Lawrence Wright's 6 favorite books

The New Yorker staff writer recommends works by Ben Hecht, John McPhee, and more

Wright
(Image credit: (Courtesy Kenny Braun, Book image)

The Earl of Louisiana by A.J. Liebling (Louisiana State Univ., $19). In 1959, Liebling, one of The New Yorker's greatest and most amusing writers, arrived in Baton Rouge to chronicle the campaign of Earl Long, Huey's younger brother. Earl, who had just checked out of a mental asylum in Texas to run for re-election as governor of Louisiana, was a great character, and Liebling made a full meal of him.

A Child of the Century by Ben Hecht (out of print). Hecht was one of our great playwrights and screenwriters, with The Front Page and Notorious among his credits. But it is his memoir that I treasure, particularly the stories of his newspaper days in Chicago in the early 20th century.

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