Dispatches from the Gilded Age

From the heart of the American South to the African bush, Dispatches from the Gilded Age is a dazzling collection of essays from Julia Reed, one of America's most engaging and insightful chroniclers.

Reed's sharp eye and wit illuminate the high and low of a spectacular era, from her first byline covering the shooting of Dr. Herman Tarnower by headmistress Jean Harris, to profiles of luminaries like Andre Leon Talley, Sister Helen Prejean, President George and Laura Bush, and Madeleine Albright. Readers will savor steaks at Doe's Eat Place, consider the fashions of the day, and get the recipe for her famous hot cheese olives, all while joining Reed on a ride through her beloved South and beyond.

With a foreword by Roy Blount, Jr. and edited by her longtime assistant Everett Bexley, Dispatches from the Gilded Age showcases Julia Reed at her perceptive and entertaining best, delivering travelogue, political journalism, and cultural critique with her signature Southern charm.