Monday, November 20, 2006

Re-discoveries

A weekly series where I comment on a book that I read before the launch of the Library

The inaugural feature, chosen semi-randomly (I ran my hand down the bookshelf) is Remembering Mr. Shawn's New Yorker, by Ved Mehta, a long-time staff-writer at the magazine. It's a memoir of his years writing for Mr. Shawn, and an ode to Shawn's career as an editor.

I read this book a year of so after becoming enamored with the New Yorker, and its rhapsodizing tone suited my admiration. But even at the time I recognized it was a little much. Shawn wasn't superhuman. (btw, Shawn is also known for being the father of Wallace Shawn, who played Vizzini in Princess Bride)

What I liked best about this book was the detailed description of how an article makes its way from germ of idea to the pages of the magazine. And the characters that peopled the magazine during the era.

In all, a charming read :)

1 comment:

Siel said...

Aren't regular series great?

Just in case you might be open to it -- Perhaps you might open the comments up to people who may not have a blogger account, so they can weigh in too? With your word verification turned on, it's unlikely that letting non-blogger people comment will increase the spam you get...