Books

Graydon Carter
When the Going Was Good

Graydon Carter is part of a power list of editors from a bygone golden era of print, most famously Vanity Fair. His autobiography, When the Going Was Good: An Editor’s Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines chronicles Carter’s rise from middle-class suburban Canadian roots to one of those rarefied characters who define a certain brand of New York – much like his good friend Fran Lebowitz, one of many namechecks throughout the book. Carter paints an insider’s picture of the early ’80s to the 2000s – a scene of impeccable style, journalistic scoops, bottomless expense accounts and white men living their best lives.

The book opens with Carter boarding a plane back from his honeymoon during the lead-up to Vanity Fair’s historic outing of Deep Throat, the anonymous source in the Watergate scandal – a coup for any respected news outlet, let alone a lifestyle glossy.

Carter’s reverence for good stories and for those who write them was one of the hallmarks of his career. He traces his trajectory from a college paper in Canada, to lucking into TIME, launching Spy magazine, a brief stint at The New York Observer and a clever marketing play that got the attention of Si Newhouse and ultimately landed him at Vanity Fair. Journalistic brilliance, grand exposés and Hollywood glamour underpinned his 25-year tenure at the magazine, from Dominick Dunne’s coverage of the O. J. Simpson trial to the iconic Vanity Fair Oscar party, where Adrien Brody tried to steal a lamp. It’s an era hard to reconcile with today’s content marketplace – a flagship writer at his publication made upwards of US$150,000 per story.

Bryan Burrough, who worked for Carter, notes that “the book can feel a little Canadian, a bit nice”. Carter’s collegial attitude makes the fun he pokes at some people more incisive, as when he mocks Anna Wintour for wearing sunglasses to a high-school fashion show. Insulting someone while not coming off as mean is an art. Particularly fun chapters cover his Spy days, the satirical magazine he founded in 1986 with Kurt Andersen. He recounts running the place on barter agreements for food and dental services, building a cult status through intrigue and offence.

The book ends with tips on how to live a good life: double-sided name cards on tables, wishing people well and never inviting a Kardashian to a party. When asked recently what he thought of the current Vanity Fair, Carter said he hasn’t seen it, as his successor, Radhika Jones, then editor, removed him from the comp list. Her response was that they’d “be happy to re-up his digital access!” A bygone era indeed.

Grove Press, 432pp, $36.99

This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on June 21, 2025 as "When the Going Was Good".

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