Speaking of Journalism: 12 Writers and Editors Talk About Their Work [Paperback]

William Knowlton Zinsser (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For a course on nonfiction writing he taught at the New School in Manhattan, Zinsser invited 11 of his former Yale students, who are now journalists, to talk "about how they work and what they believe." For aspiring and working journalists, and others curious about the field, these edited talks--divided into categories like politics, people, sports, social issues, etc.--make an instructive collection. The New Yorker 's Mark Singer relates that he reads fiction to help him to develop his own voice. Freelancer Jennifer Allen stresses that a fair-minded editor is more valuable than "all the exposure in the world." Newsweek 's Melinda Beck maintains that editors sometimes only become aware of issues when their friends call them to their attention. Zinsser adds a thoughtful postscript to each chapter; for example, recounting how he gathered emotional content for his book American Places and advising reporters to "push the boundaries of your subject."
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

Veteran journalist and writing teacher William Zinsser, whose books on writing have sold more than 700,000 copies, presents 11 of his most successful students discussing what it is like to work as a journalist in the 1990s.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (September 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062720643
• ISBN-13: 978-0062720641
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #442,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Current Events > Mass Media

More About the Author

William Zinsser, a writer, editor, and teacher, is a fourth-generation New Yorker, born in 1922. His 18 books, which range in subject from music to baseball to American travel, include several widely read books about writing.

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction, first published in 1976, has sold almost 1.5 million copies to three generations of writers, editors, journalists, teachers and students.

Writing to Learn which uses examples of good writing in science, medicine and technology to demonstrate that writing is a powerful component of learning in every subject.

Writing Places, a memoir recalling the enjoyment and gratitude the places where William Zinsser has done his writing and his teaching and the unusual people he encountered on that life journey.

Mr. Zinsser began his career in 1946 at the New York Herald Tribune, where he was a writer, editor, and critic. In 1959 he left to become a freelance writer and has since written regularly for leading magazines. From 1968 to 1972 he was a columnist for Life. During the 1970s he was at Yale, where, besides teaching nonfiction writing and humor writing, he was master of Branford College. In 1979 he returned to New York and was a senior editor at the Book-of-the-Month Club until 1987, when he went back to freelance writing. He teaches at the New School and at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is an adviser on writing to schools, colleges, and other organizations. He holds honorary degrees from Wesleyan University, Rollins College, and the University of Southern Indian and is a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library.

William Zinsser's other books include Mitchell & Ruff, a profile of jazz musicians Dwike Mitchell and Willie Ruff; American Places, a pilgrimage to 16 iconic American sites; Spring Training, about the spring training camp of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1988; and Easy to Remember: The Great American Songwriters and Their Songs; and he is the Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir. A jazz pianist and songwriter, he wrote a musical revue, What's the Point, which was performed off Broadway in 2003.

Mr. Zinsser lives in his home town with his wife, the educator and historian Caroline Zinsser. They have two children, Amy Zinsser, a business executive, and John Zinsser, a painter and teacher.