Owen Johnson

This Book is a Comparative Study of Five Related themes - the roots of journalism in East/Central Europe and the former Soviet Union; the role and effects of journalism leading up to the events of 1989; journalism in the transition period from 1989 to 1996; the contributions, trials, and tribulations of journalism in the transition period; and the state of journalism education in the regions under consideration. The ultimate goal is to identify patterns describing official and unofficial media systems during the communist period, and the role(s) and effects of communist and alternate or underground mass media and journalism both in the pre-1989 era and after the demise of the communist systems. This work seeks to discern patterns in the role(s) and effects of new media and their journalism during the post-communist transition.

Dink Stover was introduced to readers in earlier volumes of the Lawrenceville Stories as a brash young newcomer whose biggest ambition is to play football for his school. At the start of Stover at Yale he seems much the same, arriving at the prestigious university determined to captain the football team, earn a place in the most prestigious secret society, and generally become the hero of a much less interesting novel. Gradually, though, the novel shifts its focus, as both Stover and the novel move outside the comfortable world of Stover’s prep school chums and examine the ways in which the school fails to live up to its “democratic” ideals. Johnson never abandons the form of the school novel, but he stretches it to include types of heroism beyond the football field. The novel’s criticism of Yale’s powerful and prestigious secret societies caused controversy on its release, but it was more than a succès de scandale. Its unique combination of convention and ambition captured the public imagination, and for decades afterwards Dink Stover was shorthand for a certain type of undergraduate. The book is referenced even today by writers on American college life, and even put in an appearance in a 1996 episode of The Simpsons.

Book digitized by Google from the library of the New York Public Library and uploaded to the Internet Archive by user tpb.

A fine showcase for a rare and difficult form of the mystery story; fun to read and made more fun by Penzler's lively introduction. Contains: Unreasonable doubt -- Stanley Ellin A dilemma -- S. Weir Mitchell [Nunc Dimittis]( -- Roald Dahl The lady, or the tiger? -- Frank Stockton The discourager of hesitancy -- Frank Stockton The lady and the tiger -- Jack Moffitt The blind spot -- Barry Perowne The mysterious card -- Cleveland Moffett The mysterious card unveiled -- Cleveland Moffett Karmesin and the meter -- Gerald Kersh One hundred in the dark -- Owen Johnson The whole town's sleeping -- Ray Bradbury At midnight, in the month of June -- Ray Bradbury Thimble, thimble -- O. Henry The Gioconda smile -- Aldous Huxley Tea for two -- Laurie York Erskine The lady and the dragon -- Peter Godfrey A medieval romance -- Mark Twain The moment of decision -- Stanley Ellin.