Tales from the Times: Real-Life Stories to Make You Think, Wonder, and Smile, from the Pages of The New York Times

by The New York Times, Lisa Belkin (Editor)

Overview

A food editor befriends a chicken in his Queens backyard. A ten-year-old child prodigy learns quantum physics. A thief in Rome steals 1,000 euros-from the bottom of an outdoor fountain. These are the stories that make us smile, wonder, and think. They are real-life stories about real-life people, all of which have appeared on the pages of The New York Times.

A perfect primer on humanity, Tales from the Times will introduce new readers to people and places that captivate the mind. There are certain human- interest stories that people just can't stop talking about-twins separated at birth or a five-year-old taking his mother's car for a joyride. Now, in this wonderfully eclectic compilation of articles, readers will find many of the most talked about stories from The New York Times.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312312336
Publisher:	St. Martin's Press
Publication date:	04/01/2004
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.66(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Editor Lisa Belkin is a reporter for The New York Times and author of that newspaper's "Life's Work" column. She is the author of Life's Work: Confessions of an Unbalanced Mom, First, Do No Harm, and Show Me a Hero. Belkin lives with her family in Westchester County, New York.

Editorial Reviews

This rich compilation of hard-to-believe and exciting articles that all appeared in the New York Times is an enjoyable arrangement of real-life stories. Not only fun to read, these stories also educate readers on their own humanity. This book includes sections on such subjects as sports, language, families, animals, and faraway places. The wide variety of topics will appeal to a wide-ranging audience. Adults as well as children will find themselves re-reading and talking about them for a long time. The stories offer anecdotes that impact our lives because they touch our humanity. The book features ironic and humorous stories, such as the one about the twins separated at birth who reunite in college. There's also a story about a five-year-old who drives his mother's car safely with his baby sister in the car. Ironically, he was obeying all of the traffic rules and was pulled over by a police officer only because he was so short that the vehicle appeared to be unmanned. This story appeals to many people because of its unique circumstances and humor. There's a story about one young woman who beat the odds to graduate with honors from Harvard. These are just a few of the stories that make this collection memorable. Readers will find the tales within this compilation very inspiring and will want to share them with everyone. 2004, St Martin's Griffin, Ages 12 up.
—Kara E. Nichols

Children's Literature

Great stories, told simply in brisk journalistic style, are the lifeblood of every great newspaper. In Tales from the Times, staff members of The New York Times recount humorous, heart-warming, outrageous, and down-to-earth tales garnered from their years of writing for the newspaper. There are stories about local characters, off-beat events, and international vignettes that draw the reader to the actual scene and the ordinary or extraordinary people who figure in the sketches. Students of journalism will find many examples to encourage their own foray into that field of writing. Can a reader resist learning about a 92-year-old college student or the street dentists of Pakistan, who use pliers, wire cutters, and metal files? Others may sympathize with students in Texas who travel over 90 miles one way to school by bus each day. There may be a few smiles over a Moscow traffic jam that lasted 24 hours for one commuter planning a 10-mile trip. Tales of a five-year-old who tried to drive his baby sister to the beach in the family van or the one about a stranger who helped a homeless man recover his dignity and find his family point out the human interest that makes for good reporting. One story leads to another, from llama farming to a stray dog, a teenager riding the New York subways for a research project, a disappearing way of life in Africa, twins separated at birth finding each other, and so on for more great stories. Arranged by topic, this book can be read and reread for the enjoyment and empathy the writers arouse in the reader. KLIATT Codes: JSA—Recommended for junior and senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2004, St. Martin's, Griffin,275p., Ages 12 to adult.
—Mary Gerrity

KLIATT

This anthology of true-life tales, all stemming from the pages of the venerable New York Times, encompasses a wide range of human interests. Edited by Times reporter Belkin, the collection is arranged by subject matter, with many of the stories featuring unusual circumstances or people surmounting great odds to triumph over adversity. For example, they tell of a lost chicken in Queens, a ten-year-old college student, an athlete battling cancer, and humorous incidents from around the country. Each has a unique twist on the human (or inhuman) condition. The only flaw is the lack of publication dates; it would have been interesting to see when each story was originally featured in the paper. Primarily an inspirational and lighthearted collection, this is bound to please fans of newspaper writing and human-interest stories. Recommended for public libraries of all sizes.-Katherine E. Merrill, SUNY at Geneseo Lib. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal