Willie and Dwike: An American Profile [Hardcover]

William Knowlton Zinsser (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; 1st edition (June 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060152753
• ISBN-13: 978-0060152758
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #904,433 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read, December 22, 2008

By 

Wecanoe "Ole" (Washington State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Willie and Dwike: An American Profile (Hardcover)

I received this book as a gift some years ago. I am a jazz fan (wannabe trad jazz banjo player), also classical, Americana, et al.; anything that is played with skill, intelligence and passion. This book is very well written and provides insight into the amazing lives of two of our many unheralded jazz virtuosos. I have read it more than once and taken their lessons on life and music to heart the best that my abilities allow. A very good read for anyone with a strong interest in the history of jazz and more broadly in music and life.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth reading, January 31, 2010

By 

Jonathan P. Hodgson (Philadelphia PA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Willie and Dwike: An American Profile (Hardcover)

I knew about Willie Ruff from the last chapter of this book when it appeared in the New Yorker. The rest of the book is quite up to that standard. Reading this book helped me listen better to Willie and Dwike and gave me some insight into their experience.

5.0 out of 5 stars A great (literate) read., October 17, 2011

By 

Patricia Macias "pia" (san diego, ca) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Willie and Dwike: An American Profile (Hardcover)

Two very inspiring, adventurous, entertaining guys, made even more attractive by William Zinsser. He could write nursery rhymes and I'd read them. A great book for any jazz lover. I think it should be mandatory reading for modern music lovers. AND...you can read it in one evening.