Humor Ration
for the Nation

Poetic Humorist
Politics’ Terrorist

The average trade book has a shelf life of between milk and yogurt, except for books by any member of the Irving Wallace family - they have preservatives. Calvin Trillin

Calvin Trillin was born five days and exactly one hundred years later than November 30, 1835, Mark Twain's birthday. This fellow Missourian was his mentor, whether he knew it or not, in becoming a writer, reporter, and humorist; and prophetically, Calvin Trillin has widely been dubbed as the one that has filled those famous shoes. Although for Twain his birthplace was confusingly in a town called Florida.  Calvin's hometown, however, was Kansas City, and it would have been more apropos if another one with a similar aptitude, another writer, but who switched to acting, Robert Benchley, had been from the Show Me State, too. And, of course it would be like ex-President Harry Truman as well.  Benchley would have been alive as a young man when Samuel Clemens was elderly. But coincidentally (I’m trying to avoid “ironic”) the Massachusetts native, (whose grandson Peter is famous for Jaws, and son Nathaniel provided a biography on the father), was getting his Academy Award that same year in 1935.  That was for his film short "How to Sleep."  The elder Benchley was a Harvard graduate, while Calvin finished at Yale.

 Also, another muse to amuse, preceding Trillin, was a contemporary and friend of the elder Benchley and Dorothy Parker: S.J. Perelman; but this alumnus of Brown wrote for The New Yorker, (his birthplace), while Calvin’s contribution is mostly to The Nation (as a verse columnist, or as he puts it, a "deadline poet."). The multi-tasking Trillin also writes for that famous Big Apple 'zine with the Top-hatted snob.  Somehow, somewhere, and this spot is as good as any, I have to include an apt comparison to the second oldest writer in this group, Ohioan James Thurber, though the latter was also a cartoonist.

Honest Abe

Writing about your own family is tricky business.

We learn from Trillin's 1996 book, Messages From My Father: A Memoir a lot about Calvin's father, Abe. He had changed their last name from Trilinskys, who was a two year-old Russian Jewish Immigrant. (His mother was Edyth, of whom he remembers, "The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.") They did send the boy to the Jewish equivalent of Sunday School.

At Sunday school when I was about eleven. We came to the part in the Bible or the Talmud, whichever it is, with the famous phrase, “If I forget thee, oh Yerushalayem, may my right hand lose its cunning and my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth.” I stood up with my right hand gradually becoming noticeably weird and said: If I forget thee, O Yerushalayem, may my right hand lose its cunning and my tongue cleave to duh woof of my mout. Everybody laughed except the teacher, who ejected me from the classroom and accused me of self-hatred. A very weird epiphany. I guess I already knew I wasn’t a solemn little boy—shy, but not exactly solemn.
But willingly, Abe embraced the Midwestern hard-working ethos, whether it was making a living in a grocery store or the time when he owned a restaurant in Kansas City.  His Truman-like words and accent, like "Oh, Okay" were few, but his expectations were high for his son; if he felt Calvin might be slacking, Abe would say, "You might as well be a mensch." Calvin's quote about hesitancy in putting his family under the pen relates to his not being as comfortable, for a good while, in regards to writing about relatives, personal relations, including other Jewish topics and persons; though he said he did write some "Yiddish" kinds of stuff. He was careful, however, possibly because he was a product of his family's almost too successful Americana assimilation. That anecdote about his Shule was his answer to the possible origins of his humor revealed while addressing a 2002 Yale and New Haven education venue.
...if I’d had the ambition to become, say, a stand-up comic, I don’t think I could have gone to my father very comfortably and said, "This is what your dreams have come to."

The only time the father backslid with swearing, was probably at disgruntled employees with, "May you have an injury that is not covered by workman's compensation!" The stubbornness, whether personality or ethnic sourced, did rub off and re-assimilate into the son, though Calvin did not have to wear a tie only colored yellow, which became Abe's deliberate trademark. The son would later admit his Dad "raised me not to be him." He definitely wanted Calvin to be unique, but moreover to be successful as an all-American. That is why the lad was persuaded to sign up for the Boy Scouts, and cajoled to not only be the best at the Country Club District's public Southwest High School, and be Student President; but aspire to be more as he reminisces:

Before I was born he wanted me to go specifically to Yale, which he thought would help. It was easy for him to think I could be president: he didn’t have to worry about being president himself, being ineligible because he wasn’t born in the United States.
Though they had some extended times together while he drove to the produce market, Golden Gloves events, or the N.C.A.A. basketball tournaments it was mostly mum's the word. Going to the American Royal Livestock Show was a family outing, which had to be like what he perceived as an All-American vacation style: by automobile. Edyth only took the girls to "cultural presentations" such as Symphony Orchestras. He also gave basic dating advice: for a happy and long lasting marriage, get a bride with good teeth, and, "We do not hit girls!" But the best thing, it turns out, was Papa saving for that college tuition prenatally. It was many years later that he appreciated that prestigious education as a help to be a successful and respected reporter.

Not Shule, School

I find often when I speak to teachers and I say, “what’s the most difficult grade to teach?” Invariably, “eighth grade.” The kids are at a bad age; they don’t exactly know what to teach them. I said, well we had a solution to that in Kansas City, we just didn’t have eighth grade.
That high school that boasts Rhodes Scholars, and other professional and sports celebrities inducted Calvin (along with H&R Block founders, Henry and Richard Bloch,) into their Hall of Fame in 2000. He also was exposed to not merely poetry from Dad, where a couple of lines of verse were written at the bottom of the lunch menus lauding their pies, but that succinct wit as well. (He would not really bring this talent to the fore until 1990 a time near when he would finally open up about his personal life.) I have to agree with book reviewer Lawrence J. Lebowitz's pick of Abe's best:
Let's go, Warden, I'm ready to fry,
My last request was Mrs. Trillin's pie.
People are always asking Calvin Trillin questions, maybe so they can learn his secrets, and they delightfully serve to set up wonderful replies. As to doing the bookworm thing, he poignantly reveals:
No. I didn’t. It’s always embarrassing for me to be asked, Well, I suppose you really grabbed a hold of Thurber and Perelman when you were in high school. I only knew one person who took The New Yorker —a cousin of mine who was considered a little bit strange. One person I read in college who I thought was funny was the very déclassé Max Shulman. I thought he was hilarious.

Brown Shoes to Black Gowns

I remember realizing in my sophomore year that I had arrived at Yale never having heard of either Dostoyevsky or Greenwich.

English was the young Trillin's major, and he found comfortable companionship with others that had not come up the Preppie, way. In a prophetic kind of way before getting his B.A., he eventually became "chairman” of the Yale Daily NewsToday and today, Calvin Trillin is a Trustee for his Alma Mater. In his 1993 memoir, Remembering Denny he paints a picture of likewise public schooled, classmate Roger “Denny” Hansen. This dream role model was a Varsity Swim Team member, Phi Beta Kappa, and a Rhodes Scholar, who went on as Professor of International Relations at Johns Hopkins’ Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, and published an important resource book on north-south relations. This young man was the LIFE poster boy for that 1957 graduating class of Yale. Those peers thought he would be future U.S. President material. These hoi poloi underclassmen from public schools always felt they were Ivy League because of skill and talent, not as "Blue Bloods".

