A J Liebling

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A. J. Liebling (Abbott Joseph Liebling), 1904–63, American journalist, b. New York City. He left Dartmouth, attended the Columbia School of Journalism, and wrote for the Providence, R.I. Evening Bulletin and several New York City newspapers before joining (1935) the New Yorker, where he remained until his death. Liebling earned a reputation as an irreverent, tough-minded, and urbane commentator on the world around him. He was a correspondent in Europe during World War II, and then was (1945–63) the New Yorker 's press critic. Liebling's dispatches, columns, and musings on his many enthusiasms were collected in The Road Back to Paris (1944), on the war; The Wayward Pressman (1947) and The Press (1961); The Telephone Booth Indian (1942), on urban low lifes and eccentrics; The Sweet Science (1956), on boxing; and Between Meals (1962), on food. Among his most memorable articles was a series profiling Earl Long , which later appeared as The Earl of Louisiana (1961).

Bibliography: See also the anthologies Liebling Abroad (1981), Liebling at Home (1982), and Just Enough Liebling (2004); biography by R. A. Sokolov (1980); study by E. M. Midura (1974).

Liebling, A[bbott] J[oseph] (1904–63), after study at Dartmouth, from which he was expelled for refusing to attend chapel, became a newspaperman and was with The New Yorker after 1935, writing its “Wayward Press” column and other articles. His books include The Telephone Booth Indian (1942), about raffish New York City characters; The Road Back to Paris (1944), about experiences as a war correspondent; The Wayward Pressman (1947), about early newspaper experiences; Mink and Red Herring (1949), New Yorker columns; Chicago: Second City (1952); The Honest Rainmaker (1953), about a racing columnist; The Sweet Science: A Ringside View of Boxing (1956); The Jollity Building (1962), combining tales from the two preceding books; Normandy Revisited (1958), on battle sites he had known; The Earl of Louisiana (1961), about Governor Earl Long; Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris (1962); The Press (1962); Molly and Other War Experiences (1964); and Liebling at Home (1982).