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Avid Reader: A Life
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A spirited and revealing memoir by the most celebrated editor of his time
After editing The Columbia Review, staging plays at Cambridge, and a stint in the greeting-card department of Macy's, Robert Gottlieb stumbled into a job at Simon and Schuster. By the time he left to run Alfred A. Knopf a dozen years later, he was the editor in chief, having discovered and edited Catc ...more
After editing The Columbia Review, staging plays at Cambridge, and a stint in the greeting-card department of Macy's, Robert Gottlieb stumbled into a job at Simon and Schuster. By the time he left to run Alfred A. Knopf a dozen years later, he was the editor in chief, having discovered and edited Catc ...more
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Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
September 13th 2016
by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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Having finished this book, I feel like I've just ended a bad relationship. Things started off well: I was so sure that I would enjoy Avid Reader that I had it, sight unseen, on my wish list, but my library hold came through before I could buy it. I dove in and the first, fortuitous chapter was smooth sailing. Then came the uncertainty. Was this all there was? What I said I'd liked about previous flings with memoir and biography--the gossipy sense of famous people endlessly colliding--was now bei
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I loved how this memoir started.
Right from the beginning of the book, it talks about his first experience of reading(or being read to!).
I wonder how he can remember all those books so vividly.
No wonder...he is a genius.
I love how he describes his parents; his father being a non-fiction reader (who would buy books even during difficult times) his mother, a reader who always reads.
(I wish my family was like his. But who's complaining?!)
He gets a bit critical (way too critical) when it comes to his ...more
Right from the beginning of the book, it talks about his first experience of reading(or being read to!).
I wonder how he can remember all those books so vividly.
No wonder...he is a genius.
I love how he describes his parents; his father being a non-fiction reader (who would buy books even during difficult times) his mother, a reader who always reads.
(I wish my family was like his. But who's complaining?!)
He gets a bit critical (way too critical) when it comes to his ...more
I am going to set this one aside for now. I do so with great disappointment. I will say that Robert Gottlieb's joy and celebration of all things reading is evident but ironically this could use some substantial editing.
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Although the book runs out of steam, the middle chapters on Gottlieb's time with Knopf and his experiences when he moved to The New Yorker are fascinating. Sure there is name-dropping galore, and sometimes cringing, half-hearted attempts to seem humble when describing the many accolades and praise he received—but who can blame him? Gottlieb is simply a literary phenomenon, and anyone interested in the human side of editing should read this book. And my goodness, the names, the names, the names!
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I was fascinated by the beginning of this memoir, since I grew up on the edge of the world Gottlieb describes. I knew fairly well a number of people he mentions: I worked for Phyllis Levy (a great spirit!), for instance when I was secretary (yes, I know the term is obsolete, but that is what I was classified as) for three women at McCall's magazine for two summers), grew up with the Shawn family and Jonathan Schell, etc. So through Gottlieb's years at Simon & Schuster, I enjoyed this book a lot.
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As the former president, publisher and editor-in-chief of Alfred A. Knopf and the former editor of The New Yorker, Robert Gottlieb has had a huge impact on the reading public. For example about 100 pages into AVID READER, Gottlieb writes, "Two completely unknown writers she sent my way early in my Knopf years were Michael Crichton and Robert A. Caro." (Page 109) Here's a bit of behind the scenes look at Crichton saying, "What Michael wasn't was a very good writer. The Adromeda Strain was a terri
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I read about Avid Reader this past November in the New York Review of Books and, as others here have remarked, the title was indeed hard to resist. Then, I saw the photos included after the index, discovered that Robert Gottlieb totally LOOKS like a bookworm, and I was hooked!