However, it was after this Golden Boy, just 55, committed suicide in 1991 that Trillin felt he had to investigate a mystifying death. Maybe from an unraveling of a promising life began not long after not getting the State Department position following his stint at Oxford; and he realizing that he could not ever be part of that old money elite. After this setback, he stopped using the name Denny and cut his school ties. Even tenure at Johns Hopkins University could not stop the looming gloom depression, nagging self-doubts, and gay-related inner turmoil -- acerbated by the cynical future smothering the idealistic Fifties.

From Time is on My Side to This is the Army

1957, The same year he graduated, Elvis Presley was drafted into the Army. Though Trillin got his first real job in 1960 with TIME in the Atlanta office, specializing in race related issues, he was supposed to likewise eventually do his mandatory other 'time' in about a year as a GI.

New York, New York, My Kind of Town

So, now we get to 1963 and his post military move to NYC, writing opportunity for the Monocle, and more importantly, his start as staff writer for The New Yorker. He never planned this like kids wanting to be firemen or doctors. It was before the heroic newspapermen of Watergate. He says he just came into it.
I think there were very few at my age who decided early on that they wanted to be reporters. It had sort of a déclassé image—like the guy with the bottle in the bottom drawer. The word “journalist,” we didn’t use it. It was kind of a candy-ass word. And the pay was terrible.
From 1967 to 1982 he did some extensive traveling and writing. Sadly his father died right as he started this part of his career, and Calvin hoped his father was being made proud of him. Those road adventures with Abe prepared him for dispatching to the The New Yorker from places akimbo, "a 3,000-word piece from somewhere in the United States every three weeks." He explains his techniques:
Sometimes that seemed like the most difficult part of it. I didn't go to a place; I always went to a story. The ones that worked out best were the ones in which the place was really the context for the story, and you learn something about the place as well. Finding the pieces was sometimes a matter of going to the out-of-town newsstand — which is probably closed by now — and buying a two-foot pile of newspapers from various parts of the country. Obviously reporters are always looking for stories with some tension and some narrative movement. I often found myself in places where one part of society was rubbing up against another. And then sometimes I'd sort of feel worn down by controversies and murders, and I'd look for a light story about a crawfish festival, or something like that. I don't think {New Yorker editor William} Shawn ever said, "No, that's not right for us."

'Cause We Gone, Gone, Gone, Nationwide

What do you do when you have to raise a family in a city with a high cost of living: find another steady gig.
I didn’t really find an outlet for just purely I’m-going-to-try-to-be-funny-now-for-a-certain-number-of-words until I started doing The Nation column, which I think was in 1978. I always thought of writing humor as some sort of little, weird thing that I could do in the way some people could play the piano.

On his magazine boss for 40 some years, Victor S. Navasky he said:

He’s not out to destroy me. He’s out to impoverish me. When I became the “Deadline Poet” at the Nation, he said he’d pay me “in the high two figures,” which was $65 per poem. I first worked for Victor at a satire magazine called the Monocle in 1963. That’s where I met my wife. I came out way ahead. There were four or five lasting marriages from the Monocle. It was more successful as a marriage brokerage than as a magazine.
One important thing he started and he's famous for is his weekly verses printed for all of us to enjoy, commenting on current events. That first one in 1990, of the now perpetual "embedded poems," that prompted the Nation to have him continue, was inspired by the then-President George H. W. Bush's chief of staff:
If You Knew
What Sununu.
Navasky actually offered a hundred dollars for each weekly poem. Some are short, like the terse verse commenting on the Simpson murder trial, which he jokes about all the way to the bank at $33.33 a word:
O.J.
Oy Vey.
His joyous recollection that includes his promise to his editor Navasky:
What I realized instantly was that I would be getting the same money for a poem as I'd gotten for an eleven-hundred word column.
"Don't tell any of the real poets you're getting that much."
From 1985 to 1995 his contributions to The Nation was nationwide with King Features Syndicate and they moreover contributed to his bank account. USA Today called his regular columns the funniest in journalism. In 1996 he returned to TIME, and contributed there until 2001.

To the Moon, Alice

Even after I’d taken in most episodes of ‘The Honeymooners,’ after all, it had never occurred to me to ponder the feelings Ralph Kramden must have had for Alice Kramden. Yet I got a lot of letters like the one from a young woman in New York who wrote that she sometimes looked at her boyfriend and thought, "But will he love me like Calvin loves Alice?"

In several of Calvin Trillin's books we learn about his wife Alice, who was herself while married, an accomplished writer for PBS and had her own publications. She was Wellesley and Yale educated, and while she was a teacher at Hofstra, there happened to be a party for the 1963 satire publication, The Monocle, where Calvin worked. Fate and The Laughing Mask put them together; but she not only smiled with pearly whites, but emanated her superb grey matter making him do his best to impress. They were wed two years later; and through that marriage of 36 years Alice continued to chide him regularly about the second party they met at, "You have never again been as funny as you were that night." Her periodically repeating this fact, would always result with his repeating the whining, "You mean I peaked in December of 1963?" He also insists while at that party, but she insistently desists, she was wearing a hat -- jauntily cocked on her head.

He would make her the unilaterally part of his jokes throughout his repertoire, saying she had “a weird predilection for limiting our family to three meals a day.” He tells us his wife made sure the kids went to every school play lest Child Services snatched them away. She not only taught and wrote, she worked in a drug treatment center. She was his inspiration, as he simply puts: "I wanted to make Alice giggle." In her written review of her husband's Alice, Let's Eat she warns:
I'm not against quests for the perfect ham hock or the perfect barbecue; But I think that anyone starting out on such a quest should be aware that his guide is someone who will travel all the way to a place called Horse Cave, Kentucky because he likes the way the name Horse Cave, Kentucky sounds when he drops it to me over the phone.

The Mask of Tragedy

Alice the nonsmoker, an opposite of her parents, found out in 1976 from the doctors that the reason she recently coughed up blood was from lung cancer. Less than two weeks later she had to have a good bit of lung removed, but thankfully she beat the 10% fatality odds for 25 years. In a deeply sad irony with a capital "I", his wife died hours apart of the September 11, 2001 harsh awakening, of heart failure. It had been weakened from the chemo so many years ago, and was not any bit related to the Twin Towers disaster. In 2006 he was finally able to relay more about his departed beloved in About Alice, yet without waxing maudlin.
The book about my wife, to some people, was a book about love and marriage. I just wanted to write about my wife. I was on some television show, and I remember someone saying, "He shows he's in touch with his feelings." All I could think of was that I hope none of the guys I went to high school with read this. I'll never hear the end of it.

His first book, and a best-seller, after 9/11, Tepper Isn't Going Out: A Novel follows a guy who gets in trouble in New York City because of his talent for getting the good, hard to find parking places. And he notes, without being maudlin it's for her, as it always had and has been. His other books since are dedicated to her, too.

Dear Abbie

He has two daughters, Abigail Stewart and Sarah Stewart of whom he quipped: "Some of the messages I've tried to get across to my children are left in code." Additionally he whines:
It's true that I have no advanced degree, a fact my daughters like to remind me of from time to time, as a way to keep me sort of damped down. It’s also true that I grew up in the Midwest, in a milieu (a word I’ve learned since) in which culture did not hang heavily in the air.
When asked if it was tough writing the several memoirs, he replied:
It's harder for me. I've written three books you could think of as memoirs. One of them was about a classmate of mine who was the person we thought would be President of the United States. He committed suicide. That led to a book about my father, since my father crept into the first book. Sometimes the memoir is painful to write, but then, I haven't written the sort of memoir that seems to be the style in the U.S. now, which I often characterize as an "atrocity arms-race."

