Second Drafts of History: Essays

by Lance Morrow

In his forty years as a working journalist and essayist for Time and other magazines, Lance Morrow has developed a sterling reputation as one of the most thoughtful and insightful of contemporary writers. Here is a selection of his best essays from recent years, drawn from Time, Civilization , his online writing, and other venues. In sparkling prose, he explores topics as varied as the joys of reading ("A Refuge for Insomniacs"), the grim reality of a visit to Sarajevo ("The Ruin of a Cat, The Ghost of a Dog"), and the lighter side of his high-school education under the Jesuits ("Fifteen Cheers for Abstinence"). In other essays, he relates his encounters with the ghost that haunted his house in rural New York and offers a sparkling tribute to the wit and legacy of Bugs Bunny animator Chuck Jones. Here, too, are his closely observed examinations of our globalized a wry observation on why tourists eventually destroy every place they visit ("I Came, I Saw, I Ruined Everything") and the impassioned, controversial essay that he wrote for Time on the afternoon of September 11 that won him his second National Magazine Award. Second Drafts of History presents one of America's finest writers at the top of his game.

Genres: Nonfiction

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Lance Morrow was an American essayist and writer, chiefly for Time magazine, as well as the author of several books. He won the 1981 National Magazine Award for Essay and Criticism and was a finalist for the same award in 1991. He had the distinction of writing more "Man of the Year" articles than any other writer in the magazine's history and has appeared on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and The O'Reilly Factor. He was a former professor of journalism and University Professor at Boston University.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of short essays, most of them 2-3 pages. I thought it would be good evening reading, coming as it does in little bites; but I kept wanting to read one more, and then one more, and then... I was done. The best essays made me laugh out loud; and the worst were still pretty good.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I usually avoid books that have no continuity such as this one. Mostly it's a collection of essays the author wrote for Time magazine, circa 1980-2004. Here are a few caustic observations: (1) Reagan was not a dunce altogether but an ordinary man who explicitly became magic when lights and camera were switched on, (2) Mondale's voice was like wind through fence wire on a grim day in a Minnesota winter, (3) LBJ fell for the Vietnam tar baby, (4) Sticking “under God” into the Pledge of Allegiance is a hiccup to its alliteration, (5) Slaughters at My Lai took a lunch break; thus stupidity and autocracy are closely related. Morrow is an erudite writer and attempts to make sense of our increasingly fractured American consciousness. I felt a need to take the time to ponder, but this is a library book that soon must be returned.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up on a whim in a second hand book shop. Never heard of Morrow before, but as I'm on a bit of an essay kick I picked it up.

Quite impressive. He writes well, with light, clear prose. Sometimes the structure is a little odd - just when you get into the flow, an essay will end with a rather abrupt conclusion. Possibly a result of the medium - most of the essays in this collection were written as short pieces for Time.

The collection covers quite a stretch of time - 1980s through to quite recently - and it's interesting to see how reflective and incisive Morrow could be even in the immediate grip of literally awful events, such as the war in the Balkans (where he was a reporter on the ground), or in the aftermath of the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York.

Worthwhile for the style, and for the example of how to bring something to a topic within such a short medium, as well as for the thoughts and narratives themselves.

[Hugh Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scribble Scribble Eh Mr Toad is one of my favorite essays