Illuminating and provocative, Outside Looking In is a compelling chronicle of an original thinker at work in remarkable times. With his dazzling style and journalist's eye for detail, Garry Wills brings history to life. Whether writing about the civil rights movement, 1960s protests, or close-up studies of the people who have shaped our world, only he could bring together in one book Barry Goldwater, Daniel Berrigan, Beverly Sills, Richard Nixon, and John Waters. Wills shares, as only the best raconteurs can, stories of the fascinating people he has closely observed during more than fifty years of reporting.
writer (matt.sitman at gmail dot com) // au courant lefty podcaster (@KnowYrEnemyPod with @samadlerbell) // editorial board @dissentmag
(1/2) In Garry Wills’s memoir OUTSIDE LOOKING IN, he recounts being with Studs Terkel when Terkel was receiving an honorary degree from Northwestern. Richard Posner, from U Chicago Law School, was also being honored that day
"Garry Wills is not only one of the country's most distinguished intellectuals but also one of its most provacative."
--The New York Times Book Review
"A completely captivating collection . . . [Wills] writes an intensely opinionated reevaluation of leaders he has encountered, autobiographical reminiscences, and insightful, mostly admiring essays on imporant people in his life."
--Publisher's Weekly (starred review)