My Mistake: An Insider's Witty Memoir of Publishing, Editing, and Life in Literary New York - Softcover

Menaker, Daniel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0544334531 ISBN 13: 9780544334533

Publisher: Mariner Books, 2014

Synopsis

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice
 
“At the epicenter of literary New York, Menaker is an irreverent guide to the publishing world’s inner workings . . . His own journey, compelled by his self-knowledge and sense of humor, elevates this memoir into more than witty chatter.” — Chicago Tribune
 
“Impossible to resist.” — Jennifer Egan, author of A Visit from the Goon Squad
 
In these pages Daniel Menaker brings us a “ruefully funny insider’s tour of the publishing world” (Vogue.com). Haunted by a self-doubt sharpened by his role in his brother’s unexpected death, he offers wry, hilarious observations on publishing, child-rearing, parent-losing, and the writing life. But as time passes, we witness a moving, thoughtful meditation on years well lived, well read, and well spent. Full of mistakes, perhaps. But full of effort, full of accomplishment, full of life.
 
“Tender, smart and witty, this book is truly unputdownable.” — Real Simple
 
“Energetic and exhilarating  . . . [Menaker’s] clever, fast-paced prose makes you stop and think and wonder.” — New York Times Book Review
 
“At once jaunty and erudite . . . The writing simply shines.” — San Francisco Chronicle

About this title

About the Author

DANIEL MENAKER (1941- 2020) began his career as a fact checker at The New Yorker, where he became an editor and worked for twenty-six years. A former book editor, Menaker authored of six books and wrote for the New York Times, the Atlantic, Parents, Redbook, and many others.

From the Back Cover

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice
 
“At the epicenter of literary New York, Menaker is an irreverent guide to the publishing world’s inner workings . . . His own journey, compelled by his self-knowledge and sense of humor, elevates this memoir into more than witty chatter.” — Chicago Tribune
 
“Impossible to resist.” — Jennifer Egan, author of A Visit from the Goon Squad
 
In these pages Daniel Menaker brings us a “ruefully funny insider’s tour of the publishing world” (Vogue.com). Haunted by a self-doubt sharpened by his role in his brother’s unexpected death, he offers wry, hilarious observations on publishing, child-rearing, parent-losing, and the writing life. But as time passes, we witness a moving, thoughtful meditation on years well lived, well read, and well spent. Full of mistakes, perhaps. But full of effort, full of accomplishment, full of life.
 
“Tender, smart and witty, this book is truly unputdownable.” — Real Simple
 
“Energetic and exhilarating  . . . [Menaker’s] clever, fast-paced prose makes you stop and think and wonder.” — New York Times Book Review
 
“At once jaunty and erudite . . . The writing simply shines.” — San Francisco Chronicle
 
 
DANIEL MENAKER began his career as a fact checker at The New Yorker, where he became an editor and worked for twenty-six years. Formerly editor in chief of Random House, Menaker is the author of six books. He has also written for the New York Times, the Atlantic,Harper’s Magazine, and many other publications.
 
Author photograph © Katherine Bouton
MARINER
www.marinerbooks.com
$14.95
ISBN 978-0-544-33453-3
 
 

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

   However consciously or un-, The New Yorker, a kind of Jonestown of the literary/journalistic realm, encourages in its employees an ethos of superiority, essentialness, and disregard for fad and fashion. Shawn himself, in his words and demeanor, appears to disavow any self-importance. He wants to be taken as a quiet, modest man who puts the greatness of the institution he runs above all else. This faux-modest version of occupational vanity, in combination with native timidity, keeps very intelligent people in the same, often dead-end, jobs for years, simply because they can say, in this modestly quiet voice, that they work for The New Yorker. Great institutions, so long as they are small, will often (a) eventually take themselves too seriously and (b) try to camouflage their pride with self-effacement.
   Shawn always claims that The New Yorker does not and cannot, with integrity, try to attend to what a reader might want to read. We publish what we like, and hope that some people might want to read it too. This modest formulation of hauteur finds its best expression in a remark made by a Checker when the magazine finally breaks down and adds a real table of contents — as opposed to the almost microscopically small and cryptic listing that seemed on occasion to fly around and land obscurely in Goings On About Town. The real table of contents arrives shortly after I do, and the new feature has been kept a secret, and when we all get our First Run Copies on a Monday morning, a collective gasp of dismay goes up from the Checking Department. A colleague finally says, “This is just awful! How could we do such a thing.” Being green, I say, “Well, don’t you think it’s a good idea for readers to know what’s in the magazine?” She says, “It’s none of the readers’ business what’s in the magazine.”

Edition details

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0544334531
• ISBN 13: 9780544334533
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256