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msjg's review against another edition
5.0
I reviewed this book on my blog, Perfect Whole: http://perfectwhole.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/max-perkins-editor-of-genius/
lkshedlin's review against another edition
3.0
interesting view of a pioneering editor, sending me back to reread this side of paradise to see just what in fitzgerald initially caught his eye
bookscatsmusickiwis's review against another edition
5.0
A glorious book for anyone who is in love with reading. Beautifully written about a man passionately engaged in bringing the talents of his authors to full flower, among them Thomas Wolfe, Hemingway, Fitgerald - a seemingly endless list of luminaries. The humanity portrayed here is vivid and heartbreaking, and I am so grateful to the student who inadvertently led me to this biography.
that_little_drop_of_poison's review against another edition
3.0
My main problem with this book is the fact that it was supposed to be a book about Max Perkins, and yet there is so little aboiut him in it.
This book is full of interesting stories and anectotes about the greatest wrters of that time - Fitzgerayld, Hemingway, Wolfe, Galsworthy. It's a fascnating book for every one who's a fan of said authors. Those stories overshadow everything else though, and you're left fith the feeling that now you know almost everything about Fitzgerald and Hemingway, and close to nothing about Perkins.
But as I sad, too little of Max Perkins in a book about Max Perkins...
This book is full of interesting stories and anectotes about the greatest wrters of that time - Fitzgerayld, Hemingway, Wolfe, Galsworthy. It's a fascnating book for every one who's a fan of said authors. Those stories overshadow everything else though, and you're left fith the feeling that now you know almost everything about Fitzgerald and Hemingway, and close to nothing about Perkins.
But as I sad, too little of Max Perkins in a book about Max Perkins...
gh7's review against another edition
4.0
I read this about twelve years ago when I was enamoured with Scott and Zelda and harboured ambitions myself of becoming an editor. Max Perkins discovered Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Tom Wolfe, among others and was their editor and friend. This is a fabulous biography of a truly admirable man and editor and a wonderful period in American letters (lots of great anecdotes about Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Wolfe). Last night I watched the film Genius about Perkins' relationship with Thomas Wolfe and loved it. So pleased Max Perkins has been honoured on the big screen. And surprised just how good Jude Law was as Tom Wolfe…
tome15's review against another edition
5.0
An rxcellent biography of a complex man who handled the mercurial egos of the greatest American writers of the first hal of the 20th century. I wonder if any novelist today is nurtued in the Perkins manner. If so, they should be grateful indeed.
stacys_books's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent, sympathetic account of a gentle man and excellent editor. One thing I've wondered since reading this book is if anyone has taken Thomas Wolfe's brain tumors into account regarding his rift with Perkins shortly before his death. It just seems bizarre that Wolfe would turn on Perkins the way he did. It seems to me his many brain tumors—along with his attempts to self-medicate by drinking heavily—were the culprits of his behavior. In other words, I don't think he was responsible for the bizarre behavior he exhibited when he got sick. He had so many brain tumors his cranial fluid shot across the room when the doctors opened his skull during surgery. That many tumors have got to affect a person's behavior. I wish someone was around to point that out to Perkins, given that he obviously felt a lot of pain over his falling out with Wolfe.
francesmthompson's review against another edition
5.0
This book is everything a non-fiction biography of one of twentieth century America's literary greats should be - insightful, informative, comprehensive - but it is also everything the fiction that Maxwell Perkins used to oversee was - moving, encompassing, wonderfully character driven and full of prose that makes you sigh with a smile.
I got lost in Max Perkins' story immediately and kept turning the pages thanks to surprisingly unexpected twists and turns that surrounded his career, or rather the careers of the greats he led so well; Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Wolfe and James Jones. An essential read for anyone interested in the New York publishing scene in the first half of the 1900s and the whole book - so stodgily well written - serves as a reminder of how beautiful biographies can be.
I got lost in Max Perkins' story immediately and kept turning the pages thanks to surprisingly unexpected twists and turns that surrounded his career, or rather the careers of the greats he led so well; Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Wolfe and James Jones. An essential read for anyone interested in the New York publishing scene in the first half of the 1900s and the whole book - so stodgily well written - serves as a reminder of how beautiful biographies can be.