Max Perkins: Editor of Genius

This was painful to read. Did Berg have to detail every single moment of Perkins existence? Akin to reading boring daily Facebook posts detailing someone's every move. I hope the movie is able to extract the good parts and edit it to something interesting.

I have always pictured editors as a necessary cog in the wheel of publishing. Having read a variety of self-edited (or sometimes even not edited at all!) books, I can tell you that they are vitally important to making a good story into a great or even, on occasion, a readable story. I have seen some really fantastic books that just needed a good, solid editor.

So when I saw this book come across my desk, it was, very much, something I wanted to read. How does one man influence the lives AND the writing of such amazing personalities in the field of literature? I mean these books that he edited are ALL on required reading for most high schools and colleges. And if you want to work in the field of literature at all, you can’t get away with not reading them. You must.

Reading about Max Perkins and his influence on these books and these writing legends was nothing short of fascinating. Hearing about how Hemingway handled a move from one publishing house just to work with Perkins, how Max eased and begged and coddled F. Scott Fitzgerald, but stood his ground at the same time. And the craziness of working with a genius like Wolfe…this was an adventure that sucked me in and had me hooked from line one.

My love of reading and literature carried me through some of the more tedious parts (It’s a long book – there were moments I got bogged down in some things. Not often- but a few times!) because I just couldn’t stop myself from wanting to know more.

Max Perkins was a man that should be a household name, but at the same time, he would hate anyone thinking that. It’s about the writers. They need to shine. He understood that his career was not for himself – it was for others.

If you are a student of literature in ANY WAY, pick up this book. If you want to be published, this is a must have on your shelf. And even if you’ve been published, this is one you’ll want to read.

Do not miss this book! Max Perkins was, indeed, an Editor of Genius and with this biography, we’re able to pull back the veil and get a glimpse into that brilliant, amazing and fabulous world.

This biography, by the masterful biographer, A. Scott Berg, is the best biography I have ever read. Ever. And I have read innumerable biographies, of everyone from film celebrities to historical figures and everything in between, but especially literary biographies. Maxwell Perkins was an editor of genius during the heyday of NY publishing. His roster of authors included, among others, Marjorie Kinan Rawlings, Thomas Wolfe, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. While exploring the life of the man himself, the book also shines a light into the lives of his authors, and particularly in the case of Fitzgerald and Hemingway, of their acquaintance. Filled with letters among the various parties, this biography comes springing to life. As Perkins led Wolfe from a towering pile of disorganized writing to several classic and timeless works, as he dealt with Fitzgerald's and Hemingway's demons, he gently, and gentlemanly, enabled these authors' genius to flower. This biography of Perkins' own trials and tribulations, his family life, and the window into the world of publishing, when the writing was the thing, is unbeatable. If you love books and publishing and want to know how important an editor can be in the process of birthing a book, you simply cannot miss this!

I reread this biography after several years and was pleased to find that it was just as great as it was the first time I read it. Berg is one of America's premier biographers and this is one of his finest efforts. The book focuses on editor Max Perkins' complex relationships with the big three of American fiction--F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Thomas Wolfe and there is a strong hint throughout Berg's work that Perkins really made each one of them, especially Wolfe.

Berg pictures all three writers as emotional disasters, enormously talented but highly immature men. The real fun of the book is Berg's ability to capture a golden age of American letters, when editors nurtured writers, wrote them personal letters of encouragement, painstakingly edited their work, made suggestions over lunch and everybody drank to excess. What a time! I would highly recommend this well written and well researched volume to students of American literary history as well as anyone interested in the art of biography

Brilliant. Details about how Perkins helped so many authors like Ring Lardner and Douglas Southall Freeman. They didn't just write their books. With his help they focused on new angles and wrote great books

