entertaining. ( )

Like really great historical fiction, this biography did a wonderful job bringing to life not only individuals but also a larger setting. I found Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, and Christiane Amanpour's histories and inspirations fascinating. They're all incredibly interesting women with many unique life experiences. Although I probably would have described this as narrative nonfiction, the author explicitly states that she thinks of this not as narrative nonfiction, but as journalistic nonfiction, told largely through quotes from primary sources. I'm not sure those two genres are mutually exclusive, but I did notice and appreciate all of the direct quotes the author used. Most flowed smoothly with the narrative bits she'd written. Together, they presented what seemed to be an unbiased and well-rounded view of each woman. Despite obvious similarities, particularly their success in a male-dominated profession, the author also clearly highlighted their individual personalities, strengths, and weaknesses.

The author also occasionally digressed from their individual stories to discuss other female journalists and the overall status of women in this profession. I wasn't sure I liked this at first, in part because I have a strong preference for chronological storytelling in the absence of clearly labeled time jumps. At the end of the book though, this turned out to be one of my favorite parts. It put the stories of these individual women into a greater context. It also brought the time period and experience of being a woman in news reporting into focus.

Another part of the book I wasn't sure about was the focus on the clothes each woman wore and the romantic relationships she was involved in. The obvious question was whether or not the author would include such details if we were reading about men. I think the answer is no. However, I ended up feeling as though this wasn't sexism on the author's part, but a deliberate choice to include information about facets of these women's lives that influenced how the public perceived them. The author's tone was always neutral, without judgement of her own. She factually conveyed the way the public judged these women without inserting her opinion. In fact, this initial concern ended up feeling like one of the book's strengths as well. The author captured a lot of detail about each woman's life and discussed every issue, from possible sexism to any controversy surrounding each woman, in a very even-handed way.

After reading this, I would definitely look for more books labeled as journalistic nonfiction. This depends a bit on the topic, but I almost always prefer an author who can approach their subject in a neutral way. Direct quotes are also something I enjoy seeing. It's fun to get a first-hand perspective on a story and also can help keep the story free of the author's biases. The section labels helped me keep track of who was who, as did the author's ability to bring these women to life through incredibly detailed descriptions. I think she did these women proud.

 This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey. ( )

If you have been following the news lately, you have no doubt heard about the suspension of NBC News' Brian Williams. If you are fascinated by this saga, you may wish to pick up a copy of Sheila Weller's book, The News Sorority- Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour and the (Ongoing, Imperfect, Complicated) Triumph of Women in TV News.

Weller takes us on a tour of the interesting lives of these three successful women. Diane Sawyer was the daughter of a successful judge and a "1950's version of a Tiger Mom" in Kentucky. She idealized her father and his death when she was a young woman devastated her.

Sawyer wanted a job in news, and with her steely reserve and driving ambition, she started at the bottom and worked harder than everyone else to work her way up the ladder from reporter to the press office for President Nixon to morning anchor at the CBS morning show to her latest home at ABC, where she became the face of ABC News, anchoring at various times Primetime, Good Morning America and finally ABC World News Tonight before recently retiring.

Katie Couric was raised in an upper middle class family in Virginia, and she was the youngest of three daughters, all of whom were intelligent and successful. Couric was a cheerleader in high school, and she used everything in her arsenal from her smiling, chipper personality to tenacity and strong work ethic to move up the ladder from reporter at a Miami TV station to a mostly forgettable CNN reporter stint to Pentagon correspondent at NBC News to her breakout at The Today Show, and her short-lived stint as anchor of The CBS Evening News.

Less is known about Christiane Amanpour, who has been at CNN for many years. Her wealthy Iranian family fled their homeland when the Shah of Iran was overthrown and Amanpour was sent to a boarding school in England. Amanpour was star-struck and kept scrapbooks of Hollywood stars. She loved fashion and didn't seem to be the serious minded woman we know her as today.

