Time anthology reaffirms the printed word

BY TED ANTHONY Associated Press "85 Years of Great Writing in Time" (Time Books, 560 pages, $26.95). Those of us who traffic in words for a living feel somewhat under siege these days, like a Donkey Kong machine sitting forlornly in the corner of a ramshackle pizza parlor while teenagers on the sidewalk outside play Grand Theft Auto on their handhelds. The printed word, the modern narrative goes, is not what it used to be. What's more, it's become barely passable as a method of communication in an increasingly visual culture that defines itself through images and rarely slows down to read. That's why "85 Years of Great Writing in Time" is such a necessary tonic. An anthology of first rough drafts of history from the storied news weekly is not only a chronicle of our era in its own voices: It's a robust reaffirmation of the... [read full story]