Short Takes
Alien Ink: The FBI's War on Freedom of Expression
By Natalie Robins, "Morrow"
Unreasonable Behavior
By Don McCullin, "Knopf"
Book review by
Carl Sessions Stepp
Carl Sessions Stepp (cstepp@umd.edu) began writing for his hometown paper, the Marlboro Herald-Advocate in Bennettsville, South Carolina, in 1963, after his freshman year in high school. He studied journalism at the University of South Carolina, where he edited The Gamecock. After college, he worked for the St. Petersburg Times and the Charlotte Observer before becoming the first national editor at USA Today in 1982. In 1983, he joined the University of Maryland journalism faculty full time. In the ensuing 30 years, he also has served as senior editor and book reviewer for AJR, writing dozens of pieces. He has been a visiting writing and editing coach for news organizations in more than 30 states.
Alien Ink: The FBI's War on Freedom of Expression , by Natalie Robins (Morrow, 496 pages, $27.50). This is another in a procession of books tracing J. Edgar Hoover's bizarre and infuriating preoccupation with hounding writers and artists of all political stripes (a 94-page file on Edna St. Vincent Millay? Some 690 pages on William F. Buckley?). Journalists will appreciate Robins' use of the FOIA and resourceful interviews with FBI agents and writers.
Unreasonable Behavior , by Don McCullin (Knopf, 287 pages, $24). McCullin, a daredevil combat photographer, recalls his coverage of world trouble spots from the Congo to Northern Ireland to the Mideast to Central America. Surprisingly and touchingly, he also reveals the lamentable effects on his professional and personal relationships. The book includes many of his powerful photos. ###
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