Breaking News - Hardcover

While much of what MacNeil has to say about the state of TV news is itself hardly news, he does provide an intriguing set of characters and a rich layer of sleazy detail. He also offers a wired version of the Greek chorus in the person of Hollygo Lightly, a self-described "First Electronic Black Drag Queen Gossip Columnist." And when Hollygo fingers Grant's potential replacement as an aggressive blonde bombshell with not a jot of journalistic integrity, the novel shifts into narrative high gear. Also on hand are a dim blackmailer, a smarter private detective, and some rather too revealing snapshots of the aforementioned blonde. Will the pics see the light of day and sink a career or two? Will Grant give in to pressure to have a face lift and turn his news program into a circus? And will TV news ever be the same? All we can say is, tune in. --Marianne Painter

"MacNeil calls it a novel but here, in delightfully readable style, may be the best explanation yet of that which ails television news."
--Walter Cronkite

"MacNeil has written a page-turning novel that gripped me and never let go until I reached the last page. On one level, it explores the collision between commerical and news values. On a deeper level, it is a rich human drama."
--Ken Auletta

"Breaking News is a fly on the wall of every network newsroom. Journalistic integrity battles the bottom line and guess who wins? It's also a study of the seduction of the not-so-innocent, with all the attendant absurdities."
--Morley Safer

"This is a reporter's notebook, a fly-on-the-wall account of what really goes on behind the facade of the television news business. And you'll recognize a lot of today's news heavy-hitters in the 'fictional' cast of characters Robert MacNeil has so entertainingly assembled."
--Mike Wallace

>"A devastating portrait of American TV news."
--Max Frankel