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Best New Yorker Articles of 1959

Explore 52 featured picks from The New Yorker's 1959 issues.

52 picks · 52 issues · Top author: John Brooks (3)

Most featured section: Fiction

Featured Picks

FROM SASSAFRAS BRANCHES
Winthrop Sargeant · Profiles · January 3

PROFILE of Edward D. Stone, a prominent figure inwhat architectural critics are beginning to refer to as "the new romanticism." His American Pavilion at …

PART-TIME CITY.
John Brooks · A Reporter at Large · January 10

REPORTER AT LARGE about the First Precinct which embraces the financial district. The region covers roughly 200 acre and is criss-crossed by 17 1/2 miles …

Letter from Washington
Richard H. Rovere · Letter from Washington · January 17

The 86th Congress has opened. In the House, the Republicans cast down their leader, Joe Martin of Mass. & put in his place Charles Halleck of Ind. Stephen …

NO FEELING OF FALLING
Robert Lewis Taylor · Profiles · January 24

PROFILE of Jacques Andre Istel, a 29-year-old French-American & this country's leading parachutist. He has been the U.S. team captain, trainer, & …

The Champion of the World
Roald Dahl · Fiction · January 31

For some months Claud had been poaching on the property of Mr. Victor Hazel, an arrogant, rich, self-made manufacturer of pies & sausages, without any …

THE SUBTLE STORM
John Brooks · A Reporter at Large · February 7

REPORTER AT LARGE about a major flare that erupted on the sun, Feb. 9, 1958; about the magnetic storm that followed a day later; how it affected all sorts …

How Coca-Cola Conquered the World
E. J. Kahn, Jr. · Profiles · February 14

E. J. Kahn on the making—and selling—of Coca-Cola.

Part-II- THE UNIVERSAL DRINK: THE FAITH
E. J. Kahn · Profiles · February 21

PROFILE OF COCA-COLA, history. The man who invented Coke was John Styth Pemberton. In 1886 he unveiled a syrup he called Coca-Cola. In 1891 he sold the …

THE UNIVERSAL DRINK: A MATTER OF SYLLABLES
E. J. Kahn · Profiles · February 28

PROFILE of Coca-Cola. Dr. Wiley, an archfoe of Coca-Cola had at one time been head of the Dept. of Agriculture's Bureau of Chemistry. He categorized …

THE UNIVERSAL DRINK: AN INNOCENT FRIENDSHIP
E. J. Kahn · Profiles · March 7

PROFILE OF COCA-COLA. In 1913, the company began to hanker after a standard, distinctive bottle of its own, & 3 years later it gave its blessing to the …

Defender of the Faith
Philip Roth · Fiction · March 14

What does one Jewish soldier owe to another?

Ireland and Points West
Kenneth Tynan · The Theatre · March 21

Kenneth Tynan reviews plays by Lorraine Hansberry, Tennessee Williams, and Sean O’Casey.

IN THE MAINSTREAM.
Nat Hentoff · Profiles · March 28

PROFILE of Mulligan, a jazz composer, arranger & saxophonist. Tells about his important contribution to the reform of "modern jazz." Unlike many modern …

THE RIVERMEN
Joseph Mitchell · Profiles · April 4

PROFILE of Harry Lyons, a "riverman" of Edgewater, a former fireman who, even during his tenure as a firefighter was permitted to take time out for …

A Good Appetite
A. J. Liebling · Onward and Upward with the Arts · April 11

From 1959: A. J. Liebling on French food and memorable meals with Yves Mirande, one of the last around-the-clock gastronomes.

The Cane
Arturo Vivante · Fiction · April 18

In 1939, when the writer was 15, he left Italy & came to England where he attended an English boarding school. After a few weeks, three older boys called …

A War on Salamis
Alfred Chester · Fiction · April 25

The writer lived on the Greek island of Salamis for several months among the most savage people imaginable. His landlady disliked him because he was …

A MOST VALUABLE ACCIDENT
Daniel Lang · A Reporter at Large · May 2

REPORTER AT LARGE about the effect of radio-activity on human beings, & about the Atomic Energy Commission's search for the surviving dial painters, …

How Lorraine Hansberry Wrote “A Raisin in the Sun”
Lillian Ross · The Talk of the Town · May 9

Lillian Ross talks with Lorraine Hansberry about how she became a playwright.

II- PUBLISHER: A BIG DAY FOR RANDOM
Geoffrey T. Hellman · Profiles · May 16

PROFILE of Bennett A. Cerf, president of the publishing firm of Random House. Cerf was born in N.Y.C., the only child of Custave Cerf, a lithographer who …

AN ARTIST SEEKS HIMSELF.
A. J. Liebling · A Reporter at Large · May 23

REPORTER AT LARGE about heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson, his training, and his bout with British heavyweight Brian London, on May 1. Visit to …

The Purchase
Elizabeth Hardwick · Fiction · May 30

Johnson Palmer, aged 50, was an artist who painted conventionally, had mild success, was handsome & charming. His attractive wife Alice had a little money …

A Walk In The Country, Or How To Keep Fit To Be Tied
Peter De Vries · Fiction · June 6

When the writer moved to Westport he looked forward to rambles about the countryside. He started to take a walk along a back road and several people in …

SOUTH SEA DIARY
Hamilton Basso · A Reporter at Large · June 13

REPORTER AT LARGE about Tahiti. Gauguin wrote a short, impressionistic book about his first stay in Tahiti, which lasted two years. Author re-read "Noa …

Women And Children First
Patricia Collinge · Fiction · June 20

Mr. & Mrs. Engel are on a European trip together. On the steamer going over they are summoned to a life boat drill on the second day. Mr. Engel …

