My Account Log in

1 option

Done in a day : telex from the fall of Saigon / Elisa Tamarkin.

Van Pelt - New Book Display DS559.46 .T36 2026
Loading location information...

Available This item is available for access.

Log in to request item
Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
Tamarkin, Elisa, author.
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Tamarkin, Bob.
Tamarkin, Bob. Diary of S. Viet's last hours.
Chicago daily news (Chicago, Ill. : 1875).
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Press coverage--United States.
Vietnam War, 1961-1975.
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Journalists.
Foreign correspondents--United States.
Foreign correspondents.
Physical Description:
300 pages, 36 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm
Place of Publication:
Chicago, IL : The University of Chicago Press, 2026.
Summary:
"Elisa Tamarkin has written a searing reflection on America's abrupt defeat in the Vietnam War and the simultaneous demise of foreign reporting in the nation's daily newspapers, many of them soon to close. Done in a Day turns on a singular event: the April 30, 1975, departure of the last helicopter evacuating American civilians from the rooftop of the US embassy in Saigon, rising above a crowd of desperate Vietnamese looking for a way to escape. Elisa Tamarkin's interest in that helicopter begins with the fact that her father, Bob Tamarkin, the Saigon bureau chief for the Chicago Daily News, was on it-the last American correspondent evacuated from Saigon. Bob Tamarkin's report, "Diary of S. Viet's Last Hours," was filed from a Navy ship at a time when no other telexes seemed to be going through and was a major exclusive. It was also the beginning of the end of a long history of war coverage in city newspapers-papers once proud, in the words of the Chicago Daily News, for bringing readers the "literature of the day" that was "done in a day." Elisa Tamarkin braids history, memoir, and cultural criticism to tell the paired stories of Saigon's fall and America's journalistic decline. The result is a haunting essay about all that ended with America's chaotic withdrawal-and about what it means to recognize and to write about endings at all"-- Provided by publisher.
Contents:
Done in a day
The last helicopter
Endit
Loose ends
Freefall
The last newspaper.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contains:
Container of: Tamarkin, Bob. Diary of S. Viet's last hours.
ISBN:
9780226846996
0226846997
OCLC:
1531083338

The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.

Find

Home Release notes

My Account

Shelf Request an item Bookmarks Fines and fees Settings

Guides

Using the Find catalog Using Articles+ Using your account