Hailed on the front page of the New York Times Book Review as a "hugely detailed, engagingly written history," this is the first behind-the-scenes account of one of the greatest American success stories of this century. Front page reviews in major publications.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Heidenry offers an engaging, sweeping history of the Reader's Digest publishing empire and the couple who founded it.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
A lengthy, albeit consistently engrossing, take on the Reader's Digest and how it became one of the worlds's most influential periodicals. Drawing on a wealth of sources, Heidenry offers a well-rounded account of how Roy DeWitt Wallace (``Wally'' to intimates) built a farflung communications empire on an idea revived while he recovered from wounds suffered in WW I. Back in the States, the thirtysomething Wally came up with enough money to publish the first edition of Reader's Digest in February 1922. The monthly's format and content, almost immediate hits with middle America, have changed little since then. From its original venue in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, however, RD moved to Pleasantville, an N.Y.C. exurb. In later life, Wally, who had deliberately overstated the editorial role played by his wife, Lila Acheson, to enhance the fledgling journal's drawing power with women, downplayed her apparently negligible contributions. Whoever was responsible, the magazine proved to have mass appeal outside the US, and more than a dozen foreign editions were successfully launched. Though a frequent object of the literary establishment's scorn, RD prospered in good times and bad as the proprietors (who lured name writers with top pay) developed a flair for direct-mail promotion and a willingness to break with tradition, e.g., by opening their pages to advertisers in the mid-50's. RD has survived the death of its founders (both of whom lived into their 90s) in good style, remaining the keystone of a profitable media enterprise with new worlds to conquer in Eastern Europe and beyond. If Heidenry doesn't always endorse the odd amalgam of political conservatism, religious uplift, and double-entendre humor that has made Reader's Digest a perdurable institution, he offers an evenhanded appreciation of its socioeconomic attractions, as well as generally admiring but unsparing portraits of the principals and their key subordinates. As complete a wrap-up, then, as general readers could want on a commercial/cultural phenomenon. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic and detailed account of the Readers Digest.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Theirs Was The Kingdom: Lila and DeWitt Wallace & the Story of the Reader's Digest (Paperback)
John Heidenry's book is a rich portrayal of the man that became publisher of the best selling magazine in America. He also sets before the reader the rich history of our country.
1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Balderdash,
By
This review is from: Theirs Was the Kingdom: Lila and Dewitt Wallace and the Story of the Reader's Digest (Hardcover)
This is a piece of salacious nonsense, written with a leer by a man who should know better. Unless you want to read speculation about every Reader's Digest editor's mistress(es), save your money.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
When the mountain would not come to Lila Acheson Wallace, she went to the mountain. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
candle lighters, das beste, excerpt department, editorial ranks, calf starter, final condensation, million pennies, editorial formula, editorial mix, tional editions Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Reader's Digest, New York, High Winds, United States, Hobe Lewis, Condensed Books, Fred Thompson, Guest House, Paul Thompson, Lila Acheson Wallace, White House, Man of Few Words, State Department, Sudden Death, Latin America, Saturday Evening Post, Tony Oursler, The Editing Factory, Paul Palmer, The Presbyters of Pleasantville, Harry Wilcox, Cold War, Ken Payne, World War, The Talk Of The Town Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
When the mountain would not come to Lila Acheson Wallace, she went to the mountain. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
candle lighters, das beste, excerpt department, editorial ranks, calf starter, final condensation, million pennies, editorial formula, editorial mix, tional editions Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Reader's Digest, New York, High Winds, United States, Hobe Lewis, Condensed Books, Fred Thompson, Guest House, Paul Thompson, Lila Acheson Wallace, White House, Man of Few Words, State Department, Sudden Death, Latin America, Saturday Evening Post, Tony Oursler, The Editing Factory, Paul Palmer, The Presbyters of Pleasantville, Harry Wilcox, Cold War, Ken Payne, World War, The Talk Of The Town Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
12
books
cite this book:
See all 12 books citing this book
- Cold War Orientalism: Asia in the Middlebrow Imagination, 1945-1961 by Christina Klein in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Edward Lansdale's Cold War (Culture, Politics, and the Cold War) by Jonathan Nashel in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Dr. America: The Lives of Thomas A. Dooley, 1927-1961 (Culture, Politics, and the Cold War) by James Terence Fisher in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Invisible Giants: Fifty Americans Who Shaped the Nation but Missed the History Books by Mark C. Carnes in Back Matter
- Media in America: The Wilson Quarterly Reader (Woodrow Wilson Center Press) by Professor Douglas Gomery on page 64
See all 12 books citing this book
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