Customer Reviews

Scruffy

What makes Blow's columns work so well is that he recognizes quality in stories and knows how to draw it out. We're certain many of his subjects were unaware of just how interesting their stories were.

In his forward (he claims to have been happy as a reporter), Blow describes his promotion to columnist and his editor's sage advice of "let your subjects be the stars in your column - not you". We think he knew that and that's why he got the job. Well, he's still a reporter, but a reporter who recognizes a good human-interest story, and knows how to tell it.

The man is very heavy on observation - refreshingly short on opinion. The diverse subjects of his columns are entertaining, but through Blow's words one also feels a sense of shared wonder.

I was so excited to see that his columns were made into a book. There are a lot of columns of his I had missed, so this is a great way of catching up. I only wish that this book was longer, and included more columns from the 97-00 era, but maybe the next one will have more. :)

Even if you don't live in the Dallas metroplex area, buy this book for some humor, some old fashioned but still relevant views, and for a good read.