Customer Reviews:
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 I got through only 4 stories May 26, 2008
I very much enjoy profiles of interesting people and had high hopes for this book, but it's awful. In fact, I gave up on about the fourth tape.
I managed (with great difficulty) to get through part of the article on Richard Pryor but the vulgar language made me stop. Granted, that might be appropriate for a piece about Pryor, but I think it would be possible to write an interesting biographical sketch without it.
The article on Ernest Hemingway was the most boring and meaningless piece of tripe I've ever read. How could ANYONE make Hemingway seem deadly dull? By recounting an almost minute by minute, blow by blow, excursion in New York to buy a coat. What was the author thinking????
The short article on Katharine White was okay, but nothing special and actually more about the writer than her subject.
The article on Mr. Hunter's Grave, which was a 'non celebrity' piece, was overly long and exceedingly dull, with very poor narration.
That's when I decided life is too short to spend listening to books like this. If this is the best The New Yorker can do, it's no wonder I don't subscribe!
 A Book with Character January 3, 2007
If you are a fan of biographies but are intimidated by 1,000-page tomes, Life Stories is a great choice. Some say the New Yorker invented the "profile," and though it does seem the magazine was the first to call its biographical pieces by that name (amazing, considering how ubiquitous the term is today), editor David Remnick is quick to assert that they hardly invented the style. What they have done for decades is find the most interesting people and have the best writers provide illumination. Nearly every profile here is profound and nearly every one of them is short enough to read in a single (long) sitting. And while it's a treat to learn intimate details of some of the most famous people of the 20th century, it's the profiles of the lesser-known people that shine: from Joseph Mitchell's encounter with an aging churchman with a penchant for baking to the story of the Chudnovsky brothers, Russian emigres who built a supercomputer in their apartment from salvaged parts. Fantastic reading from start to finish.
Great stories, Great story tellers January 28, 2006
The writing is beautiful. The story telling is beautiful. The stories are amazing. Five Stars.
 A terrific collection September 27, 2005
This is a collection of prime examples of the long gone "profile" piece in The New Yorker magazine. They just don't write 'em like this anymore!
Choose Truman Capote's profile of Marlon Brando, or Lillian Ross' profile of Ernest Hemingway, or any of the 20-some other profiles in this book. You will read some of the best writing about some of the most exciting people in 20th Century history.
Is there a second volume in the works? I hope so!
Delightful and Revealing Profiles August 3, 2002
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Hemingway, Baryishnikov, and Henry Luce are the subjects of some of my favorite celebrity profiles in this wonderful book. But topping my list is "Man Goes to See a Doctor", the awesome Adam Gopnik's sweet and funny rendering of his shrink. Here's a snippet: "Your problems remind me of" - and here he named one of the heroes of the New York School. "Fortunately, you suffer from neither impotence nor alcoholism. This is in your favor." Highly recommended!
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