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The cover of When the Going Was Good

When the Going Was Good

Graydon Carter, James Fox, 2025

A witty firsthand account of how Graydon Carter built distinctive magazines through clear purpose, fearless reporting, trusted teams, and an unwavering commitment to readers.

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10 parts, about 23 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • A long serving magazine editor's memoir of failing, finding a point of view, and running a glossy monthly in its prosperous years
  • Shows what editing really involves: fact checking, legal risk, saying no, and backing costly reporting against advertisers
  • Candid about losing lawsuits, hiring mistakes and damaged family life, not only about the famous parties

Who it is for

  • Journalists and editors building a publication
  • Founders launching a subscription media business
  • Readers curious how glossy magazines were actually made

What the summary covers

  1. A Secret at the Center of a Wedding2 min
  2. Learning by Failing3 min
  3. Spy Finds Its Point2 min
  4. Making Vanity Fair My Own3 min
  5. The Magazine Leaves the Page2 min
  6. Escape Velocity2 min
  7. Writers, Time, and Institutional Courage2 min
  8. Turning When the World Turns2 min
  9. Accuracy Includes Admitting Error2 min
  10. When the Going Was Good3 min

Recommended by

  • Gay TaleseAmerican journalist and author
    A tour de force—informative, insightful, droll, and delightful.
  • Larry DavidComedian and cocreator of Seinfeld
  • Christopher BuckleyAmerican novelist and satirist
    A page-turning, bighearted, self-knowing, anecdote-rich and often screechingly funny record of a life lived to the full.

About the authors

  • Graydon CarterFormer editor of Vanity Fair and cofounder of Spy magazine
    • Moved to the United States in 1978 and began at Time magazine as a writer trainee
    • Founded the humor magazine Spy in 1986 with Kurt Andersen and Thomas L. Phillips Jr.
    • Took over Vanity Fair in July 1992 and left in September 2017
  • James FoxBritish journalist, author of White Mischief and coauthor of Keith Richards's Life
    • Born 19 November 1945 in Washington, D.C.
    • Reported for London's Sunday Times and worked as a journalist in Africa
    • First book White Mischief recounts the 1941 Happy Valley murder case in Kenya
    • Credited as coauthor of Keith Richards's memoir Life

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