An editor with a sharp red pencil

Athill, Diana ~ Stet

When I selected this book I thought
I adored Diana Athill’s most recent book, Somewhere Towards the End, on her impressions of ageing and being firmly in the twilight of life (she’s 91) and wanted another dip into her worldliness and sharp expression.

50-word description
Diana Athill was born in 1917 and spent half a century in the book publishing business. The first half of the book explores her career, the publishing industry over the decades and its characters. The latter half sketches some of the more distinctive writers she worked with and their many talents and imperfections.

150-word review
How easy it would be to underestimate this book as a charming memoir penned by a keen-eyed old woman. It is all that and also contains a feast of wisdom lurking behind biting assessments of those who passed her desk.

Athill understates her professional achievements and business partnership with the “mean old bastard,” Andre Deutsch, and focuses her account on the no-nonsense pursuit of the interesting rather than external trappings of success. The book’s first section details Athill’s working life and the corporatisation of publishing. The second half’s essays on writers she “nannied” jars somewhat and could have been weaved into the main story. A highlight, though, is the account of her prickly association with VS Naipaul; I doubt she’s on his Christmas card list after her tart compilation of his myriad character defects.

Structural quibble aside, thankfully the editor switched roles and allowed her own expressive abilities to outdo many of her former clients’.

diana athill ~ stet

Found in
Bio/Autobio A

Borrowed
Nov 08

Author’s link:
Diana Athill’s writing room

Rating
Worthwhile

This is book 7 of the project.