AN ESPECIALLY GOOD VIEW

A veteran journalist and editor shares a lifetime of dramatic career twists and turns.

Osnos (b. 1943), who founded PublicAffairs Books in 1997, has spent the last five decades as a journalist and editor in a variety of capacities. Arranged chronologically and loaded with specifics, the narrative begins with the author’s childhood. His parents, upper-middle-class Jews from Warsaw, fled during World War II to India, where Osnos was born, and then moved to the U.S. in 1944. From day camps to high school, his parents were “loving but largely disengaged by temperament and background from my ‘American’ choices.” Independent and strong-willed, Osnos boldly weathered the 1960s “pre-consciousness” era of burgeoning minority opportunities at Brandeis University. Through articles, books, a healthy memory, “and more memorabilia and notes than I realized there was,” Osnos candidly recollects the pivotal moments of an eventful life. He began his career modestly as an editorial assistant to progressive investigative reporter I.F. Stone before moving on to a nearly two-decade stint at the Washington Post. His time as a foreign correspondent provides fodder for culturally rich stories set in Vietnam; the Soviet Union, where his name was mentioned in classified KGB documents; and London, where he covered the birth of Prince William. In 1984, he transitioned to the book publishing world, working as an editor at Random House, where his roster of authors included Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Magic Johnson, Peggy Noonan, Molly Ivins, George Soros, Boris Yeltsin, and many other luminaries. All of the author’s personal and professional landmarks feature colorful characters and vivid, passionate narration. Even midway through, it’s clear the book was a labor of love, though at times, his enthusiasm becomes excessively digressive. Much of the memoir’s charm comes from Osnos’ candor and energy, and he concludes with a deeply personal retrospective of thought, grateful reflection, and pictorial extras that both seasoned and aspiring journalists will appreciate.

The meticulously detailed, inspiring journey of an American news reporter and publisher.