Floating Off the Page: The Best Stories from The Wall Street Journal's "Middle Column" (Wall Street Journal Book) - Hardcover

Ken Wells is a 20-year veteran of The Wall Street Journal, having served stints as a reporter in the paper's San Francisco and London bureaus, and as an editor on the Page One staff in New York. He has written and polished numerous A-heds and is the author of two novels, Meely LaBauve and Junior's Leg. When he isn't busy with journalism or pecking away at his novels, he plunks around on his blues-and-jazz guitar and often wishes he were fishing. He lives with his family in the greater New York area.

Wells, a senior editor at the Wall Street Journal, has put together a terrific collection of the most memorable stories from the off-beat front-page column that covers singular topics like toad-licking and the Miss Agriculture pageant, and leads with irresistible opening lines like "First, pretend that you are a sheep." Wells, who is also a novelist (Meely LaBauve), includes stories of unconventional inventions such as braces for sheep teeth, a low-flatulence bean and underwear for the incarcerated. There are profiles of the unglamorous and overlooked, such as a professional fish-sniffer and the world's most prolific, and unknown, novelist. Readers receive an education in Greek banana policy, the national sewer-fat crisis and what it's like to be a Serbian sniper. Stories also involve reporters trying on new careers, from belly-dancing to auto-show modeling. Although there is a heavy emphasis on humor here, readers can still expect to find a smattering of serious subjects, like rescuing otters after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 or the fate of the mail destined for the World Trade Center after 9/11. For regular WSJ readers, who have loved the middle column, this collection, with pieces largely from the 1970s forward (the column dates back 50 years), is a must. Those who think WSJ stories are only for the business-minded are in for an unexpected treat.
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