Bleating about Eating

While working for those New York magazines, and sampling culinary varieties in his journal journeys, he began to see eating out as a way to get income, rather a necessary economic outlay. And it was such another side, but still relevant part of him. Nutritionists, however, he warned, "Health food makes me sick." So, if you look through the bibliography below, you'll see the range of culinary reviews and travelogues he's blessed us with. One of his books, The Tummy Trilogies in 1994 compiled "American Fried", "Alice, Let's Eat", and "Third Helpings." He explains: “I wrote about eating rather than food, and I wrote as a reporter rather than as an expert.” He especially liked some southern dishes, and in "Missing Links", he extolled the Louisiana Cajun sausage that he struggled to get in NY as he shares:
I was so eager to get my hands on the boudin that I often ate it right in the kitchen rather than make the experience more authentic by searching for something appropriate to lean against. In Lower Manhattan, after all, it could take a while to find a pickup truck.
He tells us that for Thanksgiving, in "Eating with the Pilgrims," instead of turkey (which he disliked, anyway) we should be having Spaghetti Carbonara because the Indians would really would have served:
...a dish their ancestors had learned many generations before from none other than Christopher Columbus, who was known to the Indians as "the big Italian fella."
He fell out of it for a while, but explains:
The pieces I do about eating — and I still do at least one a year — are, to me, only interesting in that they're connected to American life. I don't cook. I don't know anything about food. I've never reviewed a restaurant. I think when I quit — about twenty years ago, before I took it up again — it was because it didn't seem like readers were getting that distinction. I'd get calls about, "Where's the third-best French restaurant in Chicago?" I don't have any idea, or even any credentials for deciding. I think my experience with people asking solemn questions about where the best this or that is shows how easy it is to be considered an expert in this country.
I wonder if he didn't get a visit from the Tongs, after this advice to readers:
When it comes to Chinese food I have always operated under the policy that the less known about the preparation the better. A wise diner who is invited to visit the kitchen replies by saying, as politely as possible, that he has a pressing engagement elsewhere.

On Righting Writing and Culture besides Yogurt

Recently, I attended a modern-dance program. I hasten to say that this was not an attempt to amass evidence for any discussion that might come up about who is and who isn’t an uncultured oaf. The choreographer had gone to my high school in the Midwest, and I make it a policy to attend any cultural event created by someone who went to my high school — a policy, it may not surprise you to know, that still leaves me with plenty of evenings free for other activities. I loved the modern-dance program. I loved it so much, in fact, that I began to consider the possibility of attending modern-dance programs choreographed by people who had not gone to my high school.
After he attended one arranged by those "outsiders", and thought he had arrived culturally, he instead got a shock, confessing that a reviewer let it be known, "that the program had been designed to make modern dance palatable to, well, uncultured oafs." His victims of his quill, have been from President Nixon, Alexander Haig, through both Bushes, Bill Clinton in between, Dan Quayle, and now down to Donald Rumsfeld and Sarah Palin. On a more serious note he was very angry about some celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg and producer Harvey Weinstein, because he was concerned about their the playing down Roman Polanski’s molestation and fornication of a 13 year old girl in 1977. He goes on to say:
I was furious, not so much at Polanski, ’cause he’s a pervert, but at the people who defended him. Chris Rock said the best thing — “He’s supposed to be able to rape a child because he made a good movie 30 years ago?” I did research for the poem, which is unusual. I went back to the grand jury testimony of the girl. It will make your skin crawl. This was a deliberate, drug-induced rape of an eighth-grader.
He talks about how humor and acceptance are relative.
The piece of mine that’s anthologized as much as any I’ve ever written was turned down at The New Yorker and appeared in The Atlantic. The New Yorker simply didn’t think it was funny. It was a piece called “A Nation of Shopkeepers Loses Three of Them through Contact with a Nation of Violence.” It was about different ideas that Americans and English have about retail trade, about standing in line and being fair and saying “thank you.” That sort of stuff. The American who goes into a typewriter shop and says, "Do you have typewriter ribbons?"
"No, we don’t do typewriter ribbons. Odd, people come in here all the time asking for typewriter ribbons, simply because we sell typewriters and various pieces of office equipment."
And the American says, "What do you tell those people?"
"I tell them we don’t do typewriter ribbons."
You can find in his newest compilation the story, "The Playing Fields of Mott Street, " about the Chinatown Tic-Tac-Toe playing chicken, where Trillin liked to bring naive guests to take on the unbeatable bird, and hear the complaints about not only the non-human nature of the opponent, but that it always gets to go first because of that, unfairly. His books with lines joshing W's presidency were both on New York Times best seller list. The first, he published in 2004, Obliviously On He Sails: The Bush Administration in Rhyme. A couple of years later that was followed up by, A Heckuva Job. In one Q & A, multiple-hatted chameleon reporter George Plimpton interrogated Trillin. The problem of the difference with written and oral humor was addressed. The printed page misses an important element: delivery. In this Paris Review interview, the inevitable question was raised about his hilarious anointing and Trillin had to answer:
I actually think of being funny as an odd turn of mind, like a mild disability, some weird way of looking at the world that you can’t get rid of. It’s odd: one of the questions that people ask me constantly is, Is it hard having to be funny all the time? The difficult thing for me is being serious. It’s a genetic thing—being funny—like being able to wiggle your ears. I don’t have any trouble being funny, that’s my turn of mind. Or at least attempting to be funny. Whether it really is funny is for the audience to judge. But I actually do think that some people are and some people aren’t. We all know, say, a lot of lawyers who aren’t funny and some who are. A lot of dentists who aren’t funny. The dentist who just took a fractured root out of my tooth—we refer to him as the butcher of Fifty-fourth Street—is a pleasant, friendly man, but he’s not funny.
On this business of his professional antecedents, he relays this in this recollection:
One time I was asked, by the New York Public Library, for a book put out in connection with some Literary Lion function, to submit a passage of prose that I particularly admired. A lot of writers were asked, and I suppose a lot of Proust found its way in there. It gave me the chance to quote Max Shulman. I found this passage about Dobey’s dog where his mother says, Dobey you’re going off to college and I’m no smarter than your old hound dog Edmund lying there in the corner. Dobey says, Don’t talk that way about Edmund, Mom. He’s a smart dog. He whistles to him and says, Play dead, Edmund. Look at how he obeys. All four feet sticking in the air. His mother says, Dobey, I hadn’t wanted to tell you. He’s been dead since Friday. You ran over him with the car. It fit perfectly.
Being different than other Nation's Capital talking heads on elections, especially the 2008 campaign, from what Trillin calls those on the Sunday news commentary shows, "Sabbath gasbags" he wrote an epic-like poem Deciding the Next Decider: The 2008 Presidential Race in Rhyme. About that recent election he divines:
They were almost never right. There were constant surprises. Who expected any of this stuff? It was only in looking back at it that you realized, hey, at one point this was going to be Rudy Giuliani vs. Hillary Clinton.
Even more recently he compares his time now to that in the South 50 years ago,
If someone had told me at that point that we could have had a black president, I would have told him that he better not drive because he had had too much to drink.

