The Rose Man of Sing Sing

JAMES MCGRATH MORRIS, a former journalist, historian, and teacher, is the author of Jailhouse Journalism: the Fourth Estate Behind Bars. He is currently working on a biography of Joseph Pulitzer and lives in Falls Church, Virginia.

"One of the Best Books of 2004" - Washington Post Book World "By the climax, the most brilliant city editor of that lurid era has become a bloody monster in his own tabloid. And then, lo, he is one of the redeemed. Reversal of fortune is a damned good story in any era." - Shelby Coffey, Washington Post Book World "Chapin was quite a character, and Mr. Morris describes him with verve and an eye for colorful detail (not to mention occasionally breathlessness) that match the rip-roaring tabloid era he lived in." - New York Times "A fascinating story compellingly told.... With this scrupulously researched book, Mr. Morris rescues an engaging character from historical oblivion and opens a window onto a raucous, roiling epoch that played itself out in 22-point type." - New York Observer "Chapin's story is engagingly told by James McGrath Morris." - Wall Street Journal "James McGrath Morris's well-researched narrative has the pace and detail of an engrossing historical novel." - Boston Herald "Reads like a true-crime page-turner... an engrossing book." - Library Journal "James McGrath Morris has produced an evenhanded, even somewhat affectionate, biography of one of journalism's most colorful and complex characters." - American Journalism Review"