism and became wealthy through his sensational approach to the news and his grasp of the entertainment role of newspapers. Highly eccentric, a near-invalid for much of his life, Pulitzer is a marvelous subject for biography. Yet Brian, author of Einstein: A Life and other biographical works, has not done a marvelous job with his material. Readers will find a patchy narrative, which too often treats Pulitzer simply as a character, without insight into his person or perspective on his era. W.A. Swanberg's Pulitzer (1967) is a better book, and David Nasaw's biography of Pulitzer's great contemporary and rival, The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst (LJ 6/1/00), a much better book. An optional purchase for journalism collections. Robert F. Nardini, Chichester, NH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (September 14, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471332003
• ISBN-13: 978-0471332008
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,355,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Exhaustive and Exhausting, December 21, 2001

By 

J.R. (Erie, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pulitzer: A Life (Hardcover)

It is only upon reaching the very last page of this 395 page biography that the reader comes to understand why this portrait of Pulitzer is so disappointing and, frankly, uncomfortable to read. There, the author cites as one of his sources, a PhD thesis from the 1940s which drew upon an interview with Mr. Pulitzer's aging valet. This interview. pursued at the urging of Pulitzer's son, revealed, apparently for the first time, Pulitzer's virtually disabling depression, the havoc it wreaked on the management of his papers and the misery it brought to his family. If one strips away the "eccentricities" catalogued in exhaustive detail by the author one is left with a narrative that is hardly insightful or illuminating. Like Mr. Pulitzer's beleaguered hirelings and pathetic and emotionally abused family members, the author seems to struggle to divine brilliance in every move of this isolated and miserable man. That Pulitzer and his "World" transformed and empowered the newspaper business at the turn of the last century is without question and the author provides a somewhat lively and entertaining picture of that business in those days. However, by asking the us to bear with Pulitzer through page after page of troubling and, often, psychotic behavior, the author imparts no more than the conventional appreciation of the proverbial "thin line between genius and madness." The reader comes to suspect that the key to the success of the "World" may actually have derived from the triumph of the genius of others over Pulitzer's madness; a test of this hypothesis requires more richly researched characterizations of the editors and reporters who labored beneath the Dome than the author has produced. In fact, the author rarely strays from Pulitzer's side such that what must have been a vibrant publishing world remains unidimensional and sketchy. By the end of this work, the nature of Pulitzer's genius remains obscure and relatively bereft of insight; it is his madness that is most appreciated as the reader emerges from an exhausting virtual immersion in the psychodrama that dominates this biography.

2.0 out of 5 stars Pulitzer hagiography gets tiring, August 25, 2004

By 

S. McIntosh "smac55" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pulitzer: A Life (Hardcover)

The writing is clear and the narrative of his life is straightforward, if plodding at times (especially regarding his later life). The descriptions of Pulitzer's time in St. Louis and his earliest years in New York City are the most interesting parts of the book, with excellent anecdotes showing the rough and tumble world of newspapers in the mid 19th century. Once he becomes seriously debilitated from gradually losing his sight and an unexplained (psychosomatic?) illness in which even clinking silverware on teeth apparently caused unbearable headaches and pain, the book slows down in places.

The latter part also increasingly shows the largely uncritical approach the author takes toward Pulitzer. Given his apparently tyrannical personality and the consequences for employees and family, it feels as if the repercussions of these bad traits are mostly glossed over. Pulitzer's extreme aversion to loud sounds apparently didn't extend to his own voice, for example, as he would go into frequent rages and tantrums at the slightest thing. Pulitzer's claims to stand up for the common man also go largely unquestioned, even when times are mentioned of him directing editorial content to help his wealthy friends. If he was so concerned about the common man, it seems he would have treated his employees better and paid them more, as Hearst made frequent raids on his staff and hired them away.

The book gives a good overall view of his life and leaves the reader with some memorable images of the man, but a more critical perspective on him and how his life, business, and personality affected the newspaper industry would have made this book much better.

5.0 out of 5 stars A great bio of an intriguing man, October 19, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Pulitzer: A Life (Hardcover)

Joseph Pulitzer was a fascinating man. His battles with Hearst and his role in the foundation of modern journalism are the stuff of legend. However, I never actually realized how much of an impact Pulitzer had on the 20th century until I read Brian's terrific bio. Well worth the read.