With his final Lyndon Johnson book still in the works, Robert Caro has thoughts to share on the writing process itself.
Caro’s most recent Johnson biography came out in 2012, and the next remains ever in progress. Fans eager to hear from him — to hear anything from him — now have “Working.” Completed within months last year — a night’s homework assignment by Caro’s standards — the book combines speeches, interviews and essays with new material about his life on the job.
If “Master of the Senate,” his 2003 book on Johnson’s years in the Senate, became a guide for Washington legislators, “Working” reads like a primer for journalists. Caro describes his interviewing and research techniques, including how to never give up on getting a source to talk to you, and how to keep quiet when an interview is going well.