From the pages of Vanity Fair to the red carpets of Hollywood, this dazzling memoir by editor Graydon Carter brings to life the golden age of magazines, when print was at its peak, and brilliantly immortalizes this watershed moment in American culture
In 1992, when Graydon Carter was offered the job of editor of Vanity Fair, he knew he faced an uphill battle – how to make the esteemed and long-established magazine his own. Not only was he confronted with staff loyal to the previous regime, but he arrived only a few years after launching Spy magazine, which gloried in skewering the celebrities and power brokers of New York City – the very people Vanity Fair venerated. But with the curiosity, fearlessness, and penchant for glamour and reinvention that would come to define his career in magazines, Carter endeared himself to his editors, contributors, and the many faces that would come to appear in Vanity Fair's pages, and went on to run the magazine with overwhelming success for the next two and a half decades.
Growing up in Ottawa, Carter constantly sought out books, magazines, and movies about New York. Instead of finishing college, he helped launch a literary magazine, The Canadian Review, and found his stride. Moving to New York in 1978, he secured a position at Time magazine, working alongside Walter Isaacson, Michiko Kakutani, and Frank Rich, but it wasn't long until he and his colleague Kurt Anderson came up with the idea for Spy – a magazine that fused reportage and satire, and immortalized the zeitgeist that was Manhattan in the 80s. His work eventually caught the eye of Conde Nast chairman Si Newhouse, who pulled him in to run Vanity Fair at the height of its powers, and fill the position vacated by Tina Brown.
Filled with colorful memories and intimate details, When the Going was Good is Graydon Carter's lively recounting of how he made his mark as one of the most talented editors in the business. In Si he found an unwavering champion, a loyal proprietor who gave Carter the freedom to thrive. Annie Leibovitz's photographs would come to define the look of the magazine, as would the annual Hollywood issue. Carter planted a flag with the Vanity Fair Oscar party – which he established early on during his tenure – and dialed up the coverage of stars, producers, directors and agents. With his inimitable voice and signature quip, he brings readers to lunches with Anna Wintour, a dinner for Princess Margaret, and film festivals spent on the yachts of media heavyweights. He dives deep into the impactful work of the writers he brought to the masthead, including Christopher Hitchens, Michael Lewis, and Bryan Burrough, and recreates in real time the steps he took to ensure Vanity Fair cemented its place as the epicenter of art, culture, and politics, even as digital media took hold. Charming, candid, and brimming with stories of the famous and fabulous, When the Going Was Good perfectly captures the golden age of print from the inside out. Graydon Carter is the founder of Air Mail. Before this, he was a staff writer for both Time and Life magazines. He co-created Spy, edited The New York Observer, and for twenty-five years was the editor of Vanity Fair. He has produced more than a dozen documentaries and one Broadway play. He lives in New York, not far from the Waverly Inn, and has five children.
