Mr. Straight Arrow

“Treglown covers it all as he parses Hersey’s ability to write blazingly forthright and incisive accounts of the physical and psychological damage caused by violence and other abuses of power. Treglown’s meticulous, richly interpretative reevaluation revitalizes our appreciation for the intensity, volume, variety, daring, and ‘moral imagination’ of Hersey’s work, and for how essential and transformative writing can be when it’s strong, brave, conscientious.” –Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review)

“A lucid, thoughtfully told look at the life of the American journalist and novelist John Hersey … A readable literary biography that is likely to be the last word on the subject.” –Kirkus Reviews

“Mr. Straight Arrow is the story of sober, modest, good-hearted, hardworking man. What could be more untimely? The journalist and novelist John Hersey inspired America to face up to bad news about the atom bomb, the Holocaust, police brutality, public schools, and black civil rights. Jeremy Treglown’s brisk and clear-eyed account of Hersey’s career is a celebration of decency and of vocation–of the idea that one may respond in one’s work to a call of higher responsibility.” –Caleb Crain, author of Overthrow

JEREMY TREGLOWN is an award-winning writer and critic. His previous books include Franco’s Crypt and biographies of Roald Dahl, Henry Green, and V. S. Pritchett. A former editor of The Times Literary Supplement, he has taught at Oxford, University College London, Princeton, and the University of Warwick, and has written for The New Yorker, Granta, and The New York Times Book Review. He lives in London.