It’s been a decade or so since British journalists began to swamp New York’s magazine world. So now the memoirs are trickling in, most recently Toby Young’s How to Lose Friends and Alienate People. It’s a familiar Englishman–fails–in–New York tale – particularly to anyone who’s read Alexander Chancellor’s 1999 book Some Times in America. Below, what to read while you’re waiting for Tina to write her book.
Some Times in America
Why New York?
Tina Brown imported him to edit “The Talk of the Town.”
Can I buy you a drink?
“I generally drank too much …”
Professional faux pas
Turned in a “Talk” piece about his astonished discovery of a big Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.
Decline and fall
“Things were going badly at ‘The Talk of the Town’ because I couldn’t do the kind of column Tina wanted, and she didn’t want me to do the kind of column I could do.”
But on the last page, let’s be pals
“One can do one’s dreaming anywhere. But it wouldn’t be as vivid without my time at the New Yorker, and I will always be grateful to Tina for letting me have it.”
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
Why New York?
Graydon Carter imported him to write for Vanity Fair.
Can I buy you a drink?
“I was putting away the best part of a bottle of Scotch a day.”
Professional faux pas
While profiling a then tightly closeted Nathan Lane, bluntly asked him, “Are you gay?”
Decline and fall
” ‘I’m gonna have to take your name off the masthead… . What the hell happened?’ asked Graydon. ‘I gave you the opportunity of a lifetime and you fucked the dog.’ ”
But on the last page, let’s be pals
“Finally, I’d like to thank Graydon Carter… . Without Graydon this book would never have been written.”