Gone: The Last Days of the New Yorker

Gone: The Last Days of The New Yorker, Renata Adler's account of the decline of the magazine, is one of those books that, it seems to me, very few people are qualified to review. It has come under attack for being factually inaccurate, for attributing conversations to people who never had them, even for fabricating situations that never occurred. The problem is that most of the people who have made these accusations of inaccuracy or falsification are targets of Adler's ire or scorn in the book, [...]

Alternate title: Renata Adler's Burn Book.

I admit it.I love New York literary gossip (possibly because I live in Baltimore and it's a change of pace from local gossip) and I loved this book, lots of delightful dish. Sometimes it seems as though attacking the NEW YORKER has been a favorite pastime of the American intelligentsia since the magazine started, cf. Dwight Macdonald's attack in PARTISAN REVIEW in the 30s, Robert Warshow's in his book THE IMMEDIATE EXPERIENCE in the 50s, and Seymour Krim's "Who's Afraid of the NEW YORKER Now?" f [...]

Wonderful gossip about the New Yorker, mostly during the last days of Shawn, and the succession to Gottleib, wonderfully told, with bits at the end on Tina Brown and Remnick. Although it has a touch of stream of consciousness disarray to it, and two instances of bad editing (once when she attributes a quoted statement simultaneously to herself and to the person she was talking with). At times very intelligent, and at all times telling it like she sees it, damn the torpedoes. She hates Lillian Ro [...]

I read "Speedboat" last year and really liked its girl-about-town swagger. This book was so mean-spirited and rather crude, I thought, especially the last few chapters which are basically an attack on Adam Gopnik. It seems that she invested so much of her identity in a certain era of her life - when she was young, mentored by the great and good, and could dream of publishing everything. Slowly she lost two out of the three - she aged, and many of the pieces that she wanted to publish in the New [...]

I would have enjoyed this more if I were old enough to have been a regular reader of the magazine during the period the book covers. Apparently, the years I read it, it was awful. Clearly this was a book that had to be written. Not sure it had to be published. The intended audience, at times, seemed quite small (like only people who worked at the magazine during the period in question). Also, it's clear the author is an excellent writer, but the book still suffered from some strange transitions. [...]

The New Yorker is my favorite magazine and I was curious about the changes that came with the change of editors. This author seemed bitter about the turnover and, as a result, I kept thinking her view was biased. She obviously adored William Shawn (editor from 1951-1987) and maybe didn't write this with an open mind. I'll need to read more about this from other New Yorker writers to get a better sense of what happened. Lots of name-dropping in this book and a lot of trash talk about Adam Gopnik. [...]

Totally not what I was looking for. I do not know what possessed me to order this from the library. I am hurrying it back to them tomorrow. And none too soon. I suppose I will never know now what makes Renata Alder the type and quality of writer she has a reputation for being. She is certainly not my cup of tea.

Bookforum recently profiled Adler's fiction and I came across this book about her time at the New Yorker. The kindest way to describe this book is gossipy. I don't think I've ever read a more mean-spirited book. Adler's charmed life of extreme privilege combined with her talent and high intellect = scary self-certainty and a total lack of self-awareness.

AMAZING

Good where gossipy, dull and plodding where not. Best part is a devastating profile of Gopnik.

#kindle

Short article in New York Magazine about the author makes her and her writing sound interesting.