Green Water, Green Sky
Mavis Gallant · Fiction · June 27

The events of one day in George Fairlie's life, when he was 7, are often recalled by him & his parents. They were vacationing in Europe. One day in …

A DARK, SOMBER SHAPE
John Brooks · A Reporter at Large · July 4

REPORTER AT LARGE about the International Ice Patrol. Visit to Argentia, Newfoundland, the Ice Patrol's advance operating base. Argentia was …

A REPROACH TO SKEPTICS
A. J. Liebling · A Reporter at Large · July 11

REPORTER AT LARGE about the boxing match between Floyd Patterson, the champion and Ingemar Johansson of Sweden, for the world heavyweight championship. …

The Key To My Heart
V. S. Pritchett · Fiction · July 18

The writer's parents ran a bakery & cafe in an English town. After his father died it was found that a great deal of money was owed to them. Writer …

Lucienne
Robert Riskin · Fiction · July 25

Ben, an American in his 20's, was in Paris for a year of study. At the hotel where he lived he met another resident, a woman named Lucienne. She was …

A Curious Lapse
Nancy Hale · Fiction · August 1

Vera Major, editor of the fashion magazine "Lady", went down to a small Virginia town to visit her old friend & onetime employer, Alison Gray. Alison had …

A CITY OF STONE - I
Mary McCarthy · Profiles · August 8

PROFILE of Florence, Italy. Professor La Pira, Florence's Christian Democratic mayor, had a dream of solving the city's housing problem. He invited…

A CITY OF STONE
Mary McCarthy · Profiles · August 15

PROFILE of Florence, Italy, speaks of corruption, treason and double standard. This double standard reappears in a new form in Machiavelli, the Florentine,…

A CITY OF STONE
Mary McCarthy · Profiles · August 22

The history of Florence in its great period is a history of innovations. The Florentines write the 1st important literary work in the vulgar tongue "Divina…

August
Mavis Gallant · Fiction · August 29

Story about Bonnie McCarthy, an American woman who, together with her daughter, Florence, moved to France after her husband divorced her, and about …

THE TIME IS TWENTY-ONE AFTER.
Thomas Whiteside · Profiles · September 5

PROFILE of Dave Garroway, who presides over the NBC televison program "Today", which runs from 7 to 9 AM weekdays. The program, which started in 1952, is a…

RACK AND PINION
Philip Hamburger · A Reporter at Large · September 12

REPORTER AT LARGE about the Mount Washington Cog Railway which transports passengers to the top of the mountain. On the way to the summit is a small …

KINGSMAN
Mollie Panter-Downes · Profiles · September 19

PROFILE of E. M. Forster, the English novelist, Honorary Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and resident of King's. Some comparisons between …

The Golden Age
John Cheever · Fiction · September 26

Seton is the author of a TV serial called "The Best Family". When he realizes he is dealing with mediocrity, he goes, with his wife and two boys, to a …

The Strangers
Maurice Shadbolt · Fiction · October 3

As a boy, the writer lived on a farm in New Zealand. His mother had died the year before and his lonely father spent as much time as possible, working. …

The Sparrow Shall Fall
Han Suyin · Fiction · October 10

Last year the writer received a cable from Peking that her father had died & the Family wanted her to return from her home in Singapore. She had to stay in…

APOLOGIES TO THE IROQUOIS
Edmund Wilson · A Reporter at Large · October 17

REPORTER AT LARGE about Indians in N. Y. State; their grievances; political, & nationalist movements, & the revival of Indian religion. At the end of the …

The Great American Quiz-Show Scandal
John Updike · Comment · October 24

John Updike on the discovery that many popular TV game shows were rigged.

APOLOGIES TO THE IROQUOIS
Edmund Wilson · A Reporter at Large · October 31

REPORTER AT LARGE about the Seneca Republic a member of the League of the Iroquois Six Nations, tells about the relations with the neighboring whites. …

The Wings of Henry James
James Thurber · Onward and Upward with the Arts · November 7

James Thurber on the writing and adaptation of “The Wings of the Dove.”

THE AZORES Timeliness in Mid-Atlantic.
Emily Hahn · A Reporter at Large · November 14

REPORTER AT LARGE about the Azores, the Portuguese islands in theSouth Atlantic. The Azores comprise 9 islands with about 300,000 inhabitants. Writer …

Up North
Mavis Gallant · Fiction · November 21

Fiction, from 1959: “She had been right through the worst of the air raids, yet this was the worst, this waking in the cold, this dark, dirty dawn.”

The Landlady
Roald Dahl · Fiction · November 28

Fiction, from 1959: “ ‘We have it all to ourselves,’ ” she said, smiling at him over her shoulder as she led the way upstairs.”

What Wright Hath Wrought
Lewis Mumford · The Sky Line · December 5

Lewis Mumford’s 1959 piece about Frank Lloyd Wright and his design for the new Guggenheim Museum.

THE PUBLIC BE SERVED
J. M. Flagler · Profiles · December 12

PROFILE of Stnaley M. Isaacs, former Borough President of Manhattan, & for the last 18 years a member of the City Council, tells about his historic …

THE PUBLIC BE SERVED
J. M. Flagler · Profiles · December 19

PROFILE of Stanley M. Isaacs who for the last 18 years has been a member of the Council of the City of New York, the 25-man parliament that was created in …

The Long Of It
Francis Steegmuller · Fiction · December 26

The writer is a very tall man and his brother Walter is even taller. This fact has been remarked upon all their lives & they are used to it. Recently they …

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