The book takes us through the well-known aspects of these women's lives- Sawyer working with President Nixon on his memoirs after his resignation, her marriage to Mike Nichols, Couric's famous "ambush" interview with President George H.W. Bush and the terrible loss of her young husband and sister to cancer, Amanpour's war reporting and on-air confrontation of President Clinton over his policy in Bosnia.

Less is known about Amanpour, and perhaps that is why her story seemed more interesting. Her reporting from war zones, as in Bosnia, are harrowing and heart-pounding. Weller spoke with reporters and producers and tech people who accompanied Amanpour and these sections of the book are the most compelling.

Amanpour's zeal to bring an important, horrific story about the genocide in Bosnia drives her to nearly single-handedly bring this story to the attention of the American people and politicians and demand action.

We get a lot of behind-the-scenes information, with the story of the early days of CNN being most intriguing (they had no bathroom in their building and had to use a nearby motel and gas station). The egos involved in the news business (Peter Jennings and Charles Gibson do not fare well here), the jockeying for position, and the politics of it all are enlightening.

The one thing that bothered me was the "unnamed sources" who were willing to say not-so-flattering things about the women without putting their name to it. The highschool gossip-y feel of that detracted from the book for me. I found the things said by people willing to put their name to it more credible.

What shines through is that these successful women all had faced adversity and loss, and were driven to succeed in their field. They felt a calling to bring important information- Saywer's reports on childhood poverty, Couric's drive to inform people about colon cancer, and Amanpour's reports on war and religion- to the American people.

Fans of TV news will appreciate this book most, and I would love to read a book about the early pioneers of women in TV news, women most of us have never heard of who paved the way for today's well known successful women. ( )

A special thank you to First to Read Penguin Group, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sheila Weller is a bestselling author and award-winning magazine journalist specializing in women’s lives, social issues, cultural history, and feminist investigative. Her seventh book, The News Sorority: Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour, a well-researched and written book about three extraordinary women.

Weller portrays three revolutionary women: ABC's Diane Sawyer, the first female correspondent for 60 Minutes; Katie Couric, who conquered the world as Today cohost; and CNN's Christiane Amanpour in a male-dominated realm of network news.

All three of these women are legends, today's professional heroines; modeling a reality of success that was different from past models. The more powerful they became, the more interested in people they became. They are compassionate, in the stories they have told, and in their lives.

As Weller takes as inside look at these prominent women who remained profoundly committed to telling the stories of ordinary Americans, unfairly besieged victims, people in cataclysms and crises, fascinating celebrities both worthy and spoiled, world leaders both benign and heinous.

These leaders passionately kept up their commitments to their families, friends, and needy strangers through both improvised and formal philanthropies. They remembered what they had pushed past—grief, danger, and tragedy, and the more they saw and reported, the more they folded the new experiences into those primary lessons.

“Intensely competitive, whatever their idiosyncrasies, whatever their egos, whatever their aggressiveness and ambition, they retained an experienced kernel of humbling reality and it controlled their choices and the consciences. From world news, 9/11, Columbine, earthquakes, corruptions, cancer, to poverty, we got the news from them. And we also got from them what is underneath the news, what is underneath all news: We got humanity."

Weller writes in a journalistic style, versus narrative nonfiction, which I found appealing, written in a balanced style with the vast amount of research and interviews, with humor. Even though she did not interview these three women directly, through interviews of many, she was able to attain insights and memories, while maintaining control over her writing.

A book of three heroines, who came of age in the 1960s and '70s—to demonstrate to readers, how they worked and how they made it to prime time. In a difficult time and a hard business these women put themselves out there where millions expected perfection, against the odds.

I enjoyed reading about a highly competitive world, each woman with their own unique strengths. Their focused ambition, and high quality of work as they strive to be better in a man’s world.

Very well written and researched, and an interesting reporting style. The format was very well organized with the range of years (which was quite interesting), as in this age bracket focusing on each woman with extensive research and references. Inspiring News buffs will love it!
( )