The Fiddler in the Subway: The Story of the World-Class Violinist Who Played for Handouts. . . And Other Virtuoso Performances by America’s Foremost Feature Writer
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Product Description
GENE WEINGARTEN IS THE O. HENRY OF AMERICAN JOURNALISM
Simply the best storyteller around, Weingarten describes the world as you reflect it is before revealing how it really is—in narratives that are by turns hilarious, heartwarming, and provocative, but permanently memorable.
Millions of people know the title piece about violinist Joshua Bell, which originally started as a stunt: What would take place if you place a world-class musician outside a Washington, D.C., subway station to play for spare change? Would anyone even notice? The answer was no. Weingarten’s tale went viral, apt a widely referenced lesson about life lived too quickly. Additional classic tales—the one about “The Fantastic Zucchini,” a wildly well loved but personally flawed children’s entertainer; the search for the official “Armpit of America”; a profile of the predictable American nonvoter—all of them reveal as much about their readers as they do their subjects.
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- The Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Race, Class and Crime in America
- Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else
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Excellent writing is hard to define, but you’ll know it when you see it. It looks simple, but it’s not. An effective essay has a central theme that is crisply expressed, with no extraneous words. An essay may be humorous, persuasive, powerful, moving, or all of the above. Gene Weingarten’s “The Fiddler in the Subway” is a collection of twenty feature tales that originally appeared in the Washington Post. Weingarten is a reporter, editor, and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who touches on a wide range of topics.
Weingarten starts off with a bang. “The Fantastic Zucchini,” is about “Washington’s preeminent preschool entertainer.” Zucchini commands huge fees, but lives like a pauper. He has a magical ability to tell to children, partly because he is a huge kid himself. He also harbors a shocking secret identity which is at odds with his public persona. Additional notable chapters are: “The Armpit of America,” about a Nevada town with small to boast about; “Snowbound,” a visit to “a flyspeck island off the coast of Alaska”; “Doonesbury’s War,” in which Weingarten profiles cartoonist and political satirist Gary Trudeau; and “Fatal Distraction,” about parents who inadvertently place their tiny children in locked cars and forget about them. The final essay, “The Fiddler in the Subway,” is about ex- child sensation Joshua Bell, one of the world’s head of state violinists who, lacking flourish, sets up shop in the Metro at L’Enfant Plaza. Will anyone notice that a renowned musician is playing for them?
The leader’s philosophy is that “a feature tale will never be better than pedestrian unless it can use the theme at hand to take up a more universal truth.” He goes on to say that “it is not enough to observe and report. You must also reflect.” Weingarten gives us much to ponder, including why some people stubbornly refuse to vote, the sick feeling that doting parents sometimes have when their grown children place home, and whether it is really necessary to unearth every secret and scandal in the lives of legendary people. “The Fiddler on the Subway” is an impressive, entertaining, and enlightening compilation by a man who has the ability to transform feature tales into works of art.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
Seriously, I’m the first reviewer? I find that surprising, as I know I’m far from the only member of The Cult of Weingarten. I’ve been an ardent fan of Gene’s Post chats for years, and pre-ordered this book months ago, ignoring the ridicule of my spouse (“Why are you buying a collection of tales that you’ve already read?”). I received it a few days ago, and naturally he’s already ongoing stealing my copy to read for himself. We’ve both been skipping around, finding new essays that we missed and re-reading ancient favorites, and different pieces have been a topic of conversation every single day since it arrived – it’s that excellent. I really contend that while he’s a gifted humorist, Mr. Weingarten’s talent truly shines when he’s writing features (and the Pulitzer committee agrees). This is a collection you’ll come back to again and again. Poop.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5