Jan Eklund: Reading Vanity Fair was a party for life
Journalism before the Internet was a party for life – at least in the magazine world. Then you could read the monthly journal, pop and modern times. They lit up the happy and thoughtful 90s-the golden decade of the Swedish press-but all fell asleep around the turn of the millennium.
The combination of politics, culture, fashion and celebrities characterized the best. The look out to the world was obvious. The playfulness and the unexpected post a signature. The pens were given space and time.
Inspiration was taken from British Sunday newspapers and American magazines. In the United States, the press stayed alive a little longer. It only started to sway after the financial crisis in 2008, when the advertising revenue folded dramatically.
In the United States there are classic The New Yorker, New York Review of Books and Vanity Fair left, but only the former holds the style. Editor David Remnick performs a smart digital work when needed. His consistent criticism of the White House has gained momentum on the international edition as well.
Graydon Carter took over Vanity Fair in 1992 and stopped until 2017. One should not forget that the representative Tina Brown rattled the leader for him.
In the Memoaren « When the Going Was Good » he looks back on the golden decades of the magazine. It was just recently, you might think, but judging by the reviews it feels like a hundred years ago. Ah, the gigantic advances, the revealing publications, the lavish parties, the brilliant prospects.
Carter is not a nasty writer. The publisher has nevertheless hired the ghost writer James Fox, the one who wrote Keith Richard’s acclaimed autobiography.
In spite of internal pork for Hollywood and the usual star cult was Carter’s magazine ironic and quite radical. He regularly published reviews of the right turn of American politics after 9/11 and « the war against terrorism ». And from the start, Manhattan’s real estate Mogul Donald Trump was hedged.
It felt like it was serious – and commercial crafts of the best brand.
One of the first chroniclers Carter brought in was the author Christopher Hitchens. He later struck and supported the Iraq War, but guaranteed criticism and serious entertainment in each issue.
Graydon Carter’s book should probably be best enjoyed at the bar at a classic hotel. He writes: « You only realize it was a golden age when it’s gone ».
