The Back Page.

Ott, Bill (author).

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Editor’s note: It is Booklist policy that a book written or edited by a staff editor receive a brief descriptive announcement rather than a full review.

In his preface, Ott, editor and publisher of Booklist, traces the origins of his “Back Page” column to both his love of literary miscellany and advertisers’ desire for something that would draw readers’ eyes to the advertisements on the inside back cover. The column soon outgrew such humble origins, however, and has become many readers’ first stop in a new issue of Booklist, according to Joyce Saricks in her foreword, “Confessions of a Back Page Junkie.” In 84 columns spanning more than 20 years, this collection highlights Ott’s seriousness, humor, and range, whether writing about Anthony Powell or Michael Connelly, book awards or golf handicaps, his own visit to the White House or a vice-presidential contender’s circumlocution—or even issuing a mea culpa for Booklist’s 1952 review of Charlotte’s Web. But despite the column’s evolution, Ott never abandoned the humble quiz; 22 of them are included here.