Lights, Camera, Action, Part-Time

He, like Robert Benchley was in films, though he didn't quit his day job. About 'Art' flicks he said, "I haven’t seen a subtitled movie in a long time and had trouble following the plot of the last one I did see." The first was that great 1993 romantic comedy with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, Sleepless in Seattle: as Uncle Milton. Three years later he had a role in Michael, featuring Travolta leading in an angelic story that also cast William Hurt, Jean Stapelton, Teri Garr, Bo Hoskins, and Andie McDowell. A decade later he was in the production with Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon in Bernard and Doris.

Stage Freight

Trillin sold out two one-man shows at the American Place Theatre in New York City. His first in 1988 was "Calvin Trillin's Uncle Sam," and his second was "Words, No Music" two years later. He has been compared to Buster Keaton in his persona onstage. He was a favorite guest of the late Johnny Carson. You think a dozen times? Try around 30 appearances. You might also see him again where he's been on The Today Show, Late Night with David Letterman, and Good Morning America. This writer saw him interviewed recently on PBS' Charlie Rose Show. The fascinating fact is no matter how many times he repeats his similar schtick he is still funny. On the source and Nurture versus Nature reason for this gift, learned or,
Born. I think that comic writers, or comedians for that matter, are people who just have a skewed view of life. You can teach someone to be a better writer, but you can’t really teach humor. Humor is totally subjective and it is not connected to intelligence.
He is still denizen of Greenwich Village in the same red brick townhouse on Grove Street between Hudson and Bedford Streets, the home the newly weds bought in known also as Manhattan’s West Village in New York City. This man whose closest friends and family call him "Bud," is a desired public speaker in a variety of places. He also, besides being a former trustee of Yale, is trustee of the New York Public Library, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His latest book, as of this writing, 2011, Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin: Forty Years of Funny Stuff has gleanings of his last four decades of serious and jovial travail.

 

His Writings:

Note: I must to give 99.9% of Bibliography credit to NYU teacher, Robert S. Boynton on The New New Journalism website.

Books

Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin: Forty Years of Funny Stuff, Random House, 2011
     
Trillin on Texas, University of Texas Press, 2011
buy
        
Deciding the Next Decider: The 2008 Presidential Race in Rhyme, Random House, 2008

About Alice, Random House, 2006

A Heckuva Job: More of the Bush Administration in Rhyme, Random House, 2006

Obliviously On He Sails: The Bush Administration in Rhyme, Random House, 2004

Feeding a Yen: Savoring Local Specialties, from Kansas City to Cuzco, Random House, 2003
      
Tepper Isn’t Going Out: A Novel, Random House, 2001buy
      
Messages from my Father, Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1996

Too Soon to Tell, Warner, 1995

The Tummy Trilogy, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1994

Deadline Poet, or, My Life as a Doggerelist, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1994

Remembering Denny, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1993

American Stories, Ticknor and Fields, 1991
        
Enough’s Enough (and Other Rules of Life), Ticknor and Fields, 1990

Travels with Alice, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1989

If You Can’t Say Something Nice, Penguin, 1988

With All Disrespect: More Uncivil Liberties, Penguin, 1986

Killings, Penguin, 1985

Third Helpings, Penguin, 1984
        
Uncivil Liberties, Penguin, 1982

Floater, Ticknor and Fields, 1980
   
Alice, Let’s Eat: Further Adventures of a Happy Eater, Vintage, 1979

Runestruck, Little, Brown, 1977

American Fried: Adventures of a Happy Eater, Doubleday, 1974

Barnett Frummer Is an Unbloomed Flower, Viking, 1969

An Education in Georgia, Viking, 1964

Articles


If the magazine or other source is not cited, then it's from The New Yorker.



"Letter from Toronto: The Golden Age", The New Yorker, October 10, 2011

"Reflections: Back on the Bus", The New Yoker, July 25, 2011

"Talk of the Town: Digits", The New Yorker, April 4, 2011

"U.S. Journal: No Daily Specials", The New Yorker, November 22, 2010

"Annals of Crime: Incident in Dodge City", The New Yorker, May 10, 2010

"Annals of Gastronomy: "Where's Chang?"", The New Yorker, March 1, 2010

"True Story: Crystal Ball", The New Yorker, January 18, 2010

"Letter from Montreal: Funny Food", The New Yorker, November 23, 2009

"Wall StreetSmarts", The New York Times, October 14, 2009

"Annals of Crime: At the Train Bridge", The New Yorker, July 27, 2009

"Half an Oaf", The New York Times, April 12, 2009

"Dept. of Gastronomy: By Meat Alone", The New Yorker, November 24, 2008

"Letter from London: Capital Fellows", April 14, 2008

"Letter From Long Island: The Color of blood", The New Yorker, March 3, 2008

"Letter From Long Island: The Color of Blood", March 3, 2008

"Singapore Journal: Three Chopsticks", September 3 & 10, 2007

"Canada Journal: The House Across the Way", June 25, 2007

"Letter From Nova Scotia: Rag Time", September 25, 2006

"Personal History: Alice, Off the Page", March 27, 2006

"Letter From Ecuador: Speaking of Soup", September 5, 2005

"Letter from Illinois: Lost Son", March 14, 2005

"The Fifth Decade: 1965-1974", December 20, 2004

"Letter from South Africa: Dissed Fish—The Strange Attraction of Snoek", September 6, 2004

"Shouts & Murmurs: Questions for President Bush’s Next Press Conference", November 17, 2003

"Profiles: Newshound", September 29, 2003

"What Happened to Brie and Chablis?", September 8, 2003

"U.S. Journal: Suffolk County, Long Island", March 10, 2003

"U.S. Letter: Cleveland", February 10, 2003

"Annals of Gastronomy: Local Bounty", January 20, 2003

"U.S. Journal: Called at Rushton", November 18, 2002

"Shouts & Murmurs: Unpublished Letters to the Ethicist", November 4, 2002

"Annals of Taste: The Red and the White", August 19, 2002

"U.S. Journal: The Bubble Gum Store", April 15, 2002

"Annals of Gastronomy: Don’t Mention It", April 15, 2002

"Department of Gastronomy: Missing Links", January 28, 2002

"Letter from Canada: Paper Baron", December 17, 2001

"Shouts & Murmurs: An Outtake from ‘Antiques Roadshow’", October 29, 2001

"The Back Page: Life on the Ranch (Measured by the Same Yardstick as Life in Washington)", September 3, 2001

