Nonfiction Naked with Rob Kirkpatrick #3

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Nonfiction Naked is brought to you by Rob Kirkpatrick, a senior editor with Thomas Dunne Books at St. Martin's Press!

See all of Rob's Nonfiction Naked articles here.

Hi everyone, I’m back to tell you about two great titles for 2011…

Jackie as Editor: The Literary Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Greg Lawrence

In case you missed it earlier this year, you should check out JACKIE AS EDITOR: THE LITERARY LIFE OF JACQUELINE KENNEDY ONASSIS by Greg Lawrence. History remembers Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis as the consummate first lady, the quintessential embodiment of elegance. But many people forget that after JFK and after Aristotle, Jackie enjoyed a long career as a book editor for almost two decades and worked on more than 100 books at Viking and Doubleday during the industry’s Golden Age. Lawrence, one of the authors whom Jackie edited, draws from interviews with more than 125 of her former collaborators and acquaintances in the publishing world.

You might have read about another recent book, READING JACKIE by William Kuhn, but Publishers Weekly said, “Lawrence's perceptive, impressively researched book is the better of the two,” and The Washington Post and the Christian Science Monitor concurred. Do check out JACKIE AS EDITOR for a fresh, new look at an enduring icon.

 

Four Days in July: Tom Watson, the 2009 Open Championship, and a Tournament for the Ages
Jim Huber

Golf is lifetime sport, and perhaps no one has proven this so memorably as Tom Watson did when, just shy of his 60th birthday, he battled Father Time and shocked the world at the 2009 British Open, in which he not only made the cut but, improbably, assumed the lead and carried it into the final day. Award-winning golf writer and commentator Jim Huber was the first man to interview Watson at the end of each stirring round, and he mines his unique access to Watson, caddy Neil Oxman, and others in his new book, FOUR DAYS IN JULY: TOM WATSON, THE 2009 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, AND A TOURNAMENT FOR THE AGES

In Huber’s hands, we can practically smell the wind blowing off the Irish Sea as we follow Watson hole by hole at Turnberry. A fascinating parallel narrative emerges as fellow American Stewart Cink, dubbed “The Man Who Shot Santa Claus,” catches Watson in the fading sunlight that Sunday in Scotland and claims the Open title in a heart-wrenching four-hole playoff. Although Watson came up just a hole short, the way he defied predictions and captivated the golf world with his inspiring run stands as the story of the tournament—much in the same way that Carlton Fisk and the Boston Red Sox have gone down as the story of the 1975 World Series.

If you were watching the NBA playoffs on TNT this week, you may have heard Charles Barkley and company praising FOUR DAYS IN JULY. They aren’t the only ones. Publishers Weekly raved, "The excitement and energy of the final round almost leaps from the page,” and Booklist described it as "Stirring golf history, sure to bring tears to the eyes of all golf lovers.”  Or listen to the Golden Bear himself, Jack Nicklaus, who says Huber’s book “is a treat and should be for all those who appreciate this great game and its history.” 

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