A.J Liebling is brutally honest, yet not malicious. He exposes the silliness of humans without laughing, the dirt without comment, and their aura without distortion. I find his writing refreshing. There is so much repressed judgement in journalism today, and as much as some writers believe they can successfully mask their opinions, many cannot. With Liebling’s writing, I cannot detect suppression. Instead, Liebling allows the people in his stories to reveal their own character through speech and description.

My favorite story was “Getting By.” Liebling’s description of the professional faster and the professional eater were brilliant. Here you can see how Liebling reveals their character, merely by quoting them and through seemingly objective statements, with just enough sarcasm in the undertone. For example, on page 102 Liebling includes a short description of Mr. Di Laurentis (the professional eater) followed by quote on how he bent dimes with his teeth:
“Mr. Di Laurentis was square shouldered and blocky, but not overly fat. He stood five feet eight inches, weighed 180 pounds, and was thirty-seven years old. His black hair was pomaded and he wore a wrist watch on a gold link bracelet. His jaw was broad at the base and he bent dimes with his teeth. “Don’t tell anybody I do this,” he said, as he demonstrated on Billy the Oysterman’s favorite ten-cent piece, a family heirloom.” It seems somebody had once told Mr. Di Laurentis it was against the law.”

At no point does Liebling comment on Di Laurentis’ blatant stupidity. And yet, the reader cannot help but pick up on it. That’s good journalism.