"Annals of Gastronomy: New Grub Streets", September 3, 2001

"Letter from Kansas: The Bull Vanishes", June 11, 2001

"Annals of Finance: Marisa and Jeff", July 10, 2000

"Annals of Finance: Marisa and Jeff", July 10, 2000

"New York Journal: The Magic Bagel", March 27, 2000

"Oh, Y2K, Yes Y2K, How Come It Has To End This Way?", December 13, 1999

"A Reporter at Large: Paris and His Sisters", April 19, 1999

"U.S. Journal: The Chicken Vanishes", February 8, 1999

"Shouts & Murmurs: New Orleans Unmasked", February 2, 1998

"Shouts & Murmurs: The Potoroo Principle", May 26, 1997

"Shouts & Murmurs: Tourists Trapped", January 13, 1997

"Shouts & Murmurs: Wonton Lust", December 2, 1996

"Shouts & Murmurs: Easy Rider", August 12, 1996

"Our Far-Flung Correspondents: Anne of Red Hair", August 5, 1996

"Postscript: Joseph Mitchell", June 10, 1996

"Shouts & Murmurs: Killer Bagels", February 12, 1996

"Books: You Must Remember This", December 25, 1995

"Shouts & Murmurs: Doing it the Lard Way", November 27, 1995

"The Talk of the Town: Taking Issue with the Issues", November 13, 1995

"Shouts & Murmurs: Turning the Tables", October 2, 1995

"Shouts & Murmurs: Stage Father", July 10, 1995

"A Reporter At Large: State Secrets", May 29, 1995

"Shouts & Murmurs: What’s the Good Word?", May 15, 1995

"Christmas in Qatar", December 19, 1994

"Our Far-Flung Correspondents: Drawing the Line", December 12, 1994

"Shouts & Murmurs: Paper Trials", November 21, 1994

"Just How Do You Suppose That Alice Knows?", November 7, 1994

"Shouts & Murmurs: So, Nu, Dr. Freud?", August 15, 1994

"Personal History: Messages from My Father", June 20, 1994

"Shouts & Murmurs: Scoop!", April 11, 1994

"Reflections: Din! Din! Din!", March 21, 1994

"Shouts & Murmurs: Out of Style", February 14, 1994

"Shouts & Murmurs: Unplugged", January 24, 1994

"Shouts & Murmurs: Unmasked", November 15, 1993

"Shouts & Murmurs: Animal Wrongs", October 11, 1993

"Onward and Upward with the Arts: Culture Shopping", February 15, 1993

"American Chronicles: First Family of Astoria", February 8, 1993

"Shouts & Murmurs: Smoking Incorrectly", January 25, 1993

"Remembering Mr. Shawn", December 28, 1992

"Shouts & Murmurs: Broken English", November 23, 1992

"American Chronicles: You Don’t Ask, You Don’t Get", February 25, 1991

"American Chronicles: The Italian Thing", November 19, 1990

"Corrections", February 5, 1990

"American Chronicles: Knowing Johnny Jenkins", October 30, 1989

"Our Far-Flung Correspondents: Abigail y Yo", June 26, 1989

"Profiles: A Couple of Eccentric Guys", (Penn and Teller) May 15, 1989

"American Chronicles: It’s Our Name", July 11, 1988

"American Chronicles: Democracy in Action", March 21, 1988

"American Chronicles: Stranger in Town", February 1, 1988

"American Chronicles: Frenchy and the Persians", June 29, 1987

"American Chronicles: Goldberg Can Go Home Again", April 6, 1987

"American Chronicles: The Life and Times of Joe Bob Briggs, So Far", December 22, 1986

"Our Far-Flung Correspondents: The Last Babyfoot", September 25, 1986

"Department of Amplification: Markets", September 2, 1985

"American Chronicles: Outdoor Life", August 11, 1986

"American Chronicles: Black or White", April 14, 1986

"Letter from Mott Street", February 24, 1986

"Profiles: Covering the Cops", (Edna Buchanan), February 17, 1986

"American Chronicles: Rumors Around Town", January 6, 1986

"Becker is Not Going Out", October 14, 1985

"American Chronicles: Zei-Da-Man", October 7, 1985

"Onward and Upward with the Arts: Thoughts of an Eater with Smoke in his Eyes", August 12, 1985

"American Chronicles: Competitors", July 8, 1985

"American Chronicles: Right of Way", May 6, 1985

"American Chronicles: I’ve Got Problems", March 18, 1985

"Onward and Upward with the Arts: Damp in the Afternoon", December 24, 1984

"U.S. Chronicles: Telling a Kentucky Story", December 17, 1984

"Our Far-Flung Correspondents: Full Basket", September 17, 1984

"U.S. Chronicles: Mystery Money", July 16, 1984

"Our Far-Flung Correspondents: A Report for Mr. Bryant", June 11, 1984

"Profiles: Making Adjustments", (Beaumont Martin), May 28, 1984

"A Reporter At Large: Harvard Law", March 26, 1984

"Department of Amplification: Kansas City", March 19, 1984

"Onward and Upward with the Arts: Prix du Hamburger", December 26, 1983

"A Reporter At Large: American Royal", September 26, 1983

"U.S. Journal: Grundy County, Iowa—A Father-Son Operation", September 20, 1982

"Our Far-Flung Correspondents: Hong Kong Dream", September 13, 1982

"U.S. Journal: Tucson, Arizona—Under the Fruitless Mulberry", July 19, 1982

"U.S. Journal: Greenwich Village—Thoughts on the Shape of the Neighborhood History", June 7, 1982

"U.S. Journal: Crescent City, Florida—Just Try It", May 31, 1982

"U.S. Journal: Pembroke Park, Florida—Funny, Funny", April 12, 1982

"U.S. Journal: Santa Fe, New Mexico—Thy Neighbor’s Roof", March 29, 1982

"U.S Journal: Crawford County, Kansas—Fried-Chicken War", March 8, 1982

"U.S. Journal: Boulder, Colorado—Let Me Find a Place", January 25, 1982

"U.S. Journal: Reading, Pennsylvania—A Few Beers with Suds and Dregs", February 15, 1982

"U.S. Journal: San Diego—Thoughts While Riding a Trolley Toward Tijuana", December 14, 1981

"U.S. Journal: Miracle Valley, Arizona—Nothing But Holiness", December 7, 1981

"U.S. Journal: Manhattan—Confessions of a Stand-Up Sausage-Eater", November 2, 1981

"U.S. Journal: New York and Washington—Anti-Metrics", August 31, 1981

"U.S. Journal: Langhorne, Pennsylvania—Amusement-Park Thoughts of a Parent Along for the Rides", August 24, 1981

"U.S. Journal: Louisiana—The Tunica Treasure", July 27, 1981

"U.S. Journal: Chicago—Divining the Mysteries of the East", May 25, 1981

"U.S. Journal: Tucson, Arizona—The Mystery of Walter Bopp", May 11, 1981

"U.S. Journal: Wendover, Utah—Space in Wendover", April 13, 1981

"U.S. Journal: Reedley, California—Thoughts on Changing Names", March 30, 1981

"U.S. Journal: Beardstown, Illinois—Quackscam", March 9, 1981

"U.S. Journal: Savannah, Georgia—Among Friends", January 29, 1981

"U.S. Journal: Nekoma, North Dakota—Nuclear Thoughts Next to a Large Anchor", January 19, 1981

"U.S. Journal: Natchitoches, Louisiana—Noble Experiment", January 12, 1981

"U.S Journal: Manhattan—New York Thoughts From a Booth at Reidy’s", December 29, 1980

"Our Far-Flung Correspondents: Covent Garden", December 22, 1980

"U.S. Journal: Terre Hill, Pennsylvania—The Men and the Women", November 10, 1980

"U.S. Journal: Buffalo, New York—An Attempt to Compile a Short History of the Buffalo Chicken Wing", August 25, 1980

"U.S. Journal: New Orleans—Making Deals", July 28, 1980

"U.S. Journal: Ocoee, Florida—A Short History of the Ocoee Secession Movement, So Far", July 7, 1980

"U.S. Journal: St. Louis, Missouri—Regional Thoughts from Atop the Gateway Arch", June 16, 1980

"U.S. Journal: Georgetown, Delaware—A Stag Oyster Eat Below the Canal", May 19, 1980

"U.S. Journal: Miami, Florida—Judging Johnny Jones", April 21, 1980

"U.S. Journal: Fairfield, Iowa—Resettling the Yangs", March 24, 1980

"U.S. Journal: Las Vegas, New Mexico—The Return (Perhaps) of Las Gorras Blancas", March 3, 1980

