WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A few months ago, I was idly wishing I could reread "A Diary of the Century," a selection of the diaries of Edward Ellis, an old newspaperman who died a couple of years after the book was published.
I thought the book was about eight years old, but when I looked it up I was dismayed to see that it was actually published in 1995. Anyway, what to my wondering eyes should appear but a new paperback edition from Union Square Press. The published version contains about 1 percent of the total diary, and the publisher notes that they intend to issue more books drawn from Robb's writing.
Edward Robb Ellis started keeping his diary in 1927 and only stopped when his heart did, in 1998. Because of his journalism career, he had a window on the world of New York, and there are some fine vignettes of the famous in this long - nearly 600 pages - book, but that's not what makes it so valuable.
Rather, it's the command of detail that makes his world come alive (His description of Joe McCarthy: "His mouth is thin and long, like a knife-gash in a melon.") And there's one other thing: his emotional transparency. Robb writes plainly but passionately and holds nothing back - the section about the death of his wife, Ruth, and the way he went crazy after she died, is particularly harrowing.
In many respects Robb had what many would term an ordinary life, but his diary proves that there is no such thing.
In the Pipeline...
Houghton will publish Alex Abella's "90 Miles," about the long and tortured relationship of America with Cuba. The book's thesis is that Cuba has had more of an influence on the United States than any country other than England. Abella himself came to America from Cuba at the age of 12.
Mike Browning's Word of the Week...
nasute: having a keen, discerning sense of smell.
Scott Eyman writes for The Palm Beach Post. E-mail: seyman AT pbpost.com