As the author says in his preface, Here, There, & Everywhere is a “grab bag of a book,” containing almost 100 pieces on a multiplicity of subjects. Paul Johnson calls Jay Nordingler “one of the most versatile and pungent writers in America. And Mark Steyn says that this collection is “a virtuoso display.”
In these pages, Nordlinger visits unusual towns, universities–even music camps. He delves into politics, then profiles a number of personalities: George W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Naguib Mahfouz, Al Sharpton, Donald Rumsfeld, Rosie O’Donnell, Rodney Dangerfield…. He sends dispatches from Europe–East and West–and the Middle East. He writes on a favorite sport, golf, and a favorite art: music. We meet Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Luciano Pavarotti, Meredith Wilson (the composer of The Music Man), and many others.
The book closes with a selection of personal pieces, involving matters large and small. What we have here is a feast of a book, served in several appetizing courses. Mark Helprin says that reading these pieces is “like opening one present after another.” Rush Limbaugh says that the book is “witty, grabbing, and fun.”
And, out the author, Norman Podhoretz says, “The easy informality of his style never fails to engage and delight, the wide-ranging cultivation it reflects never fails to enlighten, and the energy that propels it never fails to amaze.” Readers are invited to experience this for themselves.