Now in his mid-80’s, Gottlieb continues a 60+ year career lived at the pinnacle of the publishing industry, with editing tenures at Simon & Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf, and The New Yorker. An interesting parallel thread, cove ...more
Now in his mid-80’s, Gottlieb continues a 60+ year career lived at the pinnacle of the publishing industry, with editing tenures at Simon & Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf, and The New Yorker. An interesting parallel thread, cove ...more
So perhaps Gottlieb got the short end of the stick because I read this book at the same time I was reading the Elizabeth Warren book. And these two are like...opposite ends of the spectrum. I found Gottlieb, while fascinating and very very very well read (duh), to be extremely pretentious. I mean...I read this with my eyes constantly rolling up into my skull.
As other reviewers mentioned, I got some interesting books added to my "to read" list, but the getting there was not worth it to me.
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As other reviewers mentioned, I got some interesting books added to my "to read" list, but the getting there was not worth it to me.
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As I mentioned in a status update, I enjoyed this well enough once I accepted that it's a memoir made up of name-drops, "thank you's," and (semi-) vapid vignettes. I'd been hoping for at least some sections about editing itself, but for that I need to re-read the Paris Review interview Gottlieb gave on "The Art of Editing" - his interviewee is Joseph Heller himself and the long discussion gets into the nitty gritty of line-by-line editing and developmental editing. I loved that interview.
Gottli ...more
Gottli ...more
Who among us on this site can resist a book entitled AVID READER? Not me. Plus the author, Robert Gottlieb, has a literary pedigree that makes me salivate. Editor-in-chief at Knopf; editor at The New Yorker; friend and confidante to dozens of authors.
Gottlieb's book has the type of juicy book gossip so many readers enjoy along with stories of editing the likes of Lauren Bacall, Katherine Graham and Bill Clinton. A prolific reader himself he throws out several recommendations including a series t ...more
Gottlieb's book has the type of juicy book gossip so many readers enjoy along with stories of editing the likes of Lauren Bacall, Katherine Graham and Bill Clinton. A prolific reader himself he throws out several recommendations including a series t ...more
At first blush, one might say this book includes a lot of name dropping and it does, but Gottleib is so likeable in his account and so clearly proud of his achievements that this fails to be a knock on the autobiography. For anyone who loves books and literary gossip, this book is a feast. I’ve made lists of books that Gottleib admires to check them out. His career has been spent in publishing, from Simon and Schuster,to Knopf to the New Yorker and back to Knopf. It appears he knows every writer
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Feels more like the acknowledgments section from a book about Gottlieb's life than a book about his life itself. More substantively, I would have preferred more pages about working with Joseph Heller and Bill Clinton and fewer about writers now largely forgotten, and I would have preferred many more pages about Gottlieb's stint running The New Yorker, and many fewer about his involvement with various ballet companies. The book's certainly (and obviously) well-written, but it reads (to me) more l
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Robert Gottlieb kind of fell into publishing in his 20’s. From there he carved out a valiant career as editor and publisher with two of the most renowned publishing houses of the time and then on to the venerable “The New Yorker” magazine.
Gottleib’s reminiscences are insightful, sometimes amusing, certainly interesting to anyone who reads and loves books, and ultimately entertaining.
I thought I was an avid reader until I read this book. It turns out I am not even close since there are so many b ...more
Gottleib’s reminiscences are insightful, sometimes amusing, certainly interesting to anyone who reads and loves books, and ultimately entertaining.
I thought I was an avid reader until I read this book. It turns out I am not even close since there are so many b ...more
All in all it was a good book!
I did fastread the opening pages about his childhood and first job. Then adorned every single page about his editorial experiences. It did teach me something too, opened my eye. I believe and hope Mr Gottlieb’s memoir made me a better editor ;)
But i mostly skipped the parts about him being editor in New Yorker amd them dancing, writing, living...
but those editorial parts made up for everything :)
I did fastread the opening pages about his childhood and first job. Then adorned every single page about his editorial experiences. It did teach me something too, opened my eye. I believe and hope Mr Gottlieb’s memoir made me a better editor ;)
But i mostly skipped the parts about him being editor in New Yorker amd them dancing, writing, living...
but those editorial parts made up for everything :)
The obvious cheap shot is that this book needed an editor. It was when he told how he came to terminate the contract of Roald Dahl and how it was a financial mistake because he was a huge money maker for Knopf but that was ok because he was a hero then to his staff that I discovered the fatal flaw: this book wasn't written for his audience, it was written for his friends.
