Reporter: A Memoir is not the book that Seymour M. Hersh -- a.k.a. "Sy" -- wanted to release at this point in time in his storied career. That tome, still in the realm of the hypothetical, will be an examination into the lives of Dick Cheney. However, as many of Hersh's sources for that book are still alive, and still in a position to be damaged by one of the most influential politicians of the 21st Century, Cheney's machinations will have to wait for some time in the future, if at all. But in that vacuum, at least we have Reporter: A Memoir with which to pass the time.
In Reporter: A Memoir, Hersh details a near-greatest hits of some of the biggest U.S. news stories of the past half-century, from the appalling massacre at My Lai that symbolized American depravity in Vietnam to the hierarchy of torture in Abu Ghraib that symbolized American depravity in Iraq. In between, there are other stories, and stories upon stories, that keep Hersh zigging and zagging through the corridors of American power and empire across the decades, all written in an engaging and intelligent tone that is proud but not vainglorious. It's as if Hersh the reporter stumbled across Hersh the subject, and captured the essence of the man and the work without sliding into puffery.
In the spirit of one of the more famous quotes in journalism history -- "if your mother says she loves you, check it out" -- you can read some reviews of Reporter: A Memoir here and here and here. My favorites are the interviews -- here and here -- that give more of an impression as to what a conversation with Hersh would be like: rapid-fire, foul-mouthed, and a glimpse into a time when reporters were journalists in print and prose rather than cathode-ray mouth-pieces for talking points and false fables of fair and balanced content.
If I pined for "the good old days" when I was working at my various record stores, I'm sure that more than a handful of journalists would read Reporter: A Memoir and be angry that the days of impactful monoculture artifacts of solid reporting are largely a relic of a prior century. Hersh's history makes for a depressing read, as one doesn't need to have a collection of tin-foil hats in the basement to know and understand that American leadership, from Trump to Obama to Bush(es) to Clinton and so on, has done some shitty things at home and abroad in our collective name. Hersh wanted to show the wounds on the body politic in order to help the patient heal, and he did the best he could for as long as he could. Would that there were more like him today.
In Reporter: A Memoir, Hersh details a near-greatest hits of some of the biggest U.S. news stories of the past half-century, from the appalling massacre at My Lai that symbolized American depravity in Vietnam to the hierarchy of torture in Abu Ghraib that symbolized American depravity in Iraq. In between, there are other stories, and stories upon stories, that keep Hersh zigging and zagging through the corridors of American power and empire across the decades, all written in an engaging and intelligent tone that is proud but not vainglorious. It's as if Hersh the reporter stumbled across Hersh the subject, and captured the essence of the man and the work without sliding into puffery.
In the spirit of one of the more famous quotes in journalism history -- "if your mother says she loves you, check it out" -- you can read some reviews of Reporter: A Memoir here and here and here. My favorites are the interviews -- here and here -- that give more of an impression as to what a conversation with Hersh would be like: rapid-fire, foul-mouthed, and a glimpse into a time when reporters were journalists in print and prose rather than cathode-ray mouth-pieces for talking points and false fables of fair and balanced content.
If I pined for "the good old days" when I was working at my various record stores, I'm sure that more than a handful of journalists would read Reporter: A Memoir and be angry that the days of impactful monoculture artifacts of solid reporting are largely a relic of a prior century. Hersh's history makes for a depressing read, as one doesn't need to have a collection of tin-foil hats in the basement to know and understand that American leadership, from Trump to Obama to Bush(es) to Clinton and so on, has done some shitty things at home and abroad in our collective name. Hersh wanted to show the wounds on the body politic in order to help the patient heal, and he did the best he could for as long as he could. Would that there were more like him today.
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