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A review by jdintr
Avid Reader: A Life by Robert Gottlieb
4.0
I teach a high school class of creative writing, and for the past few years I have included Gottlieb's interview with the Paris Review as part of the curriculum.
It is important for writers--especially young writers--to understand what an editor does. In this same vein, it is important for avid readers--the title of Gottlieb's book could just as easily identify his target audience as describe himself.
Gottlieb's account reads as a Who's Who of the past sixty years of American publishing. He includes tasty nuggets about writers like Toni Morrison, John Le Carre, Joseph Heller, Kathryn Hepburn, and a host of others, but Gottlieb also introduces behind-the-scenes players from his career in the industry, first at Simon & Schuster, then at Knopf, and including an interim, 5-year stint at The New Yorker (the later of which is the only area where some scores are settled in a tome that is overwhelmingly positive and self-deprecating).
One challenge for this Gen-X reader (who is the same age as Gottlieb's daughter) was keeping track of the names. Gottlieb usually uses first names or nicknames in profiles--the index is nine pages, which means there are more than one of many common names like Bob's own--and I found myself needing to read back from time to time to figure out which "Bob," "Kate," or "Peter" he was referring to.
This book gets four stars because that's the rating that I give to books that I can't help but pass along to students or friends.
It is important for writers--especially young writers--to understand what an editor does. In this same vein, it is important for avid readers--the title of Gottlieb's book could just as easily identify his target audience as describe himself.
Gottlieb's account reads as a Who's Who of the past sixty years of American publishing. He includes tasty nuggets about writers like Toni Morrison, John Le Carre, Joseph Heller, Kathryn Hepburn, and a host of others, but Gottlieb also introduces behind-the-scenes players from his career in the industry, first at Simon & Schuster, then at Knopf, and including an interim, 5-year stint at The New Yorker (the later of which is the only area where some scores are settled in a tome that is overwhelmingly positive and self-deprecating).
One challenge for this Gen-X reader (who is the same age as Gottlieb's daughter) was keeping track of the names. Gottlieb usually uses first names or nicknames in profiles--the index is nine pages, which means there are more than one of many common names like Bob's own--and I found myself needing to read back from time to time to figure out which "Bob," "Kate," or "Peter" he was referring to.
This book gets four stars because that's the rating that I give to books that I can't help but pass along to students or friends.