"Reporters love murders," Calvin Trillin writes in the introduction to Killings. And he should know: he's a reporter, and his beat is the American scene. Drawn from THE NEW YORKER'S "U.S. Journal" series, KILLINGS brings together vivid, eloquently written pieces that deal with sudden death: the murder of a high-living defense lawyer in Miami, a feud between two Mexican-American families in Southern California, a violent tragedy in an Iowa farm family. Trillin's subject, though, is not violence but America itself -- specific people in specific places. With his signature black humor and insight, Calvin Trillin looks beyond the sensational headlines to bring us a view of our nation that can't be found on the city pages of local newspapers. KILLINGS, says Trillin, "is meant to be more about how Americans live than about how some of them die."

"Calvin Trillin is one of the best journalists around." (Jonathan Yardley, Philadelphia Enquirer)