LifeStories:ProfilesfromTheNewYorker

Oneofart'spurestchallengesistotranslateahumanbeingintowords.TheNewYorkerhasmetthischallengemoresuccessfullyandmoreoriginallythananyothermodernAmericanjournal.IthasindeliblyshapedthegenreknownastheProfile.Startingwithlight-fantasticevocationsofglamorousandidiosyncraticfiguresofthetwentiesandthirties,suchasHenryLuceandIsadoraDuncan,andcontinuingtothepresent,withcomplexpicturesofsuchcontemporariesasMikhailBaryshnikovandRichardPryor,thiscollectionofNewYorkerProfilespresentsreaderswithaportraitgalleryofsomeofthemostprominentfiguresofthetwentiethcentury.TheseProfilesareliterary-journalisticinvestigationsintocharacterandaccomplishment,motiveandmadness,beautyandugliness,andareunrivalledintheirrange,theirvarietyofstyle,andtheirembraceofhumanity.