Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom

Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom

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  • Type:Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date:2022-01-01 10:21:14
  • Update Date:2025-09-07
  • Status:finish
  • Author:Carl Bernstein
  • ISBN:1627791507
  • Environment:PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Summary

The Pulitzer Prize-winning co-author of All the President’s Men—the chronicle of the investigative report about the Watergate break-in and resultant political scandal which led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation—recalls his formative years as a teenage newspaper reporter in JFK’s Washington—a tale of adventures, scrapes, clever escapes, and the opportunity of a lifetime。

“Carl Bernstein, Washington Star。”

With these words, the sixteen-year-old senior at Montgomery Blair High School set himself apart from the high school crowd and set himself on a track that would define his life。 Carl Bernstein was far from the best student in his class—in fact, he was in danger of not graduating at all—but he had a talent for writing, a burning desire to know things that other people didn’t, and a flair for being in the right place at the right time。 Those qualities got him inside the newsroom at the Washington Star, the afternoon paper in the nation’s capital, in the summer of 1960, a pivotal time for America, for Washington, D。C。, and for a young man in a hurry on the cusp of adulthood。

Chasing History opens up the world of the early 1960s as Bernstein experienced it, chasing after grisly crimes with the paper’s police reporter, gathering colorful details at a John F。 Kennedy campaign rally, running afoul of union rules, and confronting racial tensions as the civil rights movement gained strength。 We learn alongside him as he comes to understand the life of a newspaperman, and we share his pride as he hunts down information, gets his first byline, and discovers that he has a talent for the job after all。

By turns exhilarating, funny, tense, and poignant, Chasing History shows us a country coming into its own maturity along with young Carl Bernstein, and when he strikes out on his own after five years at the Star, his hard-won knowledge and experience feels like ours as well。

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Reviews

Beverly

I won a copy of this book on Goodreads First Reads。 This is a fascinating and well-written book。 I love memoirs and this is one of the best。

Isabel

An engaging perspective on history, you could feel like you were living in his shoes

Dave

Carl Bernstein is best known as the crack Watergate reporter played by Dustin Hoffman in All the President’s Men。 When you see a book about Bernstein, you immediately think Watergate。 However, what he offers us in this autobiographical sketch is something other then Watergate。 Rather, We Meet a young Carl a few years earlier, from his high school years at 16 through his newspaper apprenticeship as a copy boy and then a reporter until age 21 or roughly 1960 through 1965。What we readers get is two Carl Bernstein is best known as the crack Watergate reporter played by Dustin Hoffman in All the President’s Men。 When you see a book about Bernstein, you immediately think Watergate。 However, what he offers us in this autobiographical sketch is something other then Watergate。 Rather, We Meet a young Carl a few years earlier, from his high school years at 16 through his newspaper apprenticeship as a copy boy and then a reporter until age 21 or roughly 1960 through 1965。What we readers get is two things。 First, we get a coming-of-age story of young Carl, bored with high school, and fascinated by the newspaper business back when we had real journalism。 The story is how this young kid worked his way onto the reporting staff despite barely finishing high school and never finishing college。 On the way, we learn firsthand about the newspaper business。Secondly, by virtue of working at a newspaper in the nation’s capitol, Carl had a front-row seat to world-altering events from the launch of Sputnik to the electrifying voice of a young senator from Massachusetts, from the lunch counter civil rights sit-ins to the shocking demise of the young president。 Few of us had teenage years so intimately entwined with the great events of the day。Well-written, intriguing, and hard to put down, Bernstein’s autobiography limited as it is to a few exciting years is one you shouldn’t miss, particularly if you want to hear a firsthand perspective of the early years of the Sixties。 。。。more

s。

excited to start this!

Jill

I found myself engaged by this book in learning about the workings of reporting/publishing in this Washington, DC, newspaper's history plus biography of an interesting writer。 I recommend it for the storytelling and the history。 I found myself engaged by this book in learning about the workings of reporting/publishing in this Washington, DC, newspaper's history plus biography of an interesting writer。 I recommend it for the storytelling and the history。 。。。more

Jackie

Carl Bernstein is the storied partner of Bob Woodward, the Watergate investigative reporter。 Bernstein tells his story of being a young journalist in Washington, DC, and all the old-time newspaperman he worked for。 One would think that this would be a fascinating read, and a few sections are, such as his witnessing JFK's presidential election campaign stop at a suburban high school。 However, a good deal of the book is taken up with rather mundane recountings of people and places Bernstein encoun Carl Bernstein is the storied partner of Bob Woodward, the Watergate investigative reporter。 Bernstein tells his story of being a young journalist in Washington, DC, and all the old-time newspaperman he worked for。 One would think that this would be a fascinating read, and a few sections are, such as his witnessing JFK's presidential election campaign stop at a suburban high school。 However, a good deal of the book is taken up with rather mundane recountings of people and places Bernstein encounters over the years。 。。。more