First edition of a satirical novel by a longtime UPI correspondent about the transformation of a sleepy Midwestern newspaper into a New York Post-like tabloid. But then a journalism professor... This description may be from another edition of this product.
This is a wonderfully funny little novel set around the life of a reporter at a midsize Midwestern newspaper in the early-mid 1980's as the newspaper business was rapidly changing. On the surface, the newspaper is transforming as foreign backed and profit-minded owners move the paper from the era typewriters/typesetters to computers and high speed presses. At a deeper level, you also see how far modern editors and publishers have moved to raise the shock level to sell copy. Most importantly, however, it is simply a wonderfully witty little novel that is still hilarious twenty years later. It is too bad, Mr. Sawislak appears to have written no other books. I highly recommend this - if you can find a copy.
still funny after all these years
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
I re-read this novel every couple of years. It is still funny, even though it is dated. It's the story of a big city newspaper being taken over by a tabloid owned by the mob. If you can find a copy, be sure to read it. I wish the author had written more books. A comparable book is Westlake's "The Spy in the Ointment." Both are really funny.
Very, very Funny Novel
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
Although a bit dated nowadays, this was one of the most side-splittingly hilarious novels to come out in the 1980's - a fun, fast read.
A hilarious 1980's view of yellow journalism
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 26 years ago
Set in a timezone of the early 1980's, this novel reads more like a garrison keillor story than anything else.Taking it's cue from the (then) developing journalistic trends of the National Enquirer in sensationalising news to sell copy, the book trails the development of a sleepy afternoon broadsheet into a sleazy morning tabloid, witha mad english editor generating stranger and stranger headlines over stranger and stranger stories, cuiliminating in the eponymous headline.Also reminscent of the 'Fletch' series.Old, but still makes me laugh whenever I pick it up again to re-read on the commuter train, getting strange looks from fellow passengers
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