That is the only possible explanation of five pages devoted to Robert Caro and dozens and dozens to obscure friends. A good ed ...more
That is the only possible explanation of five pages devoted to Robert Caro and dozens and dozens to obscure friends. A good ed ...more
My friend Bob Guter passed this along, and as you might guess from the title, I loved it. Actually, I was a little worried that I'd be annoyed by reading about someone so famous and accomplished and all that, but was going to give it a go anyway, because there would be so much great publishing gossip involved. And the promise of that reporting from the glorious heights of the industry I cared so much about (being an avid reader myself) did carry me along until I was captured by the author's char
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Love how he tracks the ups and downs of his relationship with the New York City Ballet.
3.5 stars? This is the unexpected gossip pages covering most authors you have read over the last 50 years. Gottlieb knows, and purportedly likes every famous author of the SO MANY that he edited. He must be one helluva'n editor, and one helluva great friend (he shares his house with everyone, who shares back). He gives me a great respect for editors and... THERE AREN'T ENOUGH OF THEM (good editors!)
When I finally started reading the book, I couldn't remember why I had it on my list until on page ...more
When I finally started reading the book, I couldn't remember why I had it on my list until on page ...more
Fascinating memoir by a man whose whole career was spent reading, editing, and publishing books. Loved reading about the process of editing and publishing, and loved the anecdotes about authors and books I've read and all the ones I now have to add to my to read list. Was a little slow going at times and there's an awful lot of name dropping but then Gottlieb has met and worked with many authors and editors.
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There is nothing like a good tell all. Not just to tell one's own story, but to set the record straight. Robert Gottlieb has scores to settle in his autobiography Avid Reader. A fun linear narrative that gets away with a great deal of gossip since many of the people in question are dead.
Robert Gottlieb's life is a narrative on publishing and literature in the past 60 years. He has been a part of history's biggest fiction and non-fiction as editor of Simon and Schuster, Knopf, The New Yorker, an ...more
There is nothing like a good tell all. Not just to tell one's own story, but to set the record straight. Robert Gottlieb has scores to settle in his autobiography Avid Reader. A fun linear narrative that gets away with a great deal of gossip since many of the people in question are dead.
Robert Gottlieb's life is a narrative on publishing and literature in the past 60 years. He has been a part of history's biggest fiction and non-fiction as editor of Simon and Schuster, Knopf, The New Yorker, an ...more
Maybe 4.5 stars, but clearly this was a book for me! The man must not ever sleep, and he's clearly compulsive. He stumbled in to the perfect career field for his skills, loved his jobs, loved his co-workers, loved his employees, and loved most of the writers he worked with over his long and stellar career. Simon and Schuster, Knopf, the New Yorker. Joseph Heller, Toni Morrison, John Cheever, Doris Lessing, John le Carre, Michael Crichton, Katherine Graham, Nora Ephron, Dorothy Dunnett, Bill Clin
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Gottlieb certainly has led a fascinating life and worked with lots of talented people. But I also wonder at what cost to his family, particularly the fabulous Maria, who seems to have done the vast majority of child care and all of the cooking, often while he was on long trips with other women. And what's with Roger, his first son? After Gottlieb's divorce from Muriel, his first wife and Roger's mother, Roger disappears! Gottlieb clearly dotes on daughter Lizzie, but his sons, not so much.
