My Kindle went with me on my vacation to France and Switzerland. My friend teased me for reading while on the ferry with all this beautiful scenery. I can multitask! I did look around between pages. She said if anyone questions my dedication to books, I can show this picture.
pickWow can Gottlieb gossip—& dish the book dirt on EVERYONE from Bill Clinton & Joseph Heller to prima ballerinas & Katharine Hepburn. All of which is to say this is mostly an entertaining book by someone who was at the center of the literary world for decades. By the end, however, Gottlieb‘s conviction he was always right, the name dropping, & constant commentary on peoples‘ appearances, drinking problems, mood swings & so on was a little tiresome.
My current nonfiction read offers a fascinating glimpse into the world of publishing from an editor who worked with some really big name authors—Joseph Heller, Chaim Potok and countless more. It‘s gossipy and fabulous and while I‘m sure it would be amazing and highly entertaining to meet Mr. Gottlieb, I‘m not entirely convinced I would like him...which probably means his memoir is well-written and, perhaps, more revealing than he realizes.
Today‘s #bookmail is curtesy of spending a little time exploring the publishing side of the book world. No particular reason, just curious. I saw this book mentioned a couple of times and it‘s easy to see why when you see some of the authors this editor has worked with—Toni Morrison, John Cheever, Doris Lessing, John Le Carré, Michael Crichton and Miss Piggy to name a few. I expect it to be a very interesting book.
pickI enjoyed this for the most part — Gottlieb‘s memoir focuses almost completely on his life and career in publishing and perhaps intentionally less on family. I liked his insights on authors (several may be more familiar to older readers like me) and books he worked with. Added a few to the TBR!
It‘s hard to imagine that Catch-22 almost was Catch-18 or another number, but here‘s the story of how it happened.
“Jane Austen had pinned me to the wall.”
Book editor Robert Gottlieb tells us how he discovers “some kind of moral compass “ after reading Emma and other novels. (page 11).
Staff Picks for August are now up! Took me awhile, but I got it done.
Have you read any of these fine choices my colleague made?! The one on the top-right is Diana Athill‘s “Stet”.
#LitsyLovesLibraries
Thanks penpal @OriginalCyn620 for the card and letter! I got it from the mailbox today after not being able to get to the mailbox for three days due to the bomb cyclone we were in the middle of! Snow drifts taller than I am everywhere and hurricane force winds!
“To know anything you have to know everything..” Robert Gottlieb
