Gene Weingarten

The subtitle of this book should have been The Extraordinary Stories of an Ordinary 24 Hours in America; it would have better encapsulated what this book is about, in a way.

A day was chosen at random - December 28, 1986 - and Weingarten digs into the stories and events that happened in that 24 hours, fleshing out their backstories and, in some cases, providing epilogues (I appreciated this; it always annoys me that news outlets rarely follow up on stories). Some of them are beyond tragic; events that were catalysts for change both at home and around the world. Some of the stories are terrible and shocking on a more personal level, and many are hopeful, a few inspiring, and a couple are downright cheerful.

I remember being drawn to this book by the striking cover, and thinking that I'd enjoyed Bill Bryson's One Summer, so I grabbed it on impulse when it first came out. It languished on my TBR for the last 3 years, give or take, until I finally grabbed it last weekend, and it grabbed me right back. Weingarten is a journalist, so the narrative voice is unapologetically journalistic, but he's a 2 time Pulitzer winning journalist, so the writing is excellent. I found myself deeply involved in each and every story - even the ones I'd really rather have been more detached from. I was both reading parts out to MT, and telling him you really need to read this yourself. The stories are American, but very few of them are uniquely American; they're stories of the human experience and for the most part could be the experiences of anyone, anyplace.

Weingarten didn't quite stick the landing; the wrap up was a tiny bit messy and might have been tighter, neater, had he ended it a page sooner, but it's a negligible niggle and really didn't detract from a fascinating read.… (más)

This is an exceptional book and one that recommend to anyone who enjoys great writing, great reporting, and amazing stories. Cliches are weak and devoid of meaning, so if I say that truth is stranger than fiction it will pretty much just wash over you and have no effect. I’m going to say it anyway. The premise here is that Gene Weingarten literally picked a date out of a hat, or 3 hats to be precise one each for month, date, and year, and then went out to write essays on interesting things that happened on that day. The date of December 28, 1986 was not an easy one but wow what he does with it. I continue to be blown away by his ability to weave stories together and avoid any feeling of going down too many diversions and alleys. If you graph out the flow of this pieces there are some that would look like a complete mess but he has such a feel for how long to stay on something and when to peruse an angle that you never notice. The first story in this book may be one of the single best pieces of writing I’ve ever read. I finished it and I had to dab away a tear. It could have been a tear of joy, sadness, or anger, because every one of those emotions is dealt with. I cannot imagine how much work went into creating 375 pages of text from a date that was over 30 years in the past when he started. I suspect the percentage of his work that made it to print was very low. I will say that the work was worth it. I cannot recommend this book enough.… (más)