Liebling Goes to War
I have just started reading “The Road Back to Paris” by A.J. Liebling. Recently fired food critic from WSJ and Liebling biographer Raymond Sokolov wrote the introduction. Sokolov justifies Leibling’s selection to cover the war by the New Yorker Magazine writing (among other things)
France had become a second home for (Liebling). He had hiked across Normandy on a semiserious scholarly research project, hunting for traces of a mythical medieval poet who had supposedly lived at Vire. There, and in the small but soigné and hearty bistros of prewar Paris, he had educated his palate and primed his appetite for substantial, serious food. And in a Left Bank café he met Angèle, the first important woman of his complex amatory career.
All very interesting. But are these the ideal qualifications of a war correspondent? I guess they were. Liebling turned out to be one. Here is a fun image of Liebling from Slate
Tags: Great Writing