A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2025 IN THEINDEPENDENT, GQ, NEW STATESMAN, FINANCIAL TIMESANDBBC CULTURE

‘Graydon Carter is a brilliant raconteur of his own life…it’s a real yarn of a lost world’ Marina Hyde, The Rest is Entertainment

When the Going Was Goodis Graydon Carter’s lively recounting of how he made his mark as one of society’s most talented editors and shapers of culture. Carter arrived in New York from Canada with little more than a suitcase, a failed literary magazine in his past and a keen sense of ambition. He landed a job atTime, went on to work atLife, co-foundedSpymagazine and editedThe New York Observerbefore catching the eye of Cond Nast chairman Si Newhouse, who tapped him to runVanity Fair.

With his inimitable voice and raconteur’s quip, Carter brings readers inside the drawing rooms of the great and not-always-good of America, Britain and Europe. He assembled one of the best-ever stables of writers and photographers under one roof, and here he re-creates in real time the steps he took to ensure thatVanity Fairduring his 25-year run cemented its place as the epicentre of art, culture, business and politics. Charming, candid and brimming with humour,When the Going Was Goodperfectly captures the last golden age of print magazines from the inside out.