Customer Reviews

Max Perkins: Editor of Genius

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Max Perkins: Editor of Genius is one of the best non-fiction titles I've read in a long time, and will likely be one of the best books I'll ever read. Berg (with the help of his own editor) truly is a genius: he pulls us directly into the story, introducing us to Scribner's Max Perkins at the zenith of his editorial career, then plunges us into his first acquisition -- F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and Damned -- before taking us, methodically, through Perkins's life. An intrepid biographer, Berg tells us only what we need to know about Perkins's early life, getting to the good stuff: his discovery of Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe and his work with Ernest Hemingway. We also find out about Perkins's work with other remarkable authors, including Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (The Yearling), S.S. Van Dine (the Philo Vance mysteries), and Arthur Train, creator of the mythical DA Ephraim Tutt. I laughed out loud at the story about how many believed that Tutt existed after the publication of his "autobiograhpy," complete with photos.

We learn of Perkins's patient relationship with the frustrating Thomas Wolfe, a mammoth talent and physical specimen who could not contain his own enthusiasm. Berg suggests that, as Perkins discovered, Wolfe wasn't writing "books," he was writing one book, which would have encompassed thousands of pages if he had not died early -- a profound insight into the heart and soul of a dynamic author.

We learn much of Papa Hemingway as well, including some insights into the macho author's home life. Elements of Hemingway's unpublished fiction suggest that the bullfighting fan, fisherman, and big game hunter might have enjoyed switching gender roles in bed with one of his wives.

Fitzgerald comes off as one who excelled in being pathetic, a man who suffered desperately with his wife, Zelda, alcohol, and simply living large. Berg gives us a tender portrait of Perkins's greatest find.

As with all excellent biographies, Max Perkins: Editor of Genius examines only what made Perkins who he was: the editor of the twentieth century. Perkins preferred to sit on the sidelines, championing his authors. Often, he sits on the sidelines in this book as well, but this only makes sense: he was famous for his work with his more famous authors. It wasn't Max, it was his interaction with these great authors that made him all great.

As some reviewers have pointed out, Max would have enjoyed thsi book.

If you are an admirer of F.Scott Fitzgerald, Ring Lardner, Thomas Wolfe, Earnest Hemingway, Marjorie Rawlings; basically any significant American writer of fiction during the first half of this century--buy the book. Here's how I would put it: If those authors could send ONE, just one posthumous request for you to purchase a particular book, "Perkins: Editor of Genius" would be my sincerely expected choice. Why? Because he wasn't just the "editor of genius": he was their friend. Maybe in some cases like Mr. Wolfe's, the only REAL friend of a lifetime. Fitzgerald wrote in his last years, " Max, you are the only person who has never lost faith in me." Even after Scott Fitzgerald's too short existence, Max was a warrior for a reputation which he confidently predicted would survive the fads of that time. This is a study for those of us who can only regret never meeting him, a study in accepting the short-comings of others with understanding; and demanding the best from ourselves. Words are cheapened by their use in describing Max, because their cousins are seen so often where the object is so less deserving, but buy the book. Mr Berg paints a wonderous, living picture, whose thousand words I believe venerable Perkins would have approved--if somewhat sheepishly.

Max Perkins was the conductor of the most outstanding literary orchestra ever assembled. He orchestrated each players performance into a sound of America that still plays. The players were from all segments of our society, male, female, protestant, catholic, mid-west, south,east coast, loners, extroverts, introverts, warriors, lovers; a spectrum of background, all from whom Max Perkins could whittle out classic literature. His love of writing and writers was his primary concern; financial success of the book, while important, was not his ultimate priority. There were times he allowed writers to get books out of their system, which he believed might not be successful, because he knew that the writer had to get by that story before they could write their best work. Intuition yes, but absolute understanding of each writers strengths and weaknesses. He gave himself to writing and our country's literary legacy reached it's summit with his stable of writing talents. A.Scott Berg in his own way has written a classic biography about a classic editor who edited classic writers. It was the golden age of writing and editing, a time before television and sales completely dominated the art of language expression.

This is a wonderfully written book, very informative and inspiring for authors, editors, agents and anyone else involved or interested in publishing. Berg does a terrific and subtle job of painting these larger than life characters, allowing their own letters to speak for them. He shows remarkable restraint and good taste and yet has created a book that is enriching and very difficult to put down. Highly recommended!

I had a hardcover copy of this book for years, and I let it get away from me. When I found the paperback, I jumped on it and devoured it. What a wonderful friend and editor Perkins was! He had the unerring sense of knowing HOW a story (novels or biographies) should be well-told. A. Scott Berg seems to have followed his advice to the letter. I'm looking forward to reading Berg's other biographies.

I'm a Scott Berg fan, and I bought this book as a vehicle to learn about an important editor and his famous authors. It was what I expected from a Berg book, after reading "Lindbergh." It contains excellent research and writing and gives an objective telling, although a few too many details for my taste. Scott Berg is my role model as a biographer. What amazed me about the story was how much Max Perkins had to baby his famous writers. I gained respect for him, but not them. There didn't seem to be much happiness in any of these lives.

What greater praise than the fact that I have spent 2 full day and into the night reading this book about a wonderful person who was a friend and confident to so many wonderful writers. I have read biographies of Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Wolfe and I had a paperback on Perkins but it became mislaid. I have read so many of their books and now want read them again as this biography has whetted my appetite.All the wonderful letters that are printed tell so much about these revered writers and tell how much they needed their wonderful editor.Wonderful book!

Since a class I was taking required the reading of excerpts from this biography, I decided it might be a much better idea to read the entire book. By no means was that a wasted effort! This biography is very well written and opens up new vistas to readers of great fiction from the 20s and 30s.

Perkins was the editor for Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Thomas Wolfe. These are the three which get the bulk of print spent on them. You see that Perkins was much more than an editor and went to great lengths to help these writers discover as much of their potential as possible. He never wanted to credit for these and felt that the editor should always be hidden in the background.

Aside from the authors mentioned above, I found that Perkins also assisted authors like Bourjaily, Jones ("From Here to Eternity"), Rawlings ("The Yearling"), and Sherwood Anderson (although there was a bit of a falling out).

A. Scott Berg inserts a lot of information into the text, yet it is still very readable. Even in sections when I felt there was more Thomas Wolfe than needed, I still went through the book without wanting to put it down.

Even if you are not big into editing, just to hear a "behind-the-scenes" view of some of your favorite authors will make this book worthwhile to you.

Max Perkins was the great editor at Scribners who handled quite a few of the finest writers of the twentieth century, F. Scott Fitzgerad, Hemingway, and Thomas Wolfe being especially noteworthy (and dealt with at length in this biography). One might envy such a man with such a job, but Berg makes it clear that having to deal with the likes of these authors was like walking around with a huge millstone around Max's poor neck. His job was endless and thankless (Wolfe actually betrayed him). You see from the many letters quoted that many of them are blatant pleas for money. Saying that Perkins had to coddle some of these authors like children would be putting it mildly. Berg does an admirable job relaying Perkins's life and hard times. Recommended.

Scott Berg has written a wonderful biography on one of the most important men in American literature, Max Perkins. Berg's book is well-written and very entertaining. It is more than a biography of Perkins, it is also a biography of Hemingway, Scott Fiztgerald, and Thomas Wolfe, and a portrait of America during the first half of the 20th century. This is one of those books that I could go on and on about. It is a book that everyone should read.