I Must Say

Library Journal

Newman's earlier books, Strictly Speaking (1974) and A Civil Tongue (1976), somewhat typed him as a campaigner for good English. Reflecting his wider range of interestsfrom the media, sports, and travel to world affairs, national character, and music, this collection of over 150 newspaper columns shows him to be a campaigner against all stupidity and wrongheadedness. Newman stands for good taste and reason amid rampant folly, and he tries to sort out how people can behave as they doblithely creating illegitmate children, for instance, or wearing bizarre hairdos. Most pieces appear as first written, with an occasional ``afterword'' to bring readers up to date on a topic. A trenchant, humorous, and thought-provoking work for public libraries.William A. Donovan, Chicago P.L.