"U.S. Journal: Manhattan—Thoughts on the Historical Perspective", January 21, 1980

"U.S. Journal: Hollywood, California—Not Funny", January 7, 1980

"U.S. Journal: Emmaus, Pennsylvania—Mowing the Lawn", December 10, 1979

"U.S. Journal: Central, Pennsylvania—Called at Rushton", November 12, 1979

"U.S. Journal: Baltimore, Maryland—Tasting", November 5, 1979

"U.S. Journal: Bedford, Indiana—Natural", October 2, 1979

"U.S. Journal: Southern California—Receptor", August 17, 1979

"U.S. Journal: Oregon—Thoughts of a Skeptical Grownup at Beaver Boys’ State", August 13, 1979

"U.S. Journal: Manhattan—Discovering the Steinettes", July 2, 1979

"U.S. Journal: Fairhope, Alabama—Control", June 11, 1979

"U.S. Journal: Hanover, New Hampshire—The Symbol Is a Symbol", May 7, 1979

"U.S. Journal: Boise, Idaho—Bargain", April 30, 1979

"U.S. Journal: Mamou, Louisiana—Thoughts on a Cajun Renaissance While Watching Chickens Being >Chased", April 9, 1979

"U.S. Journal: Knoxville, Tennessee—It’s Just Too Late", March 12, 1979

"U.S. Journal: Minneapolis, Minnesota—Thoughts of a Confirmed Indoorsman in the Great Indoors", February 19, 1979

".S. Journal: Riverside, California—Todo Se Paga", February 5, 1979

".S. Journal: Atlantic City, New Jersey—Assemblage", January 8, 1979

"The Inquiring Demographer—This Week’s Question: Is There a Danger in So Many Foreign Investors’

Buying Up Businesses and Property in America?", (with illustrations by Edward Koren), December 11, 1978

"U.S. Journal: San Francisco—Tink", November 27, 1978

"U.S. Journal: Greenwich Village—Confessions of a Grownup Trick-or-Treater", November 20, 1978

"U.S. Journal: Roque Bluffs, Maine—Thoughts During An Auction of Oceanfront Lofts", October 30, 1978

"U.S. Journal: On the Road—Way of Life", October 16, 1978

"U.S. Journal: Manchester, New Hampshire—Family Problems", July 24, 1978

"U.S. Journal: Kansas—Thoughts of an Occasionally Thirsty Traveling Person", August 7, 1978

"Our Far-Flung Correspondents: Low and Slow, Mean and Clean", with illustrations by Edward Koren), July 10, 1978

"U.S. Journal: New England—A Real Nice Clambake", June 26, 1978

"U.S. Journal: South Louisiana—The Definitive History of Didee’s Restaurant, So Far", April 17, 1978

"U.S. Journal: Seattle—Alternatives", April 10, 1978

"U.S. Journal: Bayou La Batre, Alabama—Concerned Citizens", March 27, 1978

"U.S. Journal: Locke, California—The Last Chinatown", February 20, 1978

"U.S. Journal: Berkeley, California—Monopoly and History", February 13, 1978

"U.S. Journal: Denver—Survival", January 23, 1978

".S. Journal: Morgan City, Louisiana—Warm Bodies", January 15, 1979

"U.S, Journal: San Francisco—Some Thoughts on the International Hotel Controversy", December 19, 1977

"U.S. Journal: Reading, Pennsylvania—Direct from the Factory", December 5, 1977

"U.S. Journal: Watts—The Towers", December 4, 1971

"Our Far-Flung Correspondents: To Market, to Market", November 21, 1977

".S. Journal: Maine—Marshall and the Folk", October 10, 1977

"U.S. Journal: Nebraska—A Softball, A Lump", August 15, 1977

"U.S. Journal: The Bronx—The Coops", August 1, 1977

"U.S. Journal: High Point, North Carolina—Shopping the Market", June 6, 1977

"U.S. Journal: New England—Thoughts Bought On By Prolonged Exposure to Exposed Brick", May 16, 1977

"U.S. Journal: San Antonio—Some Elements of Power", May 2, 1977

"U.S. Journal: Tampa, Florida—Four People Who Do Not Lunch at the University Club", April 11, 1977

"Reflections: Remembrance of Moderates Past", March 21, 1977

".S. Journal: Manhattan—Thoughts on Changes in the Rules", March 7, 1977

"U.S. Journal: Kentucky—Stalking the Barbecued Mutton", February 7, 1977

"U.S. Journal: Cleveland, Tennessee—Melisha Morganna Gibson", January 10, 1977

"The Inquiring Demographer—This Week’s Question: Why Did You Decide To Get Married? (Asked in

Connection With National Alimony and Child Support Week)", (with illustrations by Edward Koren),

December 27, 1976

"U.S. Journal: Boston—The Unpleasantness at Whimsey’s", December 13, 1976

"U.S. Journal: Rockford, Illinois—Schools Without Money", November 8, 1976

"U.S. Journal: Adamstown, Pennsylvania—Some People I Have Dealt With At Renninger’s", October 4, 1976

"U.S. Journal: California—Confessions of a Crab Eater", August 16, 1976

"U.S. Journal: Second Avenue—Goldberg as Artifact", July 26, 1976

"U.S. Journal: Washington, D.C.—Scouting Sleepers", June 14, 1976

"U.S. Journal: Annapolis, Maryland—Thoughts During a Filibuster on Subways", May 31, 1976

"The Inquiring Demographer—This Week’s Question: What Are You Doing to Celebrate the Bicentennial?", May 10, 1976

"U.S. Journal: Costilla County, Colorado—A Little Cloud on the Title", April 26, 1976

"U.S. Journal: Atlanta—A Travelling Person Marooned on a Cocktail Island", March 29, 1976

"U.S. Journal: Newport, Kentucky—Across the River", March 22, 1976

"U.S. Journal: Miami Beach—Reflections of a More or Less Junior Citizen Shopping on Washington Avenue",

February 16, 1976

"U.S. Journal: Mount Laurel, New Jersey—Some Thoughts on Where Lines Are Drawn", February 2, 1976

"U.S. Journal: The Southwest—Cultural Differences", January 5, 1976

"The Inquiring Demographer—This Week’s Question: How Has New York’s Financial Emergency Affected You?", December 22, 1975

"U.S. Journal: Jefferson City, Missouri—Foreign Relations", December 8, 1975

"U.S. Journal: Brooklyn—Three Tenants of the Restoration Shopping Center", November 10, 1975

"Our Far-Flung Correspondents—Squatters", November 3, 1975

"The Inquiring Demographer—This Week’s Question: Have You Been Doing Any Gardening This Summer?

