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nonna7's review
4.0
I read this over a period of a couple of months, a little at a time. Some of the essays are funny, some are charming, some are an interesting window at the times. E.B. White, probably known better to the general public as the author of Charlottes' Web, worked for the New Yorker from 1927-1976 and produced a number of essays long and short. It's an interesting collection. The essays are topical for the period and often are footnoted for the reader who may not understand the person or event that is the subject of the essay. For instance he talks about the famous toy store FAO Schwartz and compares the cost of a toy in 1905 vs the date he wrote the essay which was 1933. He marvels that it's the same toy, just costs more money. He also talks about a little car that is selling for $33. I can't imagine anyone I know who could have afforded that in 1933. That would have been more than a week's wages for a lot of people, more than their rent. It's an interesting look at the changes that happened in the period that he was writing. He has a particularly moving essay about John F. Kennedy.
"When we think of him, he is without a hat, standing in the wind and the weather. He was impatient of topcoats and hats, preferring to be exposed, and he was young enough and tough enough to confront and to enjoy the cold and the wind of these circumstance and national danger. He died of exposure, but in a way that he would have settled for - in the line of duty, and with his friends and enemies all around, supporting him and shooting at him. It can be said of him, as of few men in a like position, that he did not fear the weather, and did not trim his sails, but instead challenged the wind itself, to improve its direction and to cause it to blow more softly and more kindly over the world and its people."
"When we think of him, he is without a hat, standing in the wind and the weather. He was impatient of topcoats and hats, preferring to be exposed, and he was young enough and tough enough to confront and to enjoy the cold and the wind of these circumstance and national danger. He died of exposure, but in a way that he would have settled for - in the line of duty, and with his friends and enemies all around, supporting him and shooting at him. It can be said of him, as of few men in a like position, that he did not fear the weather, and did not trim his sails, but instead challenged the wind itself, to improve its direction and to cause it to blow more softly and more kindly over the world and its people."
jaytaves's review
5.0
It's crazy how many of these clips feel like they were written today, written with modern feelings towards a modern problem. I found it really cool to see the date each piece was written, so long ago and so foreign, and not think the piece was out of date at all. White always seemed to understand the pulse of the world and see things from an outsiders perspective - and what he saw didn't seem all that different from the world we see today. There's crazy patent law (Prohibited, 1932), our shrinking world (Travel Brochure), endless environmentalism (Hunger), the media echo chamber (Expediency), along with fake news and authoritarianism (A Voice Heard in the Land).
In particular White's writing about politics and McCarthyism (Our Political Exiles, Khruschchev and I, among others) seemed incredibly poignant and of course timely. Similarly the whole section on writing (The Word) was incredible. I did lose steam towards the second half of the collection, but clippings that I liked kept popping up and White's writing style was still a joy to read even if the particular clip didn't interest me as much.
In book order, here are my favorites from the first section
Dressing Up
Dismal?
Plant the Garden Anyway
Alarm-Geese
Turtle Blood Bank *(My absolute favorite I think)
Vermin
No Verbs
Motivation
Writing as a Profession
Anything Like That
Come One Come All
Blending In
Liberation of Paris
Khruschchev and I
The Living Language
Fitting In
Get a Handle On It
In particular White's writing about politics and McCarthyism (Our Political Exiles, Khruschchev and I, among others) seemed incredibly poignant and of course timely. Similarly the whole section on writing (The Word) was incredible. I did lose steam towards the second half of the collection, but clippings that I liked kept popping up and White's writing style was still a joy to read even if the particular clip didn't interest me as much.
In book order, here are my favorites from the first section
Dressing Up
Dismal?
Plant the Garden Anyway
Alarm-Geese
Turtle Blood Bank *(My absolute favorite I think)
Vermin
No Verbs
Motivation
Writing as a Profession
Anything Like That
Come One Come All
Blending In
Liberation of Paris
Khruschchev and I
The Living Language
Fitting In
Get a Handle On It
mythili's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.25
would have given this a 5 if White didn't write Summertime and wasn't a beaming, booming capitalist
melodyriggs's review against another edition
4.0
I read the classic EB White books as a kid, but never really thought to look into his other writing until he was mentioned on a podcast. His essays were just what I needed: semi-serious but also witty and at times just plain funny (like when he writes about his dachshund, Fred.
livingpalm1's review against another edition
3.0
E. B. White is one of my all-time favorites for both Charlotte’s Web and Trumpet of the Swan. I love his voice in his non-fiction as well. This collection of essays covers an unforgettable era in America’s history and while Mr. White often chooses a slight rose-colored hue in his perspective on the world, the overall affect of decades of his column is one of goodness and beauty.
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