Description
The Best in the West by Kathleen Walker
ISBN: 978-1-936364-25-1
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-936364-26-8
Price: $15.95
Fiction
303 pages
It is the late 1970s, a time when local television news is changing, although few notice, when TV news is becoming a form of entertainment, and the terms “journalist” and “journalism” are not yet suspect. From the anchorman the audience foolishly loves to the harassed producers, photographers and editors of The Best in the West, it is an unlikely but winning team. It is a male club of former newspaper and radio reporters chosen for their experience in getting the news. Only a few women have earned admission. Ellen Peters is one. Tough and cynical, she sees reporting as a job. For the idealistic newcomer Debbie Hanson, it is a vocation, a way to get the truth to the public. While Debbie Hanson tries to fit in, Ellen Peters stands back and watches. She is, after all, a reporter.
Reviews
“The second-best local TV program in Phoenix…provides the setting for this fictional look back at TV journalists struggling to win hearts and minds and market share in the late 1970s. Fans of newsroom drama will recognize the characters—the young idealist who ardently believes delivering the truth is the highest calling, the jaded news veteran who’s been disappointed too many times, and the evil, self-aggrandizing anchorman—but they are deftly portrayed, and their interesting backstories will keep readers turning pages. Tucson author Kathleen Walker, herself a TV newsroom veteran, recalls a time 40 years before #MeToo, when entertainment began to vie with solid reporting for precedence on the local affiliates, and women came aboard as new and not-necessarily-welcome members of the news team. There’s an authentic feel to Walker’s fiction, and genuine sympathy for the dedicated reporters serving at the pleasure—and the whim—of the all-male club that was (and perhaps still is) the nightly news.”
—Helene Woodhams, Arizona Daily Star
“[The Best in the West] raises important political concerns…. At the same time, anyone doubting that we’ve made progress over the past 40 years need only read this to be reassured. A fast-paced…story of a bygone era.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Praise for Kathleen Walker’s first novel, A Crucifixion in Mexico
“This first novel reflects on a generation’s views of religion, politics, and racism, as well as denial and fear of aging… The concept and subject matter are fascinating.”
—Library Journal
“The novel addresses the American class system, racial issues and the boomer generation’s…disappointment in themselves and the world.”
—Publishers Weekly
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