Monday, June 3, 6 PM: Author Event: Nicholas Kristof, Two-Time Pulitzer Prize Winner, to Speak at 175 Knight Law Center, Sponsored by Wayne Morris Center for Law and Politics
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Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning author, Oregonian Nicholas Kristof will offer a book-talk, reading, and signing around his latest book, an autobiography, "“Chasing Hope: A Reporter’s Life.” (Books provided by Tsunami Books)
From New York Times columnist, Pulitzer Prize winner, and bestselling author Nicholas D. Kristof, an intimate and gripping memoir about a life in journalism.
Kirkus Reviews (02/01/2024):
One of the most consequential journalists of our time recounts his life and storied career, showing how "journalism is an act of hope." Among many other honors, longtime New York Times journalist Kristof has won two Pulitzer Prizes: for International Reporting in 1990, with his wife and colleague Sheryl WuDunn, in recognition of their coverage of the Tiananmen Square massacre; and for Commentary in 2006, for bringing global attention to the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. He served as New York Times bureau chief in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo; as a senior editor at the Times in charge of the Sunday edition; and as a permanent opinion columnist. In this engaging memoir, Kristof offers numerous tales of encounters with danger in war zones and narrow escapes from death, including a plane crash in the African wilderness. Throughout his career, the author has never lost his belief in "purpose-driven journalism that exposes injustice." As part of his mission to get readers to care about human suffering and tragedy, he chronicles his return to his hometown of Yamhill, Oregon, to examine the shocking rates of alcoholism, drug addiction, suicide, and other "deaths of despair" in contemporary working-class America. He describes how he inherited his passion for human rights from his father, who escaped from despotic Romania. Kristof's fabulous career, from Harvard and a Rhodes scholarship at Oxford to the Times, has clearly been guided by a firm moral compass, a belief that truth, information, and ideas can be forces for justice and change in the world. If his 2021 campaign for governor of Oregon came to a premature end, no matter. Kristof has made his mark through his fearless reporting, and this memoir is a worthy record of his life's work. A vividly recalled account of a life that has had true global impact. COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Publishers Weekly (03/18/2024):
In this impassioned memoir, New York Times journalist Kristof (coauthor with his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, of Tightrope) looks back on a career spent exposing injustice. Kristof recaps his experiences covering 40 years of conflicts, social movements, and civil rights abuses, including reporting on communist Poland's 1981 crackdown on Solidarity protests; the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, for which he and his wife won a Pulitzer Prize; the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq; the plights of child sex slaves in Cambodia; and the genocide committed by the Sudanese government in Darfur, for which he won another Pulitzer. Along the way, Kristof referees Times office politics and drolly considers the paper's editorial whims ("If an editor's dog is diagnosed with cancer, then prepare for a series about the scandalous cost of veterinary care"). The tone can slip into self-regard: Kristof preens over a college term paper that a professor called "extraordinarily well-written," and is sure to mention that cider from his Oregon apple orchard has won gold medals. Still, Kristof's powerful reportage makes for a gripping look at both the craft of journalism and the humanitarian disasters he's witnessed. Photos. Agent: Anne Sibbald, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (May)
Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Booklist (03/15/2024):
*Starred Review* This hefty account of Kristof's life and career will remind readers of the groundbreaking, insightful, often influential work Kristof has produced throughout his 40 years with the New York Times as a reporter, editor, and columnist, from his coverage of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests (for which he and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, won a Pulitzer Prize) to his opposition to the Iraq War, his fight against child pornography, his relentless exposure of ethnic cleansing in Darfur, his advocacy of women's rights worldwide, and his chronicles of the breakdown of America's working class, among many other issues. Hardly surprising for someone with degrees from Harvard and Oxford Universities, who for decades has deftly mixed with both world leaders and the utterly powerless, and whose career fast-tracked almost from the get-go, some ego is on display here; but Kristof also brings an exquisitely nuanced, often self-critical perspective on how exceedingly difficult it is for journalists to get a story right, all while trying to square the professional demands of objectivity with the human impulse to offer help. In the end, a thoughtful book that touches on many of the defining events of our time and how those events got covered. COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Biographical Note:
NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times, where he was previously bureau chief in Hong Kong, Beijing, and Tokyo. He is the coauthor, with his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, of five previous books: Tightrope, A Path Appears, Half the Sky, Thunder from the East, and China Wakes. He was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes, one with WuDunn in 1990 for their coverage of China, and the second in 2006 for his columns on Darfur.
Review Quotes:
"Malaria, warlords, death threats, bombs, riots, plane crashes, scorpions, flak jackets, mobs, machetes, and deadlines--that's the price of truth-seeking and Kristof takes it on with conviction, courage, and humility. This is the kind of memoir that changes the world. Read it." --Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry
"Delightful and inspiring, Chasing Hope is an illuminating and, at times, hilarious read, about an American farm boy who grew into a brave international correspondent and discovered truths that made a vast difference in the world. May this book be read by every budding journalist, and even experienced ones, and indeed by anyone who hopes for the future of humanity." --Ann Curry, journalist
"In these dark, swirly times, Nick's reporting and this page-turner offer us a sharp light of a hope that will not be shuttered. Doors are not exactly kicked open, but bullets are dodged, bad luck too. It's a thriller, a chronicle and a set of keys to our most undervalued resource - hope. Nick's not just chasing hope, he is it... a most reasoned, polite, persistent, insistent finger in the eye of injustice." --Bono, author of Surrender
"In Chasing Hope, Nick Kristof tells the stories behind the headlines: the hidden injustices he exposed, the risks he took, and the history he watched unfold. This courageous memoir is uplifting and will inspire anyone interested in building a better world. I hope you read it!" --Sheryl Sandberg, founder, LeanIn.org
"Kristof's powerful reportage makes for a gripping look at both the craft of journalism and the humanitarian disasters he's witnessed."-- Publisher's Weekly
"A gripping memoir by a world-class reporter. Nick Kristof takes us behind the scenes as he risks his life to shine a light on the world's most pressing problems and blaze a trail to a better future. In a time when trust in journalism is in jeopardy, his honesty, humility, and humanity are rays of hope." --Adam Grant, author of Hidden Potential
" Chasing Hope is exactly what I needed to read right now: an outstanding memoir about journalism, hope, integrity, and courage. In a world where journalism and the truth it seeks to reveal is under constant attack, it is more important than ever to impress upon people why the fourth estate matters and how reporting the facts, if done with honesty and objectivity, can shine a light in the darkest of places. Nick Kristof shows us what a life in pursuit of the truth looks like, the sacrifices individual reporters make to report on people and places in dire and dangerous circumstances. His life, and his career, have been dedicated to the presumption that words and truth matter. It is a lesson that is sorely in need of repeating in our modern, chaotic, divided world." --Kristin Hannah, author of The Women
"Nick Kristof is a journalistic exemplar, practicing the art of storytelling in its purest form. He has a penchant for covering the stories too many shy away from--rolling up his sleeves and getting his hands dirty with the hope that it will motivate us to act. His North Star has never wavered. This book should be required reading for anyone interested in journalism, or for those who need to be reminded that, in the right hands, it can be a truly noble profession." --Katie Couric
"Packed with action, adventure, high stakes and close shaves, this outstanding memoir shows us how great reporting works - and, crucially, why more than ever it's vitally important." --Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher series