Paper Of Wreckage by Susan Mulcahy and Frank DiGiacomo, this book is about the New York post after banking heiress Dorothy schiff sold it to Rupert Murdock in the 70s. When Dorothy owned the post it was a liberal newspaper but Rupert Murdoch bought the paper and turned it into something reminiscent of the yellow journalism from the turn of the 20th century. He not only brought in his own guys but was even responsible for creating page 6. I was looking so forward to reading this book but found it bordered more on good old boy type stories and although they do mention newspaper items that anyone who lived through the time or are familiar with their history will remember I did find some of the book interesting but found good more gossipy than anything else. From Murdochs introduction to the staff until the end of the book I just found myself constantly wanting to put the book down and come back to it and it took me a while to finish and I am so glad I am done with this book and I’m now writing my review I won’t say I was let down by the book but thought it could’ve been done better. #NetGalley,#AtriaBooks, #SusanMulcahy, #FrankDiGiacomo, #PaperOfWreckage,

I'm a bit biased here, because I'm one of the former New York Post people quoted pretty extensively in this book. Billed as an oral history, it is a fascinating look at probably the most colorful newspaper of our times - Rupert Murdoch's New York Post - as told by the people like myself who experienced all the fun and craziness and success over the past several decades. Full of great memories for me - and I think it's a terrific read. Susan Mulcahy and Frank DiGiacomo have done a wonderful job of capturing it all in Paper of Wreckage.

On balance, Paper of Wreckage is an interesting book that details the New York Post’s (sometimes) storied and (largely) salacious history. It could (and perhaps should) have been developed as a streaming service documentary or podcast series. I enjoyed the first-person recollections of New Yorkers who lived through events such as the hunt for the Son of Sam.

However, I could not shake the feeling that it was incredibly hypocritical of the authors to condemn the paper now when they quite willingly served as its agents during their tenures at the Post. It was rich for them to decry the Post’s shoddy reporting and lack of journalistic ethics when they wrote for Page Six, the most notorious gossip column in America. (Sure, Page Six has had plenty of important scoops in the realms of politics, sports, entertainment, media, etc. It occupies a well-deserved place in journalistic history for that. But much of the “reporting” is mean-spirited, nasty and unkind, and it has damaged the lives and reputations of *overall* decent people much more often than it has exposed the misdeeds of legitimately terrible individuals.) It negatively informed my opinion of what could have been a very good book.

Again, I do not believe publishing this in book form was absolutely necessary, as the material would make for a terrific documentary series or podcast instead.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an ARC of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

3.5
For the most part, I really enjoyed this. It was the perfect marriage of my Majored In Journalism and Wrote Celebrity Gossip subplots and it was just so fun to dive into the chaos of a classic, old-school newsroom.
I did find myself wanting slightly more content/context—whether that be more sections that broke up the interview style, or inclusions of the actual articles/pictures that were being referenced. I don't know if that would be really hard to do with copyright (or if the finished version will include some of that) but I felt a little left out reading the interviews about iconic, scathing articles or first-page images and then either having to try and look them up on my own or just power through.
I also almost wish slightly more time had been given to the chapters about iconic events (Son of Sam, 9/11, the rise of Trump). These were definitely a lot more interesting to me than the office politics or financials.
Still, super fun and I know I'll think about this one a lot. Tentatively entering my oral history era!

Such a fun ride of a book! Insane and informative anecdotes on every single page - what else would you want from a book about The Post?

Paper of Wreckage by Susan Mulcahy and Frank DiGiacomo is an absolutely fascinating oral history collection that sheds light on the history of the New York Post. But it's also more than that- it's a history of NYC and so many of the personalities who have shaped this city and our world. I loved reading all of the anecdotal stories contained within this book and learning about moments (for example, the 1977 blackout) that have been largely forgotten by now. Highly recommend!!!!

In a way it makes sense that a book about the NY Post is hampered by a lack of editing. There are some great stories in here about newsroom boozing, breaking the law to get a story etc., but honestly the book doesn't need to be 560 pages. I also found it interesting that in such a long book, one of the greatest blunders in recent American journalism (the Post incorrectly saying Kerry was picking Richard Gephardt as his VP) only warranted a page of coverage.

There's a lot of good description of how the paper changed immediately when Rupert Murdoch took over. A liberal paper, went conservative. Suddenly printing things that weren't true was acceptable, outrageous headlines that the facts in the article didn't deserve just to get attention.

But as I said, some great stories and characters. So if you're interested, get the book and just know because it's an oral history, it's easy to skip ahead a little bit if one part drags.

I received a free e-galley of this book from Netgalley & Atria in return for an honest review.

Thank you Atria Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. No review was required in return for an advance reading copy and no review was promised.

I just finished Paper of Wreckage: The Rogues, Renegades, Wiseguys, Wankers and Relentless Reports Who Redefined American Media by Susan Mulcahy and Frank DiGiacomo.

The New York Post is the oldest continuously published paper in the United States. It was originally founded by Alexander Hamilton in 1801. This is their story about how the paper has turned into an extreme right-wing publication and of many characters the New York Post has employed and covered over the past half century.

As the authors pointed out, “Fingers are often pointed at Fox News and Donald Trump’s presidency as prime catalysts of this national divisiveness, but neither would have attained the power and influence they wield today without the New York Post.”

This is an oral history in which the authors spoke to over 240 people and covers a half-century, beginning in the early 1970s. When that period became, the paper was owned by Dorothy Schiff and was actually a very liberal newspaper. Of course, things changed when it was sold to Ruppert Murdoch in November 1976.

One of the highlights of the book was the chapter that discussed both the 1977 New York blackout and then the Son of Sam case. Another highlight came in the book’s many discussions on sports, especially about the Yankees.

One interesting tidbit was the origin of the famous line “I wouldn’t believe Donald Trump if his tongue was notarized”, which is attributed to Ed Koch. But, the book reveals the real source of the quote.

One of my favorite stories of the book was about Maury Allen’s writing of Dick Young’s obituary. There was also some interesting material on Trump spread throughout the book.

There were enough interesting stories for me to give this a B+. Amazon, Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, a B+ equates to 4 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews. It will also be posted at Amazon, as soon as the book is released to the public on October 8.

This book is full of history about the complicated and long history of the New York Post. The book is well researched and approachable nonfiction book and shows not only the history of this publication but how journalism and the way publications have evolved over time changed the way society and their peers view them. This book is long but it is full of information and I highly recommend it especially for fellow journalist and news people who want to learn more about their industry's past.