(Asked in Connection with National Cutworm-and-Slug Week)", August 25, 1975

"U.S. Journal: Manhattan—The Bubble Gum Store", July 12, 1975

"U.S. Journal: Junction City, Kansas—Three Restaurants", July 7, 1975

"U.S. Journal: Union City, New Jersey—Observations While Eating Carne Asada on Bergenline Avenue", June 30, 1975

"U.S. Journal: Seattle—Causes and Circumstances", June 2, 1975

"U.S. Journal: Charleston, South Carolina—The Blacks, the Jews, and the Bird-Lovers", May 12, 1975

"U.S. Journal: San Juan Capistrano, California—Really, Truly", April 14, 1975

"The Eighty-Seventh (Nearly) Annual Tournament of Roses", March 31, 1975

"U.S. Journal: Miami Beach—Harvey St. Jean Had It Made", March 17, 1975
"U.S. Journal: Bisbee, Arizona—Ground Floor", March 3, 1975

"The Inquiring Demographer—This Week’s Question: What Kind of Pet Do You Have and Why? (Asked in onnection with National Pet Food and Accessories Week)", February 24, 1975

"U.S. Journal: New Orleans—On the Possibility of Houstonization", February 17, 1975

"U.S. Journal: Manhattan—Three Strand-Hounds", February 10, 1975

"U.S. Journal: New Glarus, Wisconsin—Swissness", January 20, 1975

"U.S. Journal: Houston—Some Thoughts on a Congress of Cities", January 6, 1975

"U.S. Journal: Wheeler Lake, Alabama—Putting It All Together", December 2, 1974

"U.S. Journal: Vermont—250 and Beyond", November 4, 1974

"U.S. Journal: Kanawha County, West Virginia—Some Elements in a Dispute That Resulted in the Closing of Schools, the Shutting Down of Industry, the Wounding of Men, and the Cancellation of Football Games", September 30, 1974

"U.S. Journal: Valdez, Alaska—Impact", September 2, 1974

"The Inquiring Demographer—This Week’s Question: Has the Upheaval in Cyprus, Worldwide Inflation, and the Resignation of the President Spoiled Your Summer Vacation?", August 26, 1974

"U.S. Journal: Spokane, Washington—Thoughts of a Fair-Trotter", August 5, 1974

"U.S. Journal: Truth Or Consequence, New Mexico—There’s Only One Truth Or Consequences", June 10, 1974

"U.S. Journal: Manhattan—The Parkway Restaurant: Dramatis Personae", June 3, 1974

"The Inquiring Demographer—This Week’s Question: Do You Think the Administration Will Be Able To Stop the Constant Increase in the Cost Of Food?", May 27, 1974

"U.S. Journal: Kahoka, Missouri—Hog Factory", May 6, 1974

"Down the Adjective Deleted Road", May 13, 1974

"U.S. Journal: Kansas City, Missouri—Reflections of Someone Whose Home Town Has Become a Glamour City", April 8, 1974

"U.S. Journal: Imperial County, California—The Glamis Run", March 11, 1974

"U.S. Journal: St. Croix, American Virgin Islands—Indigenous Population", February 25, 1974

"U.S. Journal: Suffolk County, Long Island", February 11, 1974

"U.S. Journal: Boston—Parallels", January 21, 1974

"U.S. Journal: Garrison, New York—Jackpot", January 7, 1974

"The Inquiring Demographer—This Week’s Question: How Do You Think Watergate Will Affect the Energy Crisis?", December 17, 1973

".S. Journal: Biddeford, Maine—O&uacut; Se Trouve La Plage?", December 10, 1973

"U.S. Journal: Madison, Wisconsin—The Red Mayor and the Ideal Place", December 3, 1973

"U.S. Journal: Lander, Wyoming—Hitters and Missers", November 26, 1973

"U.S. Journal: American Market, London—Thoughts of a Late-Blooming Acquirer", October 22, 1973

"U.S. Journal: New York—Eating Out", August 6, 1973

"U.S. Journal: Oklahoma—Reflections on Muskogee’s Acquiring its Own Submarine", July 9, 1973

"U.S. Journal: The Midwest—Do the Folks Out There Really Care?", June 9, 1973

"U.S. Journal: Gallup, New Mexico—You Always Turn Your Head", May 12, 1973

"U.S. Journal: Southern California—Sergei Kourdakov", May 5, 1973

"U.S. Journal: Atlanta—Settlement", March 17, 1973

"U.S. Journal: The Lower East Side—A Sunday-Morning Tale", February 24, 1973

"U.S. Journal: El Paso, Texas—Hard to Sell", February 17, 1973

"U.S. Journal: Sacramento, California—A Public Hearing on the Origin of the Species", January 6, 1973

"U.S. Journal: Ohio—Gourmets and Eaters", February 3, 1973

"U.S. Journal: Newark—Kawaida", December 30, 1972

"U.S. Journal: The Coastline—Some Reflections on Sand as Real Estate", November 18, 1972

"U.S. Journal: Baltimore—City Fair", October 28, 1972

"U.S. Journal: Forest City, Iowa—A Day in the Back Room", October 14, 1972

"U.S. Journal: American Colony, Guadalajara—Guests", September 2, 1972

"A Reporter at Large: Tribute", August 5, 1972

"U.S. Journal: Manhattan—A Few Observations on the Zapping of the Inner Circle", July 15, 1972

"U.S. Journal: Texas—Reformer", June 17, 1972

"U.S. Journal: New York, Richmond, Detroit—Thoughts of a Non-Shareholder Whose Mind Tends To

Wander During Meetings", June 3, 1972

"U.S. Journal: Breaux Bridges, Louisiana—Eating Crawfish", May 20, 1972

"U.S. Journal: Cloverdale, California—Buck and Baratta", April 22, 1972

"U.S. Journal: St. Petersburg, Florida—Unmissed Person", April 15, 1972

"NO!", Playboy, April 1972

"U.S. Journal: Albany, New York—Give Me a Yes on That One", March 18, 1972

"U.S. Journal: Brooklyn—Picking a Jury", February 26, 1972

"U.S. Journal: Maine—Runes", February 5, 1972

"U.S. Journal: East Hampton, Long Island—Friction", January 8, 1972

"U.S. Journal: Tesuque, New Mexico—Some Facts About the Colonias Project, and Several Ways of Looking

at Them", December 18, 1971

"U.S. Journal: Disney World, Florida—Are You Having Fun?", November 6, 1971

"U.S. Journal: Manhattan—Fun’s Over", October 9, 1971

"U.S. Journal: Gallup, New Mexico—Drunken Indians", September 25, 1971

"U.S. Journal: Arroyo Seco, New Mexico—A Short History of the Business District", September 18, 1971

"U.S. Journal: Manhattan—The Ordeal of Fats Goldberg", July 3, 1971

"U.S. Journal: Manhattan and Atchison, Kansas—The Maes Family", June 12, 1971

"U.S. Journal: Kansas—War Without Hawks", May 22, 1971

"U.S. Journal: Florida—Some Questions That Occur to an Oldie Talking to the Sun", May 1, 1971

".S. Journal: Crystal City, Texas—New Cheerleaders", April 17, 1971

"U.S. Journal: Dorchester County, South Carolina—Victoria Delee—In Her Own Words", March 27, 1971

"U.S. Journal: Center Junction, Iowa—Jim, Tex, and the One-Armed Man", February 20, 1971

"U.S. Journal: Imperial County, California—Four Doctors with Views on a Clinic", February 13, 1971

"U.S. Journal: Pasadena—Waiting for the Roses", January 16, 1971

"U.S. Journal: Pinellas County, Florida—Attractions", January 2, 1971

"A Nation of Shopkeepers Loses Three of Them Through Contact with a Nation of Violence", The Atlantic Monthly, January 1971

"U.S. Journal: Houston—Not Super-Outrageous", December 12, 1970

"U.S. Journal: New Haven—Return of an Overstructured Bladderballer", November 21, 1970

