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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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