Want a NOOK? Explore Now
Jessica Mitford was a member of one of England's most legendary families (among her sisters were the novelist Nancy Mitford and the current Duchess of Devonshire) and one of the great muckraking journalists of modern times. Leaving England for America, she pursued a career as an investigative reporter and unrepentant gadfly, publicizing not only the misdeeds of, most famously, the funeral business (The American Way of Death, a best seller) and the prison business (Kind and Usual Punishment), but also of writing schools and weight-loss programs. Mitford's diligence, unfailing skepticism, and acid pen made her one of the great chroniclers of the mischief people get up to in the pursuit of profit and the name of good. Poison Penmanship collects Mitford's finest pieces - about everything from crummy spas to network-TV censorship-and fills them out with the story of how she got the scoop and, no less fascinating, how the story played out after publication. The book is a delight to read: few journalists have ever been as funny as Mitford, or as gifted at getting around in those dark, cobwebbed corners where modern America fashions its shiny promises. It's also an unequaled and necessary manual of the fine art of investigative reporting.
"As good a primer on reporting as I've read, a powerful antidote to all the recent mumbo-jumbo written about journalism-as-art."---Carl Bernstein
Preface vii
Introduction 3
Trial by Headline 28
Comment 40
St. Peter, Don't You Call Me 43
Comment 50
Proceed with Caution 53
Comment 57
You-All and Non-You-All 60
Comment 76
Americans Don't Want Fancy Funerals 79
My Way of Life Since The American Way of Death 89
"Something to Offend Everyone" 93
Comment On Three Funeral Pieces 103
Don't Call It Syphilis 108
Comment 124
Maine Chance Diary 128
Comment 145
Let Us Now Appraise Famous Writers 148
Comment 170
A Talk with George Jackson 182
Comment 190
My Short and Happy Life as a Distinguished Professor 192
Comment 214
The Best of Frenemies 217
Comment 220
Checks and Balances at the Sign of the Dove 222
The Dove Strikes Back 225
Comment On Two "Dove" Pieces 230
Waiting for O'Hara 234
Comment 244
Egyptomania 246
Comment 271
Overview
Jessica Mitford was a member of one of England's most legendary families (among her sisters were the novelist Nancy Mitford and the current Duchess of Devonshire) and one of the great muckraking journalists of modern times. Leaving England for America, she pursued a career as an investigative reporter and unrepentant gadfly, publicizing not only the misdeeds of, most famously, the funeral business (The American Way of Death, a best seller) and the prison business (Kind and Usual Punishment), but also of writing ...