"U.S. Journal: Nampa, Idaho—Negative and Controversial", October 31, 1970

"U.S. Journal: West Forty-Fourth Street—Shapiro and I", October 17, 1970

"U.S. Journal: Grosvenor Square—Protection and Welfare", September 19, 1970

"U.S. Journal: Luverne, Alabama—G.T. Miller’s Plan", August 29, 1970

"U.S. Journal: Long Island—Hero Investigator", July 18, 1970

"U.S. Journal: West Chester, Pennsylvania—I’ve Always Been Clean", June 27, 1970

"U.S. Journal: Fort Dix, New Jersey—Two Army Stories", June 6, 1970

"U.S. Journal: Missouri—The Folks at Home", May 16, 1970

"U.S. Journal: Los Angeles—New Group in Town", April 18,1970

"U.S. Journal: N.Y./L.A./N.Y.—A Traveling Person on a Beautiful Place", April 4, 1970

"U.S. Journal: Provo, Utah—Categories", March 21, 1970

"U.S. Journal: San Juan, Puerto Rico—House of Studies", February 14, 1970

"U.S. Journal: Brained, Minnesota—Sno", January 24, 1970

"U.S. Journal: Kentucky—The Logical Thing, Costwise", December 27, 1969

"U.S. Journal: Pass Christian, Mississippi—Just the Normal Greed", November 29, 1969

"For Worse Is Better and Sickness Is in Health", November 22, 1969

"U.S. Journal: Lower Bucks County, Pennsylvania—Buying and Selling Along Route 1", November 15, 1969

"U.S. Journal: Monroe, North Carolina—Historical Note", October 11, 1969

"U.S. Journal: Eureka Springs, Arkansas—The Sacred Projects", July 26, 1969

"U.S. Journal: Atlantic City—Leave the Rest to Me", June 14, 1969

"U.S. Journal: Denver—Doing the Right Thing Isn’t Always Easy", May 31, 1969

"U.S. Journal: New Orleans—A Question of Replication in Their Innovating", May 3, 1969

"U.S. Journal: Jeremiah, Kentucky—A Stranger with a Camera", April 12, 1969

"U.S. Journal: Gees Bend, Alabama—‘The Black Womens of Wilcox County Is About to Do Somethin’", March 22, 1969

"U.S. Journal: Sumter County, South Carolina—Turks", March 8, 1969

"U.S. Journal: Lake County, Illinois—Targets", February 15, 1969

"U.S. Journal: On the Circuit—World’s Strongest Man", February 1, 1969

"U.S. Journal: Oshkosh—A Hearing: ‘In the Matter of Disciplinary Action Involving Certain Students of Wisconsin State University—Oshkosh'", January 4, 1969

"U.S. Journal: Nassau County—The Kids Against the Grownups", November 16, 1968 "U.S. Journal: Honolulu—The Chiefs", October 26, 1968

"U.S. Journal: Phoenix—Practice, Practice, Practice", July 13, 1968

"U.S. Journal: Resurrection City—Metaphors", June 15, 1968

"U.S. Journal: San Antonio—Pollution at the Confluence", May 25, 1968

"U.S. Journal: Kansas City—I Got Nothing Against the Colored", May 11, 1968

"U.S. Journal: Iowa—The Last Peaceful Place", April 20, 1968

"U.S. Journal: Clovis—No Sir, I Can’t Go", March 30, 1968

"U.S. Journal: New Orleans", March 9, 1968

"U.S. Letter: Indiana", February 17, 1968

"U.S. Letter: Atlanta", January 27, 1968

"U.S. Letter: Connecticut", January 6, 1968

"U.S. Letter: Chicago", December 16, 1967

"U.S. Letter: Columbia", November 25, 1967

"U.S. Letter: McFarland", November 4, 1967

"U.S. Letter: Cleveland", October 14, 1967

"A Reporter At Large: The War in Kansas", April 22, 1967

"Barnett Frummer Learns to Distinguish Packaged Paprika from the Real Article", April 8, 1967

"A Reporter At Large: The Buffs", January 10, 1967

"Letter from Salisbury", November 12, 1966
"Onward and Upward with the Arts: You Can’t Wear Out a Lust", September 24, 1966

"Barnett Frummer Is an Unbloomed Flower", February 5, 1966

"Barnett Frummer Accepts with Pleasure", December 18, 1965

"A Reporter At Large: Color in the Mother Country", December 4, 1965

"A Reporter At Large: A Third State of Existence", September 18, 1965

"Roland Magruder, Freelance Writer", August 14, 1965

"A Reporter At Large: I Know I Want To Do Something", May 29, 1965

"Barnett Frummer and Rosalie Mondle Meet Superman: A Love Story", April 17, 1965

"Letter from Berkeley", March 13, 1965

"Letter from Jackson", August 29, 1964

"A Reporter At Large: The Zulus", June 20, 1964

"A Reporter At Large: Wake Up and Live", April 4, 1964

"For Spacious Skies and Ample Waves of Green", January 4, 1964

"A Reporter At Large: An Education in Georgia (II)", July 20, 1963

"A Reporter At Large: An Education in Georgia (III)", July 27, 1963

"A Reporter At Large: An Education in Georgia (I)", July 13, 1963

"John Murphy", January 18, 1988

"Letter From Long Island: The Color of blood", The New Yorker,

Interviews and Reviews

Interview with Calvin Trillin where he discusses his new book, Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin: Forty Years of Funny Stuff Charlie Rose, PBS, broadcast November 2, 2011,

Q&A with Calvin Trillin Columbia Journalism Review, April 20, 2011

Mark Singer interviews Calvin Trillin about his new book, About Alice, a tribute to his wife and longtime muse, who died in 2001. The 92nd Street Y, January 14, 2007

New Yorker Interview, Trillin talks about Brian Slavenas, a thirty-year-old first lieutenant in the Illinois National Guard

“Political Poetry: Bush and Kerry, the Last Debate,” All Things Considered, NPR, October 14, 2004

“Political Poetry: Bush and Kerry, in the Town Hall,” All Things Considered, NPR, October 11, 2004

“Political Poems: Cheney-Edwards Debate,” All Things Considered, NPR, October 6, 2004

“Presidential Debate 2004: The Poem,” All Things Considered, NPR, October 1, 2004

“Lights Down on Carson’s The Tonight Show,” Talk of the Nation, NPR, September 30, 2004

Q&A: Home Cooking The New Yorker, (online), August 30, 2004

Minzesheimer, Bob, “‘Doggerel’ Politics is all Rhyme and Rhythm,” USA Today, April 15, 2004
“Calvin Trillin’s Convention Poem: DNC Highs and Lows,” All Things Considered, NPR, July 30, 2004

“Calvin Trillin’s Convention Poem: Clinton’s Return,” All Things Considered, NPR, July 27, 2004

“Democratic Convention—Calvin Trillin: Keeping the Convention Positive,” All Things Considered, NPR, July 26, 2004

“Vacations Off the Beaten Track,” Talk of the Nation, NPR, July 26, 2004
“Calvin Trillin’s Convention Poem: Advice For Kerry,” All Things Considered, NPR, July 29, 2004

Calvin Trillin’s Convention Poem: Teresa Heinz Kerry,” All Things Considered, NPR, July 28, 2004

“A Serious Eater: Calvin Trillin,” The Leonard Lopate Show, NPR, July 31, 2003
“Calvin Trillin,” Talk of the Nation, NPR, June 12, 2003


“‘Bud’ Trillin at the Blue Smoke,” Dish, NPR, January 18, 2003

“Did Bullies Torment Richard Perle?: Calvin Trillin’s