Questions to Which the Answer Is 'no'

A celebration of the age-old tactic beloved by journalists of creating a sensational story out of nothing, this book is a collection of articles that caught the world's attention just from the headline alone Honoring the journalistic skill of basing an entire article on a fantastically far-fetched question-based headline, John Rentoul brings together for the first time the winning entries from his blog, Questions To Which The Answer is "No!". With an introductory essay on the art of headline writing, articles are grouped thematically in subjects from sports to politics, current affairs, and history. Readers will find dozens of attention-getting articles, including journalistic gems such as: "Was JFK killed because of his interest in aliens?," "Can your dreams predict the future?," and "Has Marilyn Monroe been reincarnated as a shop assistant called Chris?" This book will leave you not knowing whether to laugh or cry at the state of journalism today.

John Rentoul is chief political commentator for the "Independent on Sunday," was previously chief leader writer for the Independent, and is the author of The Banned List and Tony Blair: Prime Minister.