Selections from six decades of the illustrious career of Gay Talese, one of the most important nonfiction writers of our time, with an introduction by Lee Gutkind.When Gay Talese left theNew York Timesin 1965 to write forEsquire, he brought with him a journalistic style entirely his own, which combined his literary sensibility and craftsmanship with a talent for cultural observation and an interest in American everyday life—in taboo topics and overlooked truths. During a time when the nation seemed hardly to recognize itself, Talese wrote some of the most illuminating and influential magazine articles of all time, canonical works of New Journalism like "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold" that elevated the form and brought to it a cachet and creativity formerly reserved for fiction.Taking its name from Talese's 2011New Yorkeraccount of a revealing studio session with avant-pop star Lady Gaga and old-school crooner Tony Bennett,...