This isn’t what it seems to be

Or maybe it is. it depends on your point of view.

It is a man reading my book on the beach. That opens the door for me to suggest that my first novel, ”Press Card,” is good beach reading.

Many of you know this. Many of the most-frequent commenters on this website have purchased the book. Some of them have posted reviews on the book’s website (see link below). Thank you.

As for the guests here who haven’t bought the book, this (guilt trip) is for you.

For going on three years, I have provided you with information, analysis, entertainment, opinion, argument, and a platform, and I never asked you for a thing. And I still am not, not directly. I will suggest that you could say ”thank you” by ordering the book, which will not disappoint anyone who likes my writing.

After six decades of writing journalistic nonfiction, the book is what I call faction —  it is fiction, but it reads like fact. 

Here are three reasons you might like the book:

1- It is a fun read.

2- It is fast-paced, a sometimes bawdy story of the conflict between a hard-edged reporter and his editors, and others. It is filled with humor, colorful characters, sex, and suspense. It crackles like a police radio, and rolls as fast as the presses of the fictional Philadelphia Free Press tabloid.

3- It is set in 1970s Philadelphia, when print was still king, before newspapers hit the skids. “Press Card” takes you behind the scenes, giving you the most revealing look at how reporters really work, and how decisions are really made, since “Under Fire,” and “All the Presidents Men.” 

Claude Shelby joins journalism’s pantheon of characters found in “The Front Page,” “Absence of Malice,” and “The Boys on the Bus.”

There’s a lot more information on the website https://www.presscardthebook.com where you can order the book as an ebook ($9.99), or as a softcover from Amazon ($20). For an autographed and/or inscribed book, click “buy from author” ($20.) You can pay by credit card via PayPal.

It’s the best time you can have for $20 with your clothes on, and a good way to say thank you.