Nobody Better, Better Than Nobody

Nobody Better, Better Than Nobodyis a collection of five extended essays that appeared inThe New Yorkerfrom 1978 to 1986. In the tradition of A. J. Liebling and Joseph Mitchell, Frazier raises journalism to high literary art. His vivid stories showcase a strange and wonderful parade of American life, from portraits of Heloise, the syndicated household-hints columnist, and Jim Deren, the urban fly-fisher's guru, to small-town residents in western Kansas preparing to celebrate a historic, mutual massacre, to which they invite the Cheyenne Indians' descendants with the promise of free bowling.

Ian Frazier is the author of Great Plains, The Fish’s Eye, On the Rez, Family, as well as Coyote v. Acme and Dating Your Mom. A frequent contributor to The New Yorker, he lives in Montclair, New Jersey.

"Subtle...The unwary reader never knows what Frazier is up to until he's hooked." --The Boston Globe

"Wickedly funny...[A] rare combination of humor and empathy...More eloquent in their directness than poetry." --The New York Times

"Five extraordinary tales profiling people and events in the coolest, clearest, most wittily perceptive prose you’ll find anywhere these days." --Forbes