About Town: The New Yorker and the World It Made

There are two types of writers: those who aspire, no, dream of being published in the "New Yorker", and those who, after several rejections, bitterly deride the very institution they hoped to conquer. I am solidly of the first camp, though give it a few years and I might be a latter-day grouch. The work of Ben Yagoda brings the magazine alive, from the heyday of such luminaries as Thurber and White to the tough war years, right up through the Shawn era and even right up to (for 1999) the present. Through it all, Yagoda examines the many lives who devoted themselves to this literary exercise in humor and good faith. The most compelling character studies, however, are the two main editors throughout the magazine's history, Harold Ross and William Shawn. Ross, who founded the magazine in 1925 and managed it through its first twenty-six years, comes across as a gruff, thoroughly Western man who nonetheless saw the need for a magazine like "The New Yorker", and brought it to being through sheer will and fortitude. He also happened to publish significant works by James Thurber, E.B. White, and J.D. Salinger among others. Shawn, taking the reins after Ross's death in 1951, saw the magazine through 30+ years of challange and triumph, only to be forced out in 1987. Throughout the book, Yagoda makes these men the central focus of his tale, but he includes brief looks at literary and other lights of the twentieth century, some who did get published (like Donald Barthleme, Veronica Geng, and John Updike) and some who didn't (Tom Wolfe, whose scandelous expose on the magazine shook it out of its fuddiness). Overall, the book looks fondly back at the magazine's past, with a hint that it might never reach the same heights of importance it once had. That may very well be, but there's still something to be said for a magazine that is such an institution no one could imagine starting a writing career without considering the possibility of submitting to it. "The New Yorker" is still the premier magazine in America, and this book explains why, after almost a century, it still carries the weight it does.

There are at least two ways to view Ben Yagoda's book ABOUT TOWN: 1) as the history of The New Yorker Magazine, how it was conceived and developed and changed over time, and 2) as a social document reflecting its times. The subtitle of the book "and the World it Made" does not seem quite as accurate unless one considers that "world" to be the corporate culture created by the staff led by Ross and Shawn, the two longtime editors who built the magazine. The New Yorker certainly has influenced the world within which it existed along with many other magazines. Harold Ross, the founder and first editor of the magazine, with the help of Katherine and E.B.White, Thurber, Dorothy Parker, and many other fine editors and writers launched the magazine in the 1920s. The sophisticated and literary focus of the magazine soon captured the fancy of New Yorkers. During the hard days of the depression the magazine actually gained subscribers as readers enjoyed the humorous repartee and cartoons that helped them laugh at their troubles. Many new readers learned of the magazine during WWII as it was handed around the barracks. The GI bill produced many educated readers who remembering their wartime contact with the magazine now subscibed to it. Following WWII, the magazine included more and more "social conscience" articles, for example, John Hershey's essay on "Hiroshima." Ross died in the early 1950s, and during the fifties under the editorship of William Shawn, the magazine became relatively banal according to Yagoda who says it appealed to stay-at-home wives who enjoyed articles that reminded them of their college days (among other pieces, Mary McCarthy's tales of her Italian travels were featured). In the 1960s, the magazine once again became more vocal about social issues and the environment. Yagoda says the best years of the magazine came in the 1970s when writers like Woody Allen wrote wonderful wacky pieces and investigative journalists covered the scandals in Washington. Following a downturn in subscriptions in 1980s, the magazine was purchased by a media mogul and William Shawn departed. With Tina Brown's arrival, the magazine metamorphed into a Conde Nast publication. Garrison Keillor's comments about Brown's arrival (as he left) are amusing.Over the years, I have read John Updike, Alice Munro, Jamaica Kincaid, Katherine White, and many of the writers who once wrote for the New Yorker. When I was a child, my mother used to quote Dorothy Parker regularly ("Rivers are damp..."), but I had no idea Parker wrote for The New Yorker until years later (we lived in a rural area and subscribed to the Progressive Farmer!!). When I read Rachel Carson's SILENT SPRING, it changed my life, but I read it in book form when it was first published as a Book of the Month Club selection. I only became aware of The New Yorker magazine when I was in my thirties and a college writing instructor suggested it. Yagoda says many people discovered the magazine when they were stude

