About Town: The New Yorker And The World It Made

Oddly enough, I've never been a reader of The New Yorker. I've been aware of the magazine since my teens and have read references to it quite often, but I've never sat down and actually read through a single issue. So it was surprising that I enjoyed this book so much--or maybe not surprising. Even in my teens, I read James Thurber's books with glee. I've loved E.B. White since my third-grade teacher read Charlotte's Web to our class. I am familiar with the writers and cartoonists of The New Yorker the way I am familiar with classical music. It has always been in the background of my life and I've heard it, but often haven't paid attention to it.

Yagoda gained access to the archives of The New Yorker when they were donated to the New show more York Public Library. He recognized a good story when he saw it. He covers the events of the magazine from its beginnings with the legendary editor Harold Ross until the late 1990s. He goes into fascinating descriptions of the people involved in the magazine and how their personalities and quirks shaped it. To me, the book was as engrossing as a good novel. For decades, I've looked at many of its writers as mythical figures. It was humbling and somehow heartening to find that they were human after all.

Now I need to find his book on Will Rogers. show less

Fascinating book of one of the few magazines that's still around from my childhood. Yagoda did a great deal of research and certainly captures the magazine at least during the 20th century. It is a bit dated now, but the history of how a magazine succeeded by publishing such earth-shaking features as Hiroshima and Silent Spring, and sponsored Thurber and White is inspiring. A must for anyone interested in the intellectual life of the U.S. in the 20th century or in the history of media.

I love this book. Yagoda says he was literally the first person in line to see the recently opened New Yorker archives, so he had access to information that no one before him was able to use. This is the biography of a magazine: it's comprehensive and it's a huge read. Yagoda laces the book with lots of quotations, anecdotes, and photos.

Wonderful history of my favourite magazine. Equal parts history and anecdotes, with a real feel for what The New Yorker is, and what it represents.