The Nat Hentoff Reader [Paperback]

From the Bill of Rights, freedom of speech, and civil rights to jazz, blues and country music, Nat Hentoff has written about American life for decades, in theAtlantic Monthly, theNew Yorker, theVillage Voice, theWall Street Journal, andJazzTimes,among countless other publications. TheNew York Timeshas hailed Hentoff's work as an invigorating and entertaining reminder of why freedom of expression matters. TheWashington Post Book Worldhas called Hentoff an old-fashioned music lover who likes, as Charlie Parker once put it, 'to listen to the stories' that good music tells. Nat Hentoff is a legend.And now, for the first time, here are his most important writings of the past twenty years—the quintessential Hentoff on everything from Cardinal John O'Connor to Merle Haggard, racism and political correctness in the classroom to Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie to the censorship of Huckleberry Finn. Controversial? You bet. Whatever the topic,The Nat Hentoff Readershows a man of passion and insight, of streetwise wit and polished eloquence-a true American original.

Nat Hentoff is the first Jazz critic every named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.