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Rating: 
Summary: Excellent
Review: An excellent collection of profiles. Even when the subject is not particularly interesting, reading about them is. Extremely well written and gives you both the big picture and the little picture.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: No one writes better profiles than David Remnick, and you can find plenty of them in this book. From his language to his structure to his unfailingly adept choice of detail, he is a master.My one caveat is that _The Devil Problem_ doesn't always succeed in *making* the subject interesting, at least not in the cases of the most public figures. You need to go into the Reggie Jackson profile with a basic interest in Reggie Jackson. But Remnick's profiles are all comprehensive and eviably well-written. If you want to know what Reggie's up to these days, I doubt you could find a better short profile to satisfy your curiosity.
Rating: 
Summary: Inquisitive journalism
Review: Some readers might question why David Remnick revisited incidents that happened long time ago, but the book itself is still a wonderful read. The book tackled with several notable characters that mattered to the United States but for outsiders like myself, this book is a gem for providing me with backgrounds upon characters like Alger Hiss (one episode of "West Wing" dealt with the grand daughter of a dying man, based upon Alger Hiss' character who sought a pardon from the President before he passed away), George Stephanopoulos (who played a pivotal role in the Clinton's campaign & his head to head with Dick Morris (again, reminding us of "West Wing"), Marion Barry (the article questioned if segregation in the States is working better than integration, & relating that with the the recent Southern State of Mississipi debacle over retaining the Rebel Cross in its flag or not), Elaine Pagles (which brought to our attention the origin of Devil & questioned over the validity of Christianity in contemporary setting comparing it against Dead Sea Scroll), & so forth. For light-hearted moment, there were articles on Michael Jordan & Dennis Rodman (describing the icon that the initial has become, & the honesty of the latter populist who is enjoying the moment for who he is). Then, there were articles upon international characters such as Gerry Adams (which possibly hinted that a terrorist shall always remain a terrorist irrespective of the PR exercise to make him who he's not), the celebration of Kenzaburo Oe's works which were inspired by his undying devotion to his handicapped child, Hikari Oe, who himself was acclaimed as an accomplished musician). Writing is David Remnick's passion & journalism has been part of his life & he wouldn't let the chance slip by without writing of 3 distinctive news personalities such as Ben Bradlee (cliche of networking & manipulation thru media via influential people), Al Neuharth (of making every news positive reading by all people), Murray Kempton (of bringing dignity & integrity into the art of journalism). Needless to say, news is perishable. Today's news is history tomorrow & much of what's featured here are history now but it's good to read of the past so that we undertood more profoundly of what made USA today, & the celebration of the art of inquisitive journalism. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Inquisitive journalism
Review: Some readers might question why David Remnick revisited incidents that happened long time ago, but the book itself is still a wonderful read. The book tackled with several notable characters that mattered to the United States but for outsiders like myself, this book is a gem for providing me with backgrounds upon characters like Alger Hiss (one episode of "West Wing" dealt with the grand daughter of a dying man, based upon Alger Hiss' character who sought a pardon from the President before he passed away), George Stephanopoulos (who played a pivotal role in the Clinton's campaign & his head to head with Dick Morris (again, reminding us of "West Wing"), Marion Barry (the article questioned if segregation in the States is working better than integration, & relating that with the the recent Southern State of Mississipi debacle over retaining the Rebel Cross in its flag or not), Elaine Pagles (which brought to our attention the origin of Devil & questioned over the validity of Christianity in contemporary setting comparing it against Dead Sea Scroll), & so forth. For light-hearted moment, there were articles on Michael Jordan & Dennis Rodman (describing the icon that the initial has become, & the honesty of the latter populist who is enjoying the moment for who he is). Then, there were articles upon international characters such as Gerry Adams (which possibly hinted that a terrorist shall always remain a terrorist irrespective of the PR exercise to make him who he's not), the celebration of Kenzaburo Oe's works which were inspired by his undying devotion to his handicapped child, Hikari Oe, who himself was acclaimed as an accomplished musician). Writing is David Remnick's passion & journalism has been part of his life & he wouldn't let the chance slip by without writing of 3 distinctive news personalities such as Ben Bradlee (cliche of networking & manipulation thru media via influential people), Al Neuharth (of making every news positive reading by all people), Murray Kempton (of bringing dignity & integrity into the art of journalism). Needless to say, news is perishable. Today's news is history tomorrow & much of what's featured here are history now but it's good to read of the past so that we undertood more profoundly of what made USA today, & the celebration of the art of inquisitive journalism. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Dated Devil
Review: There's nothing wrong with any of these stories. They're all just fine. And certainly each of the subjects is worthy of a profile. But this is a peculiarly unsatisfying book all the same. With the "news hook" for each piece having long since faded, it's hard to see what it is that keeps these stories alive, and why they're worth revisiting again between the covers of a book. Besides, Reminick is hardly a contrarian in his "takes" on the people he writes about. The founder of USA Today is a fool, while Ben Bradlee is possessed of larger-than-life charisma, etc. A couple of pieces are exceptions: The Gary Hart profile is memorable, for instance - but do you really want to read about Gary Hart now? The recent collection of classic New Yorker profiles (assembled by Remnick, of course, who is the editor of that magazine) is a complete contrast, filled with stories that really do stand the test of time.
Rating:
Summary: Dated Devil
Review: There's nothing wrong with any of these stories. They're all just fine. And certainly each of the subjects is worthy of a profile. But this is a peculiarly unsatisfying book all the same. With the "news hook" for each piece having long since faded, it's hard to see what it is that keeps these stories alive, and why they're worth revisiting again between the covers of a book. Besides, Reminick is hardly a contrarian in his "takes" on the people he writes about. The founder of USA Today is a fool, while Ben Bradlee is possessed of larger-than-life charisma, etc. A couple of pieces are exceptions: The Gary Hart profile is memorable, for instance - but do you really want to read about Gary Hart now? The recent collection of classic New Yorker profiles (assembled by Remnick, of course, who is the editor of that magazine) is a complete contrast, filled with stories that really do stand the test of time.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful profiles coupled with beautiful prose-Buy it now!
Review: This is a terrific book. I have appreciated Remnick's profiles in the NEW YORKER, but here, read one after another, they have a cumulative power. Remnick's prose is clear and graceful. He also achieves a feat rare in profile writing: He manages to let us know what he thinks without ever clouding the reader's ability to make his or her own judgments. Bravo!
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