Terry McDonell

I am not avant-garde or modern enough in my tastes to enjoy this. My reaction? Sordid, smutty, depressing, drivel. Is there a story there? Yes. It is a retelling of the history of the making of California highlighting the feet of clay of those who made it. It focuses on every negative, nasty thing that could be thought of in the lives of the early settlers. That it mirrors some of the actual behaviors, I have no doubt. Does it tell the whole story? No, not at all. It seems to derive pleasure in sneering at the events, and yes, it is fiction, but historical enough that it includes major places and players, although not directly.… (mere)

I really wanted to like this book. The insider stories of writers and editors is a great idea, but instead of feeling excited to learn the inner workings of an industry I have embraced (on a much smaller scale), this book stirred my frustration. Why?

Over his long and varied career, the author worked with hundred of writers, but this book is a boy's club with story after story of boorish behavior -- drinking, drugs, and too much Hunter S. Thompson (hasn't the cult of Hunter run its course?).

A few women are highlighted (as "beautiful" wives who put up with their "creative" spouses) but scant chapters are devoted to the great work of women writers, while nearly every chapter is underscored with the literary contributions, and oversized escapades, of men. Over decades of magazine editing, the author has no words for great female writers?

Was this book written in 1950? No, it was published this month, with rave reviews from, you guessed it, male writers.
… (mere)