Dear fellow National Reviewer: You've heard of self-promoters? Well, I'm joining their band today. Please forgive a few paragraphs of Song of Myself. (Hat tip: Whitman.) We at National Review are putting out a collection called "Digging In: Further Collected Writings of Jay Nordlinger." Why further? Some years ago, we put out "Here, There & Everywhere: Collected Writings of . . ." (you-know-who). The new volume, like the old volume, begins with a section on "People." You'll find an Algeresque oilman, a hundred-year-old Holocaust survivor, and a prima ballerina, among others. The next section is called "America -- Some Snapshots." One of those is of explosives camp. Yes, explosives camp, in Rolla, Mo. You learn to make things go boom. Then you have some excursions abroad: to Iraq, to India, to Macedonia, to Taiwan . . . There's also a visit to what I call "a unicorn of a university" in Guatemala. Seeing is believing. Then there are "Issues and Essays." The fate of the Gideon Bible, for example. Hissing (an odious practice). The overamplification of American life. (Could you hear that last one, over our national din?) What follows is a section devoted to one subject: language. What about political labels? ("Liberal," "moderate," "conservative.") What about first names? (When to use them.) What about terms referring to racial or ethnic groups? Those are very touchy subjects. I got more where those came from. "Digging In" ends with a suite of music pieces, including a profile of a notorious, delectable diva, and a foray into Christmas carols. (Those are two separate pieces, I should make clear.) In all, there are over 70 pieces in this book, making for a bouquet or chocolate box -- a very big bouquet or chocolate box, I should say. We'd better talk moolah. The cover price is $25. You can get the book now for a special pre-publication price: $20. And that includes shipping and handling. To order, go here. Please have a look at the cover, designed by our exceptional art director, Luba Myts: And have a look at some blurbs, while I cover my eyes in embarrassment: "Few writers have Jay Nordlinger's range. A handful write with his verve. A very small number know as much. But only Jay Nordlinger can do it all. In this volume he does." – William Kristol, editor, The Weekly Standard "Nordlinger's abiding themes are courage in the fight against tyranny and daring in the creation of new human enterprises. He approaches his interview subjects with a freshness and innocence that can only come from a deep worldliness." – Heather Mac Donald, Manhattan Institute fellow and author of "The War on Cops" "This is classic Nordlinger: sublimely well informed, quietly cosmopolitan, endlessly curious. Dipping into this book is like slicing into the Zeitgeist: bracing, a little awe-inspiring, exquisitely memorable." – Roger Kimball, editor and publisher, The New Criterion Okay, this is enough Song of Myself (even if I've had others sing a bit). I think you may like this collection. I also think you may find it givable to others. I'll stop now . . . except to provide that ordering link again -- here -- and to say thank you for listening. All the best to you and yours, Jay Nordlinger Senior editor, National Review |
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