According to Gay Talese, in terms of boozing, Mad Men has nothing on what journalists used to be up to. "I couldn't believe that this was the journalism that abounded in my time, and that alcohol was part of it," he said, explaining a memory from the Times. "Some of those re-write men, some of them were so drunk. One time I saw a man whose head fell on his typewriter. This was at the center of the New York Times! He was just out, out from drinking. He had a bottle in his drawer." We believe the story. The expression of mortification on Talese's face? Not as much. [BigThink via Gawker]

Related: An Evening in the Nude With Gay Talese [NYM]