{"product_id":"9781590175293","title":"Poison Penmanship: The Gentle Art of Muckraking","description":"Jessica Mitford was a member of one of England’s most legendary families  (among her sisters were the novelist Nancy Mitford and the current  Duchess of Devonshire) and one of the great muckraking journalists of  modern times. Leaving England for America, she pursued a career as an  investigative reporter and unrepentant gadfly, publicizing not only the  misdeeds of, most famously, the funeral business (\u003ci\u003eThe American Way of Death\u003c\/i\u003e, a bestseller) and the prison business (\u003ci\u003eKind and Usual Punishment\u003c\/i\u003e),  but also of writing schools and weight-loss programs. Mitford’s  diligence, unfailing skepticism, and acid pen made her one of the great  chroniclers of the mischief people get up to in the pursuit of profit  and the name of good. \u003ci\u003ePoison Penmanship \u003c\/i\u003ecollects seventeen of Mitford’s finest pieces—about everything from crummy spas to network-TV censorship—and  fills them out with the story of how she got the scoop and, no less  fascinating, how the story developed after publication. The book is a  delight to read: few journalists have ever been as funny as Mitford, or  as gifted at getting around in those dark, cobwebbed corners where  modern America fashions its shiny promises. It’s also an unequaled and  necessary manual of the fine art of investigative reporting.","brand":"New York Review Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137970028784,"sku":"9781590175293","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781590175293_p0.jpg?v=1763801933","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781590175293","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}