The Mammoth Book of Journalism

Library Journal

"Mammoth" books have become something of a cottage industry for Lewis, who has edited several. This one purports to deliver the 100 greatest newspaper articles, though Lewis provides no criteria for how he selected these pieces or details about how he reviewed the millions of potential candidates. Articles are arranged chronologically, beginning with a travel sketch, written by Charles Dickens in 1845, that oddly enough (given the book's title) was never published in a newspaper. The last article, published in the Guardian in 1997, is Jonathan Freedland's account of the return of Princess Diana's body to England. In between are stories written both by famous journalists-although some, like Winston Churchill, are not known primarily as journalists-and by writers whose names will not be familiar. Each piece has a very short introduction, and the articles cover a wide range of topics. It is hard to imagine why anyone would want to read this collection of disembodied articles. Not recommended.-Judy Solberg, George Washington Univ., Washington, DC Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.