The accidental life : an editor's notes on writing and writers

Title:

Author:

McDonell, Terry, 1944- author.

Personal Author:

McDonell, Terry, 1944- author.

ISBN:

9781101946718

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

xii, 369 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Abstract:

"Terry McDonell has top-edited some of the most influential publications in American journalism. His new book pulls back the curtain on his four-decade career as an editor, journalist, and media entrepreneur, with stops at more than a dozen magazines: from the launch of Outside through tenures at Rolling Stone, Newsweek, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, and, most recently, cofounding the literary website LitHub. McDonell lays out the realities between editors and writers with deadlines ticking, or with drinks on the bar. His stories about the journalists, writers, and media personalities he has known can be both heartbreaking and bitingly funny--playing "acid golf " with Hunter S. Thompson, practicing brinksmanship with David Carr and Steve Jobs, working the European fashion scene with Liz Tilberis, pitching TV pilots with Richard Price. Here, too, is an insider's practical advice on how to recruit--and keep--high-profile talent; how to craft a compelling lede; how to grow online traffic that translates into dollars; and how, in whatever format, on whatever platform, a good editor really works. Taking us from the raucous days of New Journalism to today's digital landscape, McDonell argues that the demand for storytelling from trustworthy news sources keeps getting stronger.

Personal Subject:

McDonell, Terry, 1944-

McDonell, Terry, 1944--Friends and associates.

Subject Term:

Authorship.

Journalism.

Periodical editors -- Biography.

Summary:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Main Library	Book	070.5 M135 X	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

An Amazon Best Book of 2016

A celebration of the writing and editing life, as well as a look behind the scenes at some of the most influential magazines in America (and the writers who made them what they are).

You might not know Terry McDonell, but you certainly know his work. Among the magazines he has top-edited: Outside, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Sports Illustrated. In this revealing memoir, McDonell talks about what really happens when editors and writers work with deadlines ticking (or drinks on the bar). His stories about the people and personalities he's known are both heartbreaking and bitingly funny--playing "acid golf" with Hunter S. Thompson, practicing brinksmanship with David Carr and Steve Jobs, working the European fashion scene with Liz Tilberis, pitching TV pilots with Richard Price.

Here, too, is an expert's practical advice on how to recruit--and keep--high-profile talent; what makes a compelling lede; how to grow online traffic that translates into dollars; and how, in whatever format, on whatever platform, a good editor really works, and what it takes to write well.

Taking us from the raucous days of New Journalism to today's digital landscape, McDonell argues that the need for clear storytelling from trustworthy news sources has never been stronger. Says Jeffrey Eugenides: "Every time I run into Terry, I think how great it would be to have dinner with him. Hear about the writers he's known and edited over the years, what the magazine business was like back then, how it's changed and where it's going, inside info about Edward Abbey, Jim Harrison, Annie Proulx, old New York, and the Swimsuit issue. That dinner is this book."

Reviews (1)

Kirkus Review

The former editor of Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Sports Illustrated looks back.After 40 years as journalist, editor, and magazine founder, McDonell celebrates his career with a collection of short pieces that include acerbic commentaries on the media, tender remembrances of friends and colleagues, and cogent advice to editors and writers. Sharp profiles feature "vaguely menacing" Hunter S. Thompson, moody Kurt Vonnegut, elegant Paris Review editor George Plimpton, and "princely and brooding" Steve Jobs, among many others. McDonell defines his life as "accidental": "Ideas got broken and jobs didn't work out. Friends faded. Love failed. But the thing was, no matter how strange or rocky it got, there was redemption in the work. That was not accidental." He loved editing, which, he says, is "never only about the words" but also images, typography, display copy, and "polish and nuance." He admires precision (Gay Talese's sentences, he remarks, were unfailingly "immaculate"), advises writers to "cut anything precious, overly clever or self-indulgent," and admonishes reporters: "Check your sources." Among the most moving pieces are homages to friends, including irreverent Harper's Bazaar editor Elizabeth Tilberis; novelist James Salter; and Peter Matthiessen, a writer whose work McDonell finds "astonishing in its range." The author portrays the unlikely friendship between George Plimpton and Hunter Thompson, fueled by their love of cocaine. He also offers withering anecdotes about Jobs, who came to Newsweek in 1984, "wearing a sharp suit and tiny bow tie," to sell staff on "the greatest tool ever": the Apple computer. In 2010, an imperious Jobs arrived at Time, Inc., seated at the head of a table of top editors who fiddled with soon-to-be released iPads. McDonell, who founded LitHub, does not bemoan digital media, but he regrets that "digital content" meetings rarely focus on the quality of journalism. A wide-ranging, smart, and witty collection testifying to an impressive career. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.