Avid Reader

August 1, 2016
Gottlieb (Great Expectations: The Sons and Daughters of Charles Dickens), the former head of the Alfred A. Knopf publishing house and ex-editor of the New Yorker, looks back on his exploits taming America’s literary lions in this canny, exuberant memoir. He frames his breezy, loose-limbed narrative around vignettes of his dealings with people in the publishing world and, especially, with the authors he edited, including Lauren Bacall, Robert Caro, John Cheever, Bill Clinton, Joseph Heller, and Toni Morrison. His lengthy account of his controversial 1987 takeover of the New Yorker editorship from the legendary William Shawn—outraged staffers asked him to turn it down—unfolds into a good-humored but probing inquest into the magazine’s cloistered culture. Another section follows his adventures on the board of the New York City Ballet, with brilliant choreographer George Balanchine and brilliant impresario Lincoln Kirstein. Gottlieb’s portraits of the literati are vivid, usually generous, and always clear-eyed (thriller writer Michael Crichton, he allows, has a knack for catchy conceits, although “what wasn’t was a very good writer”). Gottlieb’s depictions of editing sessions really shine as he describes helping each author sculpt a book into its ideal form, and he conveys the enormous energy and creativity of American publishing. Photos.

July 15, 2016
The longtime editor at Simon & Schuster, Knopf, and the New Yorker thankfully breaks his vow to never write a memoir.Born in 1931, Gottlieb (Sarah: The Life of Sarah Bernhardt, 2010, etc.) grew up as an only child in Manhattan. Brainy, glib, and something of a know-it-all, he did not plan for a publishing career, but he happened into it during his 20s and quickly rocketed to the top. A perceptive reader of both fiction and nonfiction, Gottlieb understood his control-freak tendencies--partially recognized and worked through during rigorous psychoanalysis--but managed to collaborate smoothly with most of his authors and their literary agents, not to mention his bosses at all three employers. Throughout the book, the author offers countless vignettes, anecdotes, and bits of gossip, and most are positive in nature. At times, however, Gottlieb includes passages that savage authors, agents, publishers, and editors, including himself. The feast of names whose literature and/or personalities become skillfully illuminated by Gottlieb is vast and endlessly impressive: Joseph Heller, Jessica Mitford, Toni Morrison, Doris Lessing, Julia Child, John Updike, Barbara Tuchman, Edna O'Brien, John le Carre, Ray Bradbury, Robert Caro, Nora Ephron, Mordecai Richler, Chaim Potok, William Shirer, Michael Crichton, Kay Graham, Bill Clinton, Renata Adler, Gloria Vanderbilt, Lauren Bacall, Lillian Ross, William Shawn, Sonny Mehta, Lynn Nesbit, Swifty Lazar, Alfred A. Knopf, Blanche Knopf, and Si Newhouse. In addition, the author discusses his relationships with his co-workers (Michael Korda figures prominently, and almost all co-workers receive positive portrayals), parents, two wives, children, and friends. Almost incidentally, Gottlieb scatters suggestions about successful writing and editing techniques and, above all, how to maintain a productive author-editor collaboration. For lovers of literature and devotees of the New Yorker, this memoir is likely to prove endlessly captivating.

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Starred review from September 1, 2016
Gottlieb's constant and eclectic reading, along with a series of flukes, delivered him to the publishing world, the ideal arena not only for his passion for books but also for his boundless energy and gift for fruitful collaborations. An exceptionally accomplished and influential editor and the author of numerous profiles (Lives and Letters, 2011) and biographies (Balanchine, Bernhardt), Gottlieb now tells his many-faceted life story with zest and precision, candor and humor, tracing his path to Simon & Schuster in 1955, and chronicling choice editorial adventures there and during his time at the helm of Knopf and the New Yorker. Gottlieb shares his heady experiences working with such literary standouts as Joseph Heller, Robert Caro, Toni Morrison, Doris Lessing, and John le Carre, and tells incisive tales of helping the famous craft their memoirs, including Bill Clinton and National Book Awardwinner Lauren Bacall. Though he avers, Work is my natural state of being, clearly his longtime marriage to actor Maria Tucci and his close friendships with writers and publishing professionals, so eloquently celebrated here, have inspired and sustained him. While book lovers will revel in Gottlieb's intimate publishing revelations, his memoir is also a vital, generous, and captivating story of a life lived to the fullest.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2016

Turning his passion for reading and books into a distinguished career as an editor and writer, Gottlieb (Great Expectations) helped shape the American literary landscape for 60 years. In this memoir, he mixes details about his childhood and family life with colorful anecdotes of his professional achievements. Starting out and building his reputation as a hardworking editor at Simon & Schuster and then at Knopf, he was instrumental in publishing some of the most celebrated authors of the 20th century, including Joseph Heller, Toni Morrison, and John Cheever. He also spent time as editor of The New Yorker and worked with the city ballet companies of New York and Miami. Gottlieb relished the long hours of editing a manuscript and carefully fostered nurturing relationships with his authors. Yet, at the heart of his story are his relationships with loved ones and how they contributed to his life's path. VERDICT Journalism students, those interested in a publishing career, and bibliophiles alike will appreciate the warmth and humor that punctuate this fascinating story of an "avid reader" who finds joy in work and life. [See Prepub Alert, 3/14/16.]--Donna Marie Smith, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., FL

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2016

A former editor in chief at Simon & Schuster; president, publisher, and editor in chief at Alfred A. Knopf; and editor of The New Yorker who's also written books (e.g., on George Balanchine), Gottlieb isn't just an avid reader but a bright, defining moment in the writing world for the last 60 years. Here he gives us the arc of his career.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.