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New York Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
What to Look for in a Celebrity Memoir
When 'The Andy Warhol Diaries' was first published in 1989, Warner Books released it without an index. This drove a small but influential segment of its target audience — people who were, or hoped they might be, in it — absolutely nuts, since they had to rifle through 807 pages to see if they warranted a mention. It also didn't help the snoopy non-V. I.P. reader who wanted to browse for gossip about their favorite stars. Soon enough Spy magazine stepped in, publishing an 'Exclusive Unauthorized Index' to what its cover called 'All the Random Bitchiness in Andy Warhol's Published Diaries.' Flip forward 36 years, to this spring. That's when Graydon Carter, the editor of Spy when the Warhol book was published, now better known for his quarter-century running Vanity Fair, published his own memoir. Without an index. Disappointingly, there wasn't all that much bitchiness in his book, 'When the Going Was Good,' and what was there was hard to find. In recent months it was followed by two other index-free memoirs from veteran New York power brokers: 'I Regret Almost Everything,' by the restaurateur Keith McNally, and 'Who Knew,' by the mogul Barry Diller. Together, the three books comprise more than 1,000 pages of eyewitness accounts of different slices of elite life all without a dramatis personae of who mattered. I regret their absence, because indexes in this kind of book provide a road map to American power. Noting who gets mentioned on how many pages, and who reappears in how many other books, charts the spider web of influence in which modern life traps us all. Readers who download digital versions of the books can, I suppose, use the search function to look for names that might interest them. But these are books you are supposed to tote around in public — take to the beach, carry on the plane — to show that you're in the know. Whether reading for work or pleasure, I'm a Luddite who prefers an old-fashioned printed book. Nothing about the digital experience can replace the pleasure of sitting among a stack of books propped open at certain pages, or bristling with torn, scrap-paper bookmarks, like the whiskers of an old cat. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Guardian
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Graydon Carter: ‘The closest I've come to death? A tense argument with Russell Crowe at an Oscar party'
Born in Canada, Graydon Carter, 75, moved to New York in 1978. He became a staff writer on Time magazine, followed by Life in 1983; in 1986, he co-founded the satirical publication Spy. He edited the New York Observer for a year before becoming editor of Vanity Fair in 1992; he retired in 2017. His memoir, When the Going Was Good, is out now. He lives in New York City with his third wife and has five children. When were you happiest? My first week in New York in 1978, when I was about to start as a writer at Time. And my first week in the south of France after retiring from my job of 25 years as editor of Vanity Fair. Which living person do you most admire, and why? It will be the one or two or three senior Republican leaders who take a public and forceful stand against the ugly lunacy of the Trump administration. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Intermittent laziness. What was your most embarrassing moment? That time I congratulated a waitress on being pregnant. Aside from a property, what's the most expensive thing you've bought? My children's education. Describe yourself in three words Content. Cheerful. Appreciative. What would your superpower be? To be able to fall asleep in five minutes. What has been your biggest disappointment? That I didn't go to Turkey during the pandemic for one of those male hair treatments. What is your most treasured possession? A cardboard Leica camera my then 13-year-old daughter made for me for Christmas. Inside was an accordion strip of photos of the two of us. What do you most dislike about your appearance? Thinning hair. And thickening everything else. What is your most unappealing habit? My wife has weaned me off most of them. What is the worst thing anyone's said to you? 'Didn't you used to be Graydon Carter?' What is your guiltiest pleasure? Hermès handkerchiefs – and two scoops of vanilla ice-cream after every dinner. To whom would you most like to say sorry, and why? Canadians are trained to say sorry to almost everything and everyone. What did you dream about last night? I dreamed that my penis was much larger than it is. Which words or phrases do you most overuse? It's all good – which is code for the opposite. How often do you have sex? Like most people my age, hourly. What is the closest you've come to death? Getting into a tense argument with Russell Crowe during one of the Vanity Fair Oscar parties. What single thing would improve the quality of your life? The metabolism I had in my 20s. How would you like to be remembered? With dozens upon dozens of beautiful women weeping over my casket. What is the most important lesson life has taught you? Be generous and kind. Honestly, those two things did everything for me. Tell us a secret I still smoke a cigarette every morning at 11. It sets me up for the day.
