Margaret Guroff: writing samples

The Mechanical Horse: How the Bicycle Reshaped American Life
"Fascinating . . . a colorful and helpful map of where we've been, and where we all might go from here." --Wall Street Journal

"[A] dazzling cultural history of the bicycle . . . Guroff peppers these historical accounts with lively quotes from primary documents and her own sharp, modern insight." —CityLab

"Guroff's fluid and lively writing imparts knowledge without sounding dry or pretentious. A worthy addition to sport and sport history collections." —Library Journal

"A bright, enthusiastic cultural history." —Kirkus Reviews

"A provocative, in-depth analysis of the two-wheeler's shifting influence on American society. Highly recommended." —David Herlihy, author of Bicycle: The History

"Margaret Guroff has broken new ground with this masterful account of the bicycle revolution set in the broad context of American social and cultural history. The Mechanical Horse is that rarest of books, a work of solid scholarship and deep analysis so readable that you can't put it down." —Tom Crouch, author of The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright

Published by the University of Texas Press, 2016
Excerpted in The Raritan Review, The American Scholar, and The Atlantic

The Original Mad Men
How have these longtime contributors to Mad Magazine maintained an adolescent sense of humor for more than 50 years?

AARP The Magazine, April–May 2016

Diagnosis: Love
To nurture a family in the shadow of chronic illness, newswoman Meredith Vieira and author Richard M. Cohen rely on acceptance, on denial...and on each other.

AARP The Magazine, December 2011–January 2012

The Wrong Man
After weeks of interrogation, Glenn Carle concluded that the man in front of him was not the al-Qaida terrorist the CIA accused him of being. In a candid new book, he asks what happens when a government allows its fears to compromise its values.

Johns Hopkins (alumni magazine), Fall 2011

Little Things Mean a Lot
Employees pinching supplies and padding expense accounts can add up. But some experts suggest the cost may be worth it.

ONE magazine (Johns Hopkins Carey Business School), Spring/Summer 2010

In the Belly of the Whale
Why did I create my online shrine to Moby-Dick?

Urbanite, December 2008

The Patient Scientist
For centuries the tenacious bacterium that causes tuberculosis has eluded humanity's attempts to kill it quickly, but one researcher may have landed a better solution. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, meet Ying Zhang.

Johns Hopkins Public Health, Spring 2007

Shelley Berman Laughs Last
Forty years after his fall from grace, the legendary comedian's phone is ringing again.

AARP The Magazine, November–December 2005

Mother's Helper
Thirty-five years ago, Carolyn Winn decided she needed help looking after her four disabled sons. She chose her only daughter, Laverne. Now, Carolyn is gone, and her sons are middle-aged men. What's a dutiful daughter to do?

Baltimore magazine, December, 1997

Margaret Guroff bio