Description
Book SynopsisA grassroots tour of small-town American newspapers, and the people who write, edit, and produce them.
Trade Review"[
Emus Loose in Egnar is an] engaging account of local journalism outside the major urban hubs. Without the muscle of a big-city newspaper—or the benefit of working at arm's length from public officials and advertisers—the passionate lunatics who put out America's small-town weeklies labor to keep local politicians honest while coping with anger, threats, pleading, exhaustion, poverty and, often, instead of gratitude, cold shoulders from neighbors on the checkout line at the IGA."—Daniel Akst,
Wall Street Journal"Very occasionally under threat of violence, more often facing social isolation or financial pressure, these rural journalists' devotion to truth-telling keeps the First Amendment alive and communities connected in grassroots America."—
Kirkus"A read through this rather gentle, inquisitive look at small-town weekly newspapers could be beneficial to your health. It may even lower your big city blood pressure."—Jonathan Rickard,
New York Journal of Books“Spiced up with rich portraits of curmudgeons, quirky editors, and pugnacious reporters, Muller’s compelling and endearing defense of small town journalism proves the value of thinking globally while writing locally.”—ForeWord Magazine
“Readers of this book, which is a rare combination of
important and
entertaining, will be surprised to discover how much small-towners have to teach the rest of us about life, and how much their local weekly newspapers have to teach big-city news media about survival.”—Bill Geist, correspondent for
CBS News Sunday Morning and best-selling author of
Way Off the Road: Discovering the Peculiar Charms of Small-Town America“
Emus Loose in Egnar is what Mark Twain might have written if he had taken better care of himself and lived long enough to meet the collection of loners and lunatics in this book. I laughed until I cried, because I have been there.”—Richard Reeves, author of
Daring Young Men and the founding editor of the
Phillipsburg (NJ)
Free PressTable of ContentsAcknowlegmentsPrologue1. Everything Old Is New Again2. Crusaders3. Curmudgeons4. Too Close for Comfort5. This Town Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us 6. All the Names Unfit to Print7. Never Speak Ill of the Dead8. School Sports: Holy Hyperbole!9. They Don't Make 'Em Like That Anymore10. Coming HomeBibliography
