Uncivil Liberties SIGNED COPY

by Calvin Trillin

Clean, bright used copy with tight binding. NEVER a library book./lh

Genres: Humor, Essays, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Calvin (Bud) Marshall Trillin is an American journalist, humorist, and novelist. He is best known for his humorous writings about food and eating, but he has also written much serious journalism, comic verse, and several books of fiction.

Trillin attended public schools in Kansas City and went on to Yale University, where he served as chairman of the Yale Daily News and became a member of Scroll and Key before graduating in 1957; he later served as a trustee of the university. After a stint in the U.S. Army, he worked as a reporter for Time magazine before joining the staff of The New Yorker in 1963. His reporting for The New Yorker on the racial integration of the University of Georgia was published in his first book, An Education in Georgia. He wrote the magazine's "U.S. Journal" series from 1967 to 1982, covering local events both serious and quirky throughout the United States.

Reviews

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trillin strikes again, this time with a collection of columns from his stint at The Nation, the noted left-wing magazine. As always, his writing is sharp and elegant. Here he's writing about administrations from Reagan to Carter, and doing it with dry wit and verve. No one remains unscathed, and the swipes at Nancy Reagan are delicious. While he's known for his food writing, people forget his large body of political pieces. This will remind them.

The only reason this gets four instead of five stars is its age. While it holds up rather well, many people won't get the references, since it depends on knowing who these characters (and they are that) are. Otherwise, it's definitely a five-star book.

[Marigold · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short book of funny essays written in the 70s and 80s. I hesitate to write too much about Calvin Trillin, for fear of making a grammatical or spelling error! The essays are great - a bit dated, but it was fun saying, "oh yeah, I remember that!" about the Carter & Reagan administrations. Of course, some things never change - in one essay, Trillin writes about a member of the Reagan admin who says he can't possibly get by on only $150,000 a year (in 1981) - which reminds me of the people currently whining about the possibility of higher taxes, who make over $250,000 a year! (Get over it, people.)

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an early collection of Trillin's columns for the Nation Magazine, focusing on the Carter and early Reagan administrations. Trillin, unusually in a topical columnist, produces work that doesn't usually date; it remains funny even though the lead characters have faded from the political scene.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading this one. Still as funny now as when it was written in the 70s/80s.

Finished...now, on to Trillin's Tummy Trilogy....

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny writer

[Terry Steinborn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Calvin Trillin is, in my opinion, one of the funniest writers in the US today, right up there with Carl Hiaasen on a good day. Had I read this book in the 1980's I would undoubtedly have given it a 4 or maybe 5 star rating, but at this time many of the critical referents are no longer relevant or, in some cases, only dimly remembered. Trilling is at his best when writing about food, which unfortunately in not the case in this book.