Another Life: A Memoir of Other People

by Michael Korda

Hardcover, 1999

Call number

813.5 KORDA

Publication

Random House (1999), Edition: 1st, 530 pages

Description

From world leaders to Mafia dons, from Hollywood stars to the literary world's most eccentric writers, the notable and notorious alike have entrusted their life's work to Simon & Schuster's preeminent editor, Michael Korda. In this masterful memoir, Korda reveals the unforgettable cast of characters and outrageous anecdotes behind four decades of blockbuster publishing, bringing us face-to-face with dozens of larger-than-life figures: Richard Nixon, who maintained his "presidential" persona long after his public life was over; Joan Crawford, whose autobiography reflected a life she would have liked to have lived but did not; Joseph Bonanno, the retired Mafia don who'd do anything to keep from being killed by the reviewers. And in a revelatory account that reads as compulsively as fiction, Another Life paints a vivid picture of publishing's glitterati, including Jacqueline Susann, who liberated women's fiction--and terrorized a publishing house, and Tennessee Williams, who nourished his genius on four-course vodka lunches. A veritable Who's Who of stage, screen, and letters, Another Life is the deft interweaving of publishing at it most fascinating--and storytelling at its finest.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Aberjhani
In ANOTHER LIFE, Korda provides us with a precisely rendered account of publishing and authorship in the days before self-publishing and the extremes of marketing hype came to exert their formidable influences on the industry. Having written bestsellers of his own (such as POWER!) and worked with
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Simon and Schuster as an editor for some of the most celebrated names in U.S. literature, Korda was particularly well-positioned to write this “Memoir of Other People.” Not only is it one of the better books that an aspiring writer can read to learn about the mechanics and history of publishing, it is also one of the most entertaining with profiles of such literary and political icons as Truman Capote, Jacqueline Susann, Jesse Jackson, Ronald Reagan, Tennessee Williams, Harold Robbins, Larry McMurtry, Joan Crawford, and many others.


Aberjhani
Author of VISIONS OF A SKYLARK DRESSED IN BLACK
And ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE
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LibraryThing member SeriousGrace
Michael Korda, through his position at Simon and Schuster, was able to come in contact with loads of notable and eventually, famous people. The cover of Another Life boasts of those notables: Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Larry McMurtry...the list goes on and on.
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But, fear not. Korda does the sensible thing and starts from the beginning, explaining his own rise in the world of publishing to editor in chief. The backbone of Another Life is the publishing industry itself; delving into the strange and often fickle elements that determine a bestselling author.

As an aside, before the age of the internet and Google the private lives of writers were not as well known. Their deep dark secrets could be kept as closeted as they wanted, as long as they behaved themselves. The over-the-top personality of Jacqueline Susann was not in the forefront of my mind when her bestseller, Valley of the Dolls was all the rage. Now I want to reread Susann knowing what I know now. In fact, it would be interesting to go back and read the books of everyone Korda has dished about in Another Life.
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LibraryThing member bookscentlover
enjoyable read, very. learned something about publishing and enjoyed meeting the characters.

Pages

530

ISBN

0679456597 / 9780679456599
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