Robert Gottlieb: the editor who changed American literature

The man who ushered classics like Catch-22 into the world, Gottlieb has reason to brag. But in his new memoir Avid Reader he prefers to downplay the editor’s role Joseph Heller, the author of Catch-22, once gave an interview where he credited his editor with kicking his work into shape. After the interview ran, Heller got an irritated phone call. The caller was his editor, Robert Gottlieb. Gottlieb told Heller to knock it off. “I felt then, and still do, that readers shouldn’t be made aware of editorial interventions,” Gottlieb writes in his new memoir, Avid Reader: A Life. “They have a right to feel that what they’re reading comes direct from the author to them.”Gottlieb’s book is full of stories like that one. He is a very unassuming person, for an alleged legend – a characterization he laughs at to me, saying his daughter pokes fun at him for so often being called it. Yet beginning at Simon & Schuster in the 1950s and 1960s, flourishing at Knopf in the 1970s and 1980s, and with a brief but memorable detour to the New Yorker (as an editor), Gottlieb’s editing pen has touched the manuscripts of most of the important American writers of the 20th century – and several of the British ones, too. He did it, though, as much from behind the scenes as he possibly could. “I’ve given very few interviews,” he told me when I met him at his book-lined townhouse on New York’s East Side. He is only giving this one now, he says, because he needs to help the publisher sell his book. ... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2016-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #avid reader #simon schuster #20th century

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Robert Gottlieb: the editor who changed American literature'


Roger Angell, editor, baseball writer at the New Yorker, dies at 101

As fiction editor, he helped mold the stories of generations of writers. As a sportswriter, he was enshrined in the writers’ wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-20 21:24:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fiction editor


Printing fake news, this editor helped push America into World War I

Providence Journal editor John Revelstoke Rathom also had a fake biography, writes journalist Mark Arsenault. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-20 12:00:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #world war


How War Literature Occupies the Realms of Both Fact and Fiction

Sometimes in interviews I catch myself speaking of my book of short stories about the Iraq War as though it is a kind of literary journalism. I want people to think about their recent history, imagine the lives of soldiers, and get a sense of what it’s like to go to war. And I do […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-05-17 08:53:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #iraq war #literary journalism #recent history #short stories


Adapting to Changes in Pay-per-Click Advertising

In this panel—scheduled for May 24, 3–4 p.m. ET, and moderated by Carlyn Robertson, marketing lead at BookBub—book marketing experts will discuss what’s changed in the world of digital advertising in the past year. Topics of discussion include how marketers can adapt as major ad platforms and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-05-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #panel—scheduled #digital advertising


Bringing the World to Your Door: Spotlight on Arabic Literature and Culture

In this panel—scheduled for May 24, 1–2 p.m. ET; moderated by Ed Nawotka, PW’s bookselling and international editor; and presented by the Sheikh Zayed Book Award—Tahera Qutbuddin, a professor of Arabic literature at the University of Chicago; Michael Cooperson, an American author, translator,... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-05-16 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #arabic literature #panel—scheduled #ed nawotka #michael cooperson #american author #arabic language #zayed book


Robert Goolrick, whose books explored tragedy and endurance, dies at 73

He vaulted to literary prominence with a lacerating childhood memoir of abuse and wrote best-selling novels such as "A Reliable Wife.” Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-14 01:28:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir


U.S. Book Show 2022: PW Editors’ Picks Panels

Our reviews editors put together eight virtual panels, each featuring the editors of several big fall titles in a given category or age range. Here, those editors tell us why their books stand out. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-05-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #pw editors #picks panels #virtual panels #age range


Supply Squeeze, Changing Consumer Behavior Challenges Publishers

Panelist on Ingram's recent webinar said that global supply chain challenges will persist until 2023 and, with consumer behavior changing, predicting demand—and, accordingly, supply—for a book will remain difficult. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-05-08 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #recent webinar


Robert McNamara as a loving father — who couldn’t talk about Vietnam

The son of the Vietnam-era defense secretary recounts the "paradox" of their relationship. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-06 12:00:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


11 Books by Filipino American Authors You Should Be Reading

The first time I read a book about a person who even minorly resembled me, I was 19 and teaching at a creative writing summer camp. My coworker Sophie Lee’s YA novel What Things Mean tells the story of a young Filipina girl named Olive who uses reading to cope with feelings of loneliness and... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2022-05-06 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #reading appeared #electric literature #ya novel


What It Means to Anthologize the Literature of Abortion

About twenty years ago, I had an abortion and discovered that literary writing exploring the experience was not easy to find. So I began editing an anthology of literature about this major, suppressed literary theme, a physical, psychological, moral, spiritual, political, and cultural reality... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-05-05 08:52:40 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #anthology


Robert Molteno obituary

My friend Robert Molteno, who has died aged 79, was the editorial director of Zed Books for 27 years and helped build its reputation as the pre-eminent radical academic publisher concerned with the developing world.Robert combined a sharp analysis of current issues with a commitment to scholars... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-05-01 18:10:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #zed books #developing world #current issues #global south #mainstream publishers #drew attention #academic publisher


Preaching in a Different World: PW Talks to Touré Roberts

Touré Roberts, founding pastor of one of Los Angeles’s largest churches and son-in-law to megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes, debunks myths about how to manage one’s work, family life, and well-being in a new book, 'Balance: Positioning Yourself To Do All Things Well.' Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #megachurch pastor #family life


France’s Catherine Nabokov: An Editor in Business as a Literary Agent

As Friday's opening of the 2022 in-person Festival du Livre de Paris approaches, Catherine Nabokov talks about nurturing 14 writers' work. The post France’s Catherine Nabokov: An Editor in Business as a Literary Agent appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-04-20 20:27:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #post france #literary agent


‘Memphis’ traces decades of Black Americans’ trauma and triumph

"Today" show book club pick "Memphis" traces the lives of three generations of Black women. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-04-12 14:16:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #black americans #black women #book club


Many Americans distrust emerging technology, new study finds

For more than a century, popular science fiction has promised us a future filled with robotics and AI technologies. In 2022, many of those dreams are being realized — computers recognize us on sight and cars can drive themselves, we’re building intelligent exoskeletons that multiply our strength... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-03-31 17:00:38 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #working conditions #potential benefits #science fiction


Oz editor-in-chief rages against the ‘tearing down’ of News Corp journalism | Weekly Beast

Christopher Dore says some critics make him ‘cringe’. Plus: ‘Furries’ at elite Brisbane school?Christopher Dore has been the editor-in-chief of the Australian since 2018, and has quite the pedigree in editing Rupert Murdoch’s Australian mastheads. Dorey, as staff call him, has edited the Daily... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-03-25 03:05:12 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #australian mastheads #christopher dore #daily telegraph #deputy editor #sunday telegraph #decades ago #step back #bigger picture #news corp


BuzzFeed News’ top editors resign as layoffs loom

The digital publisher finds there’s no avoiding the industry’s punishing economics To view the full story, click the title link. Continue reading at Crains New York

[ Crains New York | 2022-03-22 15:51:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #buzzfeed news #digital publisher


Brown Joins R&L as Senior Executive Editor of Religion

Veteran university press and religion publisher Richard Brown will join Rowman & Littlefield as senior executive editor of religion and his tasks include reviving the company's Sheed & Ward Catholic book imprint. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-03-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |