Books on GIF #55 — 'Avid Reader' by Robert Gottlieb
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Hello everyone! This Sunday's book is 'Avid Reader' by Robert Gottlieb. Donna gave me this book as a Christmas gift last year because she thought Gottlieb, a legendary editor at Simon & Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf and The New Yorker, reminded her of me. And as I read his memoir, I was struck by several similarities between us. Both of us started reading when we were very young (my mother says I was reading at 2 years old). Both of us lucked into the first jobs of our professions and quickly moved up the ranks. We both resent authority, detest flying, 'need aloneness' and collect things (him: plastic handbags and Scotty dog memorabilia; me: Star Wars things). But perhaps most importantly we share the same philosophy for editing: The editor's job is to help the writer make their story the best it can be. It's about being a guide. Someone who knows what to take out, and what to leave in. It's not about ego or being the boss; as he says, the job 'is first, last, and always a service job.' Because:
Books on GIF #55 — 'Avid Reader' by Robert Gottlieb
Books on GIF #55 — 'Avid Reader' by Robert…
Books on GIF #55 — 'Avid Reader' by Robert Gottlieb
Hello everyone! This Sunday's book is 'Avid Reader' by Robert Gottlieb. Donna gave me this book as a Christmas gift last year because she thought Gottlieb, a legendary editor at Simon & Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf and The New Yorker, reminded her of me. And as I read his memoir, I was struck by several similarities between us. Both of us started reading when we were very young (my mother says I was reading at 2 years old). Both of us lucked into the first jobs of our professions and quickly moved up the ranks. We both resent authority, detest flying, 'need aloneness' and collect things (him: plastic handbags and Scotty dog memorabilia; me: Star Wars things). But perhaps most importantly we share the same philosophy for editing: The editor's job is to help the writer make their story the best it can be. It's about being a guide. Someone who knows what to take out, and what to leave in. It's not about ego or being the boss; as he says, the job 'is first, last, and always a service job.' Because: