Character Studies

"For thirty years, Singer's been MVP at The New Yorker . . . searching the country for superslices of Americana," praised Entertainment Weekly upon the publication of Singer's previous book, Somewhere in America. His newest collection, Character Studies, is filled with profiles of Americans that Singer thinks we ought to meet. Whether it's about the sleight-of-hand master Ricky Jay, the ardent bibliophile Michael Zinman, or better-known personalities such as the hype artist Donald Trump or the meticulous filmmaker Martin Scorsese, Singer's elegant, incisive journalism uncovers the passions that drive the ordinary, the quirky, and the truly, fanatically fixated.
Tom Brokaw raves, "Mark Singer's essays are an insightful, hilarious, and instructive trip through the back roads and main streets of American culture," and this is true whether he's interviewing a devoted fan of the cowboy movie star Tom Mix or the self-selected intelligentsia of El Paso, Texas, who are determined to recover the skull of Pancho Villa. Singer's keen ear and sharp eye are sure to appeal to anyone interested in oddballs, America, or the conviction that character is destiny.