Legendary reporter Carl Bernstein revisits his early career in 'Chasing History'
It would have been easy for the famous journalist to fall into the nostalgia trap with his memoir, which chronicles his earliest years in the newspaper business. Happily, he doesn't.
With the nation hobbled by the COVID-19 pandemic and still riven by intractable political divisions, there's never been a more tempting — or more dangerous — time to indulge in nostalgia. Compared to the horrors of the past few years, it's natural to see everything that came before in sepia tones: simpler times when common decency reigned.
But nostalgia lies and distorts, of course, and journalists, in particular, are routinely warned to steer clear of it. (To be sure, that doesn't mean we always follow that advice.) It would have been easy, which chronicles his earliest years in the newspaper business. Happily, he doesn't. While it's a mostly fond look at the past, he deftly avoids all the "things sure were better back then" pitfalls.
