Clearing the Ground

by Sydney J. Harris

The collected essays of the newspaper columnist brings a crisp direct style and a humanitarian view to a broad spectrum of issues

216 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1986

Reviews

[Jim Gold · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of columns from Chicago newspaperman Sydney Harris--I read him (not religiously) in the Chicago Daily News in the 1960's. Harris tended to focus less on current events and more about human nature and social institutions. That makes the columns more worth reading today, although they also provide a look at "liberal values" during his time and how they might differ from today's.
In one column that struck me, Harris rejected the image of climbing a steady sturdy ladder of success in favor of mountain climbing which "requires a variety of skills and includes a diversity of dangers. . . A mountain is rough and precipitous, with uncertain footing and a predicable number of falls and scrapes, and sometimes one has to take the long way around."
In discussing forecasts of a personal computer in every home, Harris presciently writes in the early 80's, "What troubles me in this glowing prospect is the overload of information without enough coherence or clarity to do more than confuse the public even more than ever.
A worthwhile book to spend some time with.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short two page essays on widely varying subjects. Many of these gems are crystallized versions of my own thoughts. Wonderfully warm words of wisdom.