This s ...more
This s ...more
(More accurately 2.5 stars)
Gottlieb is one of the superb editors of our time. This unabashedly boastful autobiography won't let even the least astute readers miss this point. This is clear from the very first paragraph of the book, when Gottlieb describes returning to a favorite book from childhood: "I discovered that it's about a little boy who turns out to be smarter than anyone else in the world. What a surprise that I needed constant access to it!" Gottlieb makes frequent note of his general ...more
Gottlieb is one of the superb editors of our time. This unabashedly boastful autobiography won't let even the least astute readers miss this point. This is clear from the very first paragraph of the book, when Gottlieb describes returning to a favorite book from childhood: "I discovered that it's about a little boy who turns out to be smarter than anyone else in the world. What a surprise that I needed constant access to it!" Gottlieb makes frequent note of his general ...more
So much fun to read! This is the perfect memoir for a book geek, chock full of behind-the-scenes stories from the editing and publication of so many famous and beloved books as well as from the venerable publishing houses Simon and Shuster and Knopf and The New Yorker. As you would expect, the writing was a pleasure to read--Gottlieb has an easy, avuncular style and it was an absolute pleasure to spend time with him. I particularly liked the Simon and Schuster, Knopf, New Yorker and Knopf Redux
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Usually I save five stars for great books, and this is not a great book, but it was a great read...for me. It should appeal to anyone who, like me, is an editor, because Gottlieb captures the marvelous possibilities of a life in publishing. I identified with his disbelief that, all this fun and I get paid for it!!? He expresses this sentiment many times throughout his memoir in much grander ways than I can, and just as often between-the-lines, but we are riveted by how his early love of reading
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This is going to be one of those circular Abraham Lincoln reviews:" Avid Reader is the sort of book that people who like this sort of book will like."
If book people and twentieth century book gossip interest you, it's a fine read. If coming of age and making one's way in the world books interests you, the same. My favorite chapters were the ones toward the end, which focused on Writing, Loving, et al. and summed up Gottlieb's hyper-active life. I was touched by the way he wrote about creating, a ...more
If book people and twentieth century book gossip interest you, it's a fine read. If coming of age and making one's way in the world books interests you, the same. My favorite chapters were the ones toward the end, which focused on Writing, Loving, et al. and summed up Gottlieb's hyper-active life. I was touched by the way he wrote about creating, a ...more
Despite the sense that the book devolves into a laundry list of authors and projects towards the middle, in the end Gottlieb manages to transcend these details and write a memoir that is brutally honest about him, his life, and his relationships - a study of friendships, rather than just a history of working in the publishing world.
Outstanding insider's view of the world of publishing. Gottlieb combines personal stories with bits of gossip about the famous writers with whom he worked during his 60-year career. From Joseph Heller's Catch-22 to Bill Clinton's My Life, he discusses the actual editorial process for major books as well as insights into the personalities of the writers themselves.
Recommended for readers who love New York stories. Recommended for readers who like gossip. Recommended for readers who love to read. ...more
Recommended for readers who love New York stories. Recommended for readers who like gossip. Recommended for readers who love to read. ...more
Read this just after Tina Brown’s Vanity Fair Diaries and Gottlieb’s book does not fare well in comparison. None of the verve, immediacy, or rich editorial insight. Mostly self-absorbed rambling, settling some scores, and too much self-defense about the New Yorker years.
Gottlieb seems like an immensely likeable, immensely energetic guy who's lived his life with verve and good sense. Also, of course, brilliant at what he does. He's the editor who told Joseph Heller that Catch 22 was funnier than Catch 18 (after Mila 18 came out and stole their thunder). He edited a gamut of writers from Toni Morrison to John le Carre to Nora Ephron, not to mention Katharine Graham and Bill Clinton, and was to many writers so much more than an editor. This all comes through in hi
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“But I had learned a lesson about the overwhelming need of narcissists to be in the right, and to punish those by whom they feel slighted.”
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“And even as the chariot of time hustles me along, I never forget that Bob Caro is coming up from behind with volume five of LBJ. I hope he makes it. I hope I make it.”
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