How I Got to be This Hip: The Collected Works of One of America's Preeminent Journalists Book

The finest pieces by Barry Farrell, one of America's preeminent journalists, are drawn together for the first time in this wise, funny, and moving collection. From first-person musings to scathing social commentary, Farrell chronicled the country's changing cultural tides from the 1960s through the '80s -- and articulated his views with unparalleled precision and insight. His peers (among them, Joan Didion, John Gregory Dunne, John McPhee, Calvin Trillin, and Norman Mailer) still regard him as one of the most talented nonfiction writers of his time. And what a time: Woodstock, the Manson murders, Allen Ginsberg's tender raging, Patty Hearst's kidnapping and trial, Gary Gilmore's execution/suicide, the LAPD's laughable botching of the Hillside Strangler case. Farrell somehow found his way to the center of all these media events, quickly separated the heroes from the charlatans, and went home to out-write every reporter on the scene. A must-read for students of writing and followers of journalism, How I Got To Be This Hip is a timeless mirror of America, as seen through the eyes of one of its most astute observers.Read More