GENE WEINGARTEN IS THE O.
HENRY OF AMERICAN JOURNALISM Simply the best storyteller around, Weingarten describes the world as you think it is before revealing how it actually is--in narratives that are by turns hilarious, heartwarming, and provocative, but always memorable.
Millions of people know the title piece about violinist Joshua Bell, which originally began as a stunt: What would happen if you put a world-class musician outside a Washington, D.
, subway station to play for spare change? Would anyone even notice? The answer was no.
Weingarten's story went viral, becoming a widely referenced lesson about life lived too quickly.
Other classic stories--the one about The Great Zucchini, a wildly popular but personally flawed children's entertainer; the search for the official Armpit of America; a profile of the typical American nonvoter--all of them reveal as much about their readers as they do their subjects.
Stunt | What would happen if you put a worldclass musician outside a |
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