Disclaimer: I love The New Yorker. I have been a dedicated subscriber for ten years (and I am only twenty-six), and I read the magazine for years before subscribing under my own name.Given my disclaimer, perhaps my five-star rating is self-evident. But not necessarily: As a lover of the magazine, I approached this text skeptically. I was interested in an unbiased review, yes, but likely I would have been wounded by a wholeheartedly negative portrayal.Yagoda loves TNY even more than I do, if that's possible, yet he truthfully approaches his biography of the magazine. The ugliest facts are laid bare, but in a sympathetic whole.TNY writers, editors, and staff members are lovingly recreated; Yagoda writes so well that I felt I knew these people, I understood these people, and I physically missed them after turning the last page. Like others who have reviewed this book, I wanted more--more, more, more. I felt astonished and sad to have finished the book. Were it a novel, I'd beg for a sequel, even knowing that sequels rarely live up to the original. Even a second-best second-tome would be better than missing the people and the institution that this book brings to life.Admittedly, TNY readers will love this book vastly more than those unacquainted with its pages. However, if you are even beginning to approach the magazine, you must read this book. You will understand the weekly journal better than you do now, and you will appreciate it far more. I certainly do.Bravo, Yagoda!

I have had an ongoing love affair with The New Yorker since I was ten years old. First I read just the cartoons, then the reviews, and finally an obsession with the entire magazine.Ben Yagoda is the first account I have read that does not have a personal agenda or bias. His research is meticulous and presented in such a lively manner that the reader never feels bombarded with dry facts and statistics. He brings to center stage a fabulous cast: from founder, Harold Ross, A. J. Liebling, E. B. White, James Thurber, Lillian Ross, John Cheever, Ernest Hemingway, J. D. Salinger, John Updike to the last "real" New Yorker editor-William Shawn. Mr. Yagoda's talent brings them to life, sets them in the context of The New Yorker, and they greet you from around every corner.Mr. Yagoda lets us see why and how The New Yorker wielded such a remarkable influence in its heyday from the `30's through the early `60's. The standards set for fact checking, daring fiction, and in-depth "fact" pieces were hard to emulate. I well remember entire issues set aside for arcane subjects. I always gave the prize to Ved Mehta for writing excruciatingly long articles about subjects of which I had absolutely no interest. Yet I eagerly awaited Mehta's biographical sketches. That was part of The New Yorker's charm; they gave their writers the freedom to try different venues. The magazine was famous (or infamous) for their ruthless editing. One of my favorite quoted memos was from Vladimar Nabokov who wasn't so much outraged that The New Yorker had tinkered with his text, but amazed. "Never in my life has such a thing happened." said the bewildered Mr. Nabokov."About Town" is a fascinating read that can also be used for a reference book. It is scrupulously indexed and cross-referenced. This is the definitive biography of The New Yorker. Highly recommended.

I agree with Jack Olsen, who felt this lengthy book wasn't long enough. I spent several nights reading much later into the night than I should have -- and paid for it the following mornings -- but I was extremely sorry when I finished "About Town." Reviewers such as John Leonard in the New York Times Book Review have rightfully lauded Mr.Yagoda for his extensive research in The New Yorker archives. Equally impressive, though, is the acute critical judgement Yagoda brings to bear on the non-fiction, short stories, poems and cartoons that have defined the magazine -- either by their inclusion or exclusion. In meshing the archival letters and notes between writers and editors with his own hard-won views of the magazine's contents and the artists who created them, Yagoda in effect has created and orchestrated a book-length conversation and meditation on good writing. "About Town" is so well written, and so rich in anecdote, telling detail and, with a nod toward New Yorker editor/founder Harold Ross, the beauty of fact, that if it weren't ABOUT The New Yorker I suspect that it would have been accepted for excerpting by the magazine's long-gone original regime.For those like me who finish the book wanting more, the only solace is that, in a sense, you can continue the converation about good writing with Yagoda by revisiting the works and authors he dissects. I'm looking forward, for instance, to rooting out Peter Taylor's early stories -- I'm familiar with his classic later works -- checking out writers with whom I am unfamiliar, such as Irwin Shaw, and to re-reading some Cheever to follow the evolution outlined by Yagoda.In this continuing quest, good places to start are the collections of short stories ("Wonderful Town") and profiles ("Life Stories") edited by current New Yorker editor David Remnick. Also, check out "The Art of Fact: A Historical Anthology of Literary Journalism" co-edited by Yagoda which includes selections from many New Yorker stalwarts. Years ago one of the magazine's former stalwarts, John McPhee, wrote an article about the farmers' markets in New York City, where customers could be assured of getting their money's worth -- and then some -- from the rural formers who manned the stands. He titled it, and a subsequent collection, "Giving Good Weight."In "About Town," Ben Yagoda gives good weight.