Done in a day : telex from the fall of Saigon / Elisa Tamarkin.
| Author/creator | Tamarkin, Elisa author. |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | Chicago, IL : The University of Chicago Press, 2026. |
| Copyright Date | ©2026 |
| Description | 300 pages, 36 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Done in a day -- The last helicopter -- Endit -- Loose ends -- Freefall -- The last newspaper. |
| Abstract | "Elisa Tamarkin has written a searing reflection on America's abrupt defeat in the Vietnam War and the simultaneous demise of foreign reporting in the nation's daily newspapers, many of them soon to close. Done in a Day turns on a singular event: the April 30, 1975, departure of the last helicopter evacuating American civilians from the rooftop of the US embassy in Saigon, rising above a crowd of desperate Vietnamese looking for a way to escape. Elisa Tamarkin's interest in that helicopter begins with the fact that her father, Bob Tamarkin, the Saigon bureau chief for the Chicago Daily News, was on it-the last American correspondent evacuated from Saigon. Bob Tamarkin's report, "Diary of S. Viet's Last Hours," was filed from a Navy ship at a time when no other telexes seemed to be going through and was a major exclusive. It was also the beginning of the end of a long history of war coverage in city newspapers-papers once proud, in the words of the Chicago Daily News, for bringing readers the "literature of the day" that was "done in a day." Elisa Tamarkin braids history, memoir, and cultural criticism to tell the paired stories of Saigon's fall and America's journalistic decline. The result is a haunting essay about all that ended with America's chaotic withdrawal-and about what it means to recognize and to write about endings at all"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| LCCN | 2025039215 |
| ISBN | 9780226846996 hardcover |
| ISBN | 0226846997 hardcover |
| ISBN | electronic book |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joyner | New Books | DS559.46 .T36 2026 | ✔ Available | Want This? |