About:
More After the Break: A Reporter Returns to Ten Unforgettable News Stories by Jen Maxfield is a memoir in which the author goes back to find out what happened to some of the people she covered over the years. Mrs. Maxfield is an award-winning TV reporter for the NY, NJ, CT markets, an adjunct professor at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, and a lecturer.
- 256 pages
- Publisher : Greenleaf Book Group Press
- Language : English
- ISBN-10 : 1626349606
My rating for More After the Break— 4
Buy More After the Break from Amazon.com*
More Books by Jen Maxfield*
Thoughts:
My friend Mark, a Tony-winning TV cameraman, which I used to work out with, has told me that the saying in network news is “if it can bleed, it can die”. Since then, I have heard from other people about the nastiness of the industry.
During COVID, Mrs. Maxfield started looking up what happened to some of the people she interviewed who touched her. This curiosity prompted this book. I remember that many years ago, so many I forgot when the folks who work in Israeli TV went on strike. This was when there was only one channel. The talent went on the road for speaking engagement, telling behind-the-scenes stories, making jokes, conversations, and more. Those were wonderful events, and this book reminded me of them.
Living in Northern New Jersey for much of my life, I certainly have seen Mrs. Maxfield on TV. Like the people you meet in your high school reunion, some of the stories she wrote about are very familiar, others vaguely, and others I have no recollection of.
In her book, More After the Break TV reporter Jen Maxfield counters those claims but does admit it’s a difficult profession to be in. The author follows up on a few of the many stories she covered over the years, in more detail than a few seconds on TV.
What surprised me about this book, is the honesty, as well as openness with which the author writes. For a short book, about various subjects, each one with its own history, it’s surprisingly candid. Mrs. Maxfield is honest about her feelings as an intruder in people’s most difficult times. The death of a child or a loved one, funerals, horrific accidents, and more. Even though she makes sure to tell the audience she tries to be sensitive and not shove camera or microphone in people’s faces, it still takes a tremendous about of chutzpah to knock on someone’s door and beg for an interview, the day their child died.
I don’t know if Mrs. Maxfield wrote this book as part of a speaking campaign, or just out of curiosity about her old stories during COVID, as she mentioned. Either way, it’s a very enjoyable, open, personal, and sometimes tear-jerking book well worth reading.
Buy More After the Break from Amazon.com*
More Books by Jen Maxfield*
Zohar — Man of la Book
Disclaimer: I got this book for free
*Amazon links point to an affiliate account, the money is usually spent on books
No Comments