''Face Value'' is a 1983 anthology of collected journalism by South African journalist
Jani Allan
Jani Allan (11 September 1952 – 25 July 2023) was a South African journalist, columnist, writer, broadcaster, and media personality.
In 1980, Allan became a columnist for a centrist newspaper, the ''Sunday Times'', South Africa's most widel ...
. The book is compiled from selections of Allan's successful gossip and popular culture column ''Just Jani'' that appeared in the ''
Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
''. She was voted ''"the most admired person in South Africa."'' in a
Gallup poll
Gallup, Inc. is an American multinational analytics and advisory company based in Washington, D.C. Founded by George Gallup in 1935, the company became known for its public opinion polls conducted worldwide. Gallup provides analytics and man ...
commissioned by the newspaper. The book was published by Longstreet publishers in
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
and released in South Africa in 1983.
Synopsis
The book is a selection of interviews and photographs of public figures from various fields such as entertainment, sport, business, art and politics. Allan also contributed a column-style introduction to each chapter.
Andrzej Sawa provided the photographs of the interviewees.
[
Five of the interviewees ( Sol Kerzner, ]Danie Craven
Daniël Hartman Craven (11 October 1910 – 4 January 1993) was a South African rugby union player (1931–1938), national coach, national and international rugby administrator, academic, and author. Popularly known as Danie, Doc, or Mr R ...
, Pieter-Dirk Uys, Walter Battiss and Taubie Kushlick) were featured in the '' They shaped our century'' survey, a top 100 list published about which people had the greatest influence on South Africa during the twentieth century. ''Sunday Times'' editor, Tertius Myburgh wrote a foreword for the collection.
Author's note
"I do not think that for one moment that in a brief interview I can write an accurate-every-time character-revealing piece. But my aim has always been to convey as honestly as I can my first impressions on Face Value, with no 'Ums', 'Ers' or retakes."[
]
Reception
The book received favourable reviews;[
"She soon developed a highly individual style and the Jani Allan column, one of the most successful features in Africa's biggest newspaper, followed. She's become a formidable journalist...There's a touch of ]Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...
's 'new journalism
New Journalism is a style of news writing and journalism, developed in the 1960s and 1970s, that uses literary techniques unconventional at the time. It is characterized by a subjective perspective, a literary style reminiscent of long-form no ...
' about her writing, but it is never contrived. In her choice of subjects she's attracted by what she calls 'the boquet of money' and she's good on those ubiquitous creatures of our time, the 'celebrities', whom she is able to send up without the bitchiness which tends to put me off some lady writers of the adversary school of journalism. When she's touched by something - an individual, a cause, or some little act of valour - her writing reflects immense warmth and humanity." Tertius Myburgh, Editor of the ''Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
''
"Your piece on me acted like a bicycle pump and I mooned around for ages, smiling foolishly and cannoning off the wallls. ic Frank Muir
Frank Herbert Muir (5 February 1920 – 2 January 1998) was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wr ...
"The only girl who ever knocked me out" Mike Weaver
"Guy Fawkes couldn't brighten up Sunday better." Graham Bell
"She is not destructive - but she does have a particular facility for puncturing pomposity" Joe Sutton
Contents
THE PERPETUAL SPECTACLES 9
*'' Taubie Kushlick'' 11
*'' Joan Brickhill & Louis Burke'' 13
*'' Moira Lister'' 17
*'' Diane Todd'' 19
BUSINESS MORE THAN USUAL 21
*'' Sol Kerzner'' 22
*''Benny Goldberg'' 26
*''Mike Illion'' 29
*''Tony Factor'' 33
NATIONAL MONUMENTS 37
*'' Dr Daniel Hartman Craven'' 29
*'' Jamie Uys'' 41
*'' Siegfried Mynhardt'' 44
*'' Patrick Mynhardt'' 47
*''Joe Stewardson'' 51
*'' Sonja Herholdt'' 53
PRETTY BOYS ALL IN A ROW 57
*''Richard Loring'' 58
*''Karl Kikillus'' 60
*'' James Ryan'' 62
FUNNY YOU SHOULD SAY THAT ... 67
*''Tobie Cronje'' 69
*'' Robert Kirby'' 70
*''Katinka Heyns'' 72
*'' Pieter-Dirk Uys'' 75
SPORTING CHANCERS 79
*''Naas Botha
Hendrik Egnatius 'Naas' Botha (born 27 February 1958) is a South African former rugby union player who played as a Fly-half for Northern Transvaal, Rugby Rovigo and South Africa (the Springboks).
He was voted SA Rugby Player of the Year in ...
'' 80
*''Raymond Rhodes'' 83
*'' Wynand Classen'' 85
OLD MASTERS, YOUNG IDEAS 89
*'' Walter Battiss'' 90
*''Gordon Vorster'' 93
*'' Tretchikoff'' 95
MIXED METAPHORS 101
*''John Brett Cohen'' 103
*'' The Hell's Angels'' 105
*''Alvon Collinson'' 109
*''Gunter Brözel'' 111
*'' Robert Van Tonder'' 114
*''Carole Charlewood'' 118
Dictionary
Her ''Just Jani'' column has been referenced extensively by South African English
South African English (SAfE, SAfEn, SAE, en-ZA) is the List of dialects of English, set of English language dialects native to South Africans.
History
British Empire, British settlers first arrived in the South African region in 1795, ...
dictionaries because of Allan's popular use of terms such as ''jorl'', ''smaak'' and ''larney''
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Face Value (Book)
Books by Jani Allan
1983 non-fiction books
Books of interviews
South African non-fiction books
Books of photographs