Book Description
For thirty years, Singer's been MVP at The New Yorker . . . searching the country for superslices of Americana," praised Entertainment Weekly upon the publication of Singer's previous book, Somewhere in America. His newest collection, Character Studies, is filled with profiles of Americans that Singer thinks we ought to meet. Whether it's about the sleight-of-hand master Ricky Jay, the ardent bibliophile Michael Zinman, or better-known personalities such as the hype artist Donald Trump or the meticulous filmmaker Martin Scorcese, Singer's elegant, incisive journalism uncovers the passions that drive the ordinary, the quirky, and the truly, fanatically fixated. Singer is interested in people driven by their intensity, like Tom Chino, the produce farmer whose pristine vegetables are, in the hands of chefs like Alice Waters and Wolfgang Puck, quite literally the essential ingredients of the new American cuisine. "Wherever Singer goes," raves Discover magazine, "he brings great wit and sensitivity with him," and this is true whether he's interviewing a devoted fan of cowboy movie star Tom Mix or the self-selected intelligentsia of El Paso, Texas, who are determined to recover the skull of Pancho Villa. Singer's keen ear and sharp eye are sure to appeal to anyone interested in oddballs, America, or the conviction that character is destiny.

FROM THE PUBLISHER