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Journalists and Journalism: A Collection of Recommended Books 

Although many among us no longer read through a daily newspaper, the work of journalists around the world, ranging in media from print to digital to radio and television, remains one of the main ways that we discover information about the news and issues of the day. This month’s list of recommended titles includes a variety of novels and nonfiction focusing on the craft, lives, and challenges faced by journalists in the pursuit of this important profession.

Although many among us no longer read through a daily newspaper, the work of journalists around the world, ranging in media from print to digital to radio and television, remains one of the main ways that we discover information about the news and issues of the day. This month’s list of recommended titles includes a variety of novels and nonfiction focusing on the craft, lives, and challenges faced by journalists in the pursuit of this important profession.

Digital book (DB), braille (BR), large print (LT), and audio described videos (DVD) copies of these titles are available from the Perkins Library or the Worcester Talking Book Library. Please contact the library to order any of these books.

Prepared by Leah Ellenbogen

Children’s Resource and Service Librarian

Perkins Library


The Accidental Life: An Editor’s Notes on Writing and Writers

by Terry McDonell

DB 85255, Available as BARD Download

Former editor at Time, Newsweek, Esquire, and other publications recounts his work experiences and the people he knew, including Hunter S. Thompson, David Carr, and Steve Jobs, among others. Provides advice on developing a career in journalism and publishing. Strong language. 2016.

Download The Accidental Life, DB 85255

After Visiting Friends: A Son’s Story

by Michael Hainey

DB 79371, Available as BARD Download

Michael Hainey used his reporter skills to uncover the truth behind his newspaperman father’s death decades earlier when Michael was six. Bob Hainey was found alone near his car on Chicago’s North Side, dead of an apparent heart attack “after visiting friends,” but it was surrounded by mystery. 2013.

Download After Visiting Friends, DB 79371

All the President’s Men

by Carl Bernstein and Robert Woodward

DB 50574, BR 13143, Available as BARD Download

Two Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporters chronicle their investigation of the Watergate scandal, which began as a burglary of the Democratic National Committee Headquarters on June 17, 1972. They explain the events that precipitated their first suspicions and led them to ascertain the truth. Some strong language. Bestseller. 1974.

Download All the President’s Men, DB 50574

Download Braille, All the President’s Men, BR 13143

American Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell

by Deborah Solomon

DB 78042, Available as BARD Download

Author of Jackson Pollock: A Biography (DB 27937) examines the life and work of Norman Rockwell, preeminent illustrator for the Saturday Evening Post. Examines Rockwell’s struggles with depression and the ways the disorder influenced his work. Chronicles the evolution of visual journalism from illustration to photography and television. 2013.

Download American Mirror, DB 78042

Bad City: Peril and Power in the City of Angels

by Paul Pringle

DB 109684, Available as BARD Download

In April 2016, a salacious tip arrived at the L.A. Times that reporter Paul Pringle thought should have taken, at most, a few weeks to check out: a drug overdose at a fancy hotel involving one of the University of Southern California’s shiniest stars-Dr. Carmen Puliafito, the head of the prestigious medical school. Pringle, who’d long done battle with USC and its almost impenetrable culture of silence, knew reporting the story wouldn’t be a walk in the park. USC is the largest private employer in the city of L.A., and it casts a long shadow. But what he couldn’t have foreseen was that this tip would lead to the unveiling of not one major scandal at USC but two, wrapped in a web of crimes and cover-ups. 2022.

Download Bad City, DB 109684

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness

by Susannah Cahalan

DB 76074, Available as BARD Download

New York Post reporter’s account of the mysterious disease that mimicked mental illness and almost killed her in 2009, when she was twenty-four years old. Describes her eventual diagnosis–NMDA-receptor autoimmune encephalitis, a rare brain infection that causes seizures and paranoia–and her successful treatment and recovery. Some strong language. 2012.

Download Brain on Fire, DB 76074

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators

by Ronan Farrow

DB 97040, DB 101827 (Spanish), LT 27145, Available as BARD Download

In 2017, a routine network television investigation by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author revealed that one of Hollywood’s most powerful producers was a predator. Describes the surveillance and intimidation tactics deployed by wealthy an