Looking at his name afresh, I just realized a possible reason why the author has chosen both his own authorial spelling and his subject: a love for F. Scott Fitzgerald. Yes, the book is about Fitzgerald’s editor, Maxwell Perkins, but the creator of "The Great Gatsby" looms large in these pages. So, too, do Hemingway and Thomas Wolfe, but FSF, after Perkins himself, is this book’s strongest character. Or could that be my own prejudice, since I admire him above all the other writers mentioned therein? It really doesn’t matter, since, after all, the book is very much about his editor. We get a scrupulously detailed portrait of Perkins, both as man and craftsman, and he does not come up short in either regard. In fact, since I was reading this concurrently with "Bleak House," I found myself disbelieving — much as I was with Esther Summerson — that anybody could be this good. His hero is tireless, brave, self-effacing, and, of course, brilliant. Single-handedly, or so it seems, he saves Wolfe from both despair and profligacy; Hemingway from both self-doubt and hubris; and Fitzgerald from both writer’s block and insolvency. All this while attending to such lesser lights (with less crippling flaws) as Marjorie Rawlings, Taylor Caldwell, and S. S. Van Dine. Juggle this with a difficult wife and a chaste mistress, and you’ve got a secular martyr on your hands. But Berg is not a novelist, so I will trust that the sterling character he sets forth here is rooted in reality. And, by the way, I enjoyed the book immensely.

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 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.

Maxell Perkins was not only the editor behind the novels of Thomas Wolfe, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Ernest Hemingway, but also each's best friend. Prefering to stay in the background, Perkins brought an infallible sense of structure to each project. He also had the patience of Job, which was necessary when dealing with Wolfe's endless writing, Fitzgerald's endless drinking, and Hemingway's endless bravado. But, Perkins work with the three literary giants was only the tip of the iceberg. He also brought to the fore James Jones's FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, Rawling's THE YEARLING, Taylor Caldwell's DYNASTY OF DEATH and many others. A very readable and informative biography--and as Perkins would have liked it--wonderfully written by A. Scott Berg.

It was, for many, the absolute glory days of American letters. A time when names like Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Wolfe were accorded the fame and following of the biggest rock stars of today. The driving force behind these authors was a quiet, unassuming New Englander by the name of Max Perkins. Perkins was the man behind the scenes, or pages, if you will; the editor who helped discover, inspire and guide some of the most notable stories and storytellers of any age. And yet Perkins himself shunned the spotlight.

But in this inspiring biography author A. Scott Berg points the spotlight squarely where it ought to be. Deftly incorporating facts and timelines with personal letters between Perkins and his authors, Berg gives great insight not only into the minds of these writers but also to the collaborative creative effort needed to create enduring works of art.

Of F. Scott Fitgerald Perkins said : "Scott was especially sensitive to criticism. He could accept it, but as his editor you had to be sure of everything you suggested."

And of Hemingway's tendency to overcorrect his own writing: "Before an author destroys the natural qualities of his writing - that's when an editor has to step in. But not a moment sooner."

For any fan of writing and literary history, this well-told story should be at the top of your reading list.

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.

This has had an honored place on my bookshelf for many years. I reread it now and then. It is my favorite work of nonfiction American literature, and deserves the prizes it has received. It never fails to inspire me, not only as an author, but as a book editor.

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.

My fantasy of the publisher who would send my thriller soaring is made manifest in this most absorbing bio. I would recommend it to anyone who loves f.scott Fitzgerald Thomas Wolfe and Ernest Hemingway

Much appreciated research went into this book. Reading it makes me want to read the books Perkins shepherded through. Seems he was good at handholding these " artistic" types! This book, however, needed a good editor, itself!

I found this classic in the library the other day and what a treat it was to read. To read--but not to accept. It's a sad but inexorable fact that editors today are more salesmen and paper pushers than shapers of authors. What comes through in Berg's fine biography is that writers like Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolf would likely fall through the cracks if they toiled at the desk now. Although Perkins is best known for his troika (the first two authors mentioned) and Hemingway, I had not known that he was largely responsible for Douglas Southhall Freeman writing his multi-volume history of Robert E. Lee. This superb work is as disciplined and fascinating as its subject.

The book is as complete, and brilliantly written, as it could possibly be, and, I believe, captures the mind and heart of Max Perkins, along with the authors under Perkins' watchful eye. Scott Berg did an astounding job of it, and I suspect it didn't happen over a few months. Other reviews, (save for one long one and critical one here, that reveal the ending of the book and should be edited to remove that section), do a grand job of reviewing the book.

Loved every aspect of this very informative and entertaining book. I learned SO much about long-loved authors. I believe Max Perkins could have made me a successful author with his brilliance. Hah! That's a stretch, but he was genius in his technique.

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!

Berg's work rallies all aspiring authors to the cause of sainthood for Max Perkins...maybe even deification. He tracks Perkins's career vis-a-vis the literary careers of important 20th century American authors. Gives a peek at the largely ignored man behind the curtain...and stands as a monument to his contributions to our literary heritage. A must read for anyone who enjoys books.