“I have been studying (and teaching) DeGregory’s stories for years. There is no one like her. In addition to being a showcase of her best work, this book is full of practical advice about how she’s able to pull off what seems impossible, over and over.”
— Christopher Goffard, Pulitzer Prize-winning staff writer for the Los Angeles Times
“DeGregory performs magic in this beautiful, heartfelt book of stories—and then teaches you how she did it. This is a book for anyone who loves reading, writing, or both.”
— Mike Wilson, deputy sports editor for the New York Times
"Tampa Bay Times reporter DeGregory debuts with a perceptive collection of 24 of her most popular pieces for the Times, each enhanced with commentary and annotations explaining how she reported them. . . . The entries testify to the rich panorama of human experience and the writing guidance is a boon. Aspiring journalists will want to check this out. "
— Publishers Weekly
“For journalism students and other aspiring writers of nonfiction, it’s a treasure trove of inside advice, woven around 24 articles written during the 23 years she has been on the staff of the Tampa Bay Times. For anyone who loves the craft of writing and the magic of story, the anthology is a feast.”
— Tampa Bay Times
“I was barely a third of the way through ‘The Girl in the Window’ and Other True Tales and ready to swear on my stack of AP Stylebooks that I had never read a better collection of great journalism. And that’s only half of what this anthology by Tampa Bay Times writer Lane DeGregory is. The other half comprises annotations alongside each story by the Pulitzer winner (for the title story) about the insights, decisions, roadblocks, asides, and changes in direction that occurred to her along the way. . . . While it’s great reading for reporters and writers . . . it would be interesting to anyone who wants a view of what ‘the media’—when it means ‘journalism’—is doing.”
— Press Club of Southwest Florida