Between the lines : a reporter's personal journey through public events

by Dan Wakefield

"It would be good if every young person at the start of a career whether in journalism, the arts, politics. law--or any practice still open to individual venture--were to read Between The Lines and make use of it as a manual of courage, knowledge and conduct." --May Swenson "Dan Wakefield is an entertaining, often rueful and revealing guide as he conducts us through his journalistic quests. The literary technique involved is analogous to the novelistic the writer in the present, leafing through past articles and reminiscing about how much came to be written, then flashing us directly to what he wrote." --New York Times Book Review. "There could be no more convincing evidence for his arguments in favor of a more personal journalism than his own achievement, and I offer teachers of journalism a suggestion that might help to raise the general level of the craft. I recommend that they stop mouthing their hoary maxims, such as "Always put the main facts of a story into the lead paragraphs." presumably on the assumption that the reader will be so bored by the lead that he won't bother to look further. Instead they should hand out copies of this book and tell their students to try to imitate Wakefield's techniques. At the very least, that would the effect of showing the students how much there is to learn. I certainly feel indebted to the author for valuable professional instruction, and also for an evening of undiluted pleasure" --Sarel Eimerl, The Reporter (from the back cover of this book)

Unknown Binding

First published April 1, 1966