"Like going on stage journalism is seen as a glamour job, a cosy world of parties, perks, adventure and power", says Christopher Browne, pointing out that this is probably why more than 50% of all arts graduates want to go into the media or PR. Browne"s readable book offers careers advice for journalism-bent school leavers and plenty of hints for older people who fancy getting a toe or two on the media ladder.Should you, for example, train as a journalist and if you don"t what are the alternative ways of getting started? Browne tells encouraging success stories like that of Tim Luckett. Tim got holiday work at the Mail on Sunday while he was still at school and then managed to network his way into a career.Then The Journalist"s Handbook gets into the nitty-gritty of how to find topics for articles and how to present and sell work--vital if you have to operate as freelance rather than an employed journalist, as so many hacks now do. He also gives a how-to guide to interviewing and finding subjects. A fire-eater? An amateur actress who wins a big part? A where-are-they-now former celebrity?The Journalist"s Handbook is full of information and ideas. Given that journalists habitually speak an esoteric language of by-lines, standfirsts, alts, puffs and sidebars, Browne"s glossary is helpful. So are his appendices of useful addresses and contacts. Journalism is an unusually wide-spectrum career. The incisively written The Journalist"s Handbook helps to pin down its practicalities, pitfalls and pleasures.--Susan Elkin