We here at the Independent love every piece we run. There are no winners or losers. But all kidding aside, here are November’s winners.
- Adriana Delgado’s interview with Gail Honeyman. The debut novelist talked about threading the needle between humor and tragedy, and how, if she could say something to her titular character in Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, it would be: “You matter.”
- John A. Farrell’s review of Bobby Kennedy: A Raging Spirit by Chris Matthews. “Within Matthews’ take on Robert Kennedy are veins of personal reminiscence, of what it was like to be a Catholic kid, attending Holy Cross, inspired by the New Frontier, joining the Peace Corps, in the tumultuous Sixties. But Matthews knows his stuff, and his man. He keeps the personal to a minimum and the spotlight on Kennedy, whose remarkable odyssey proved that the hopes of the era were realistic, and its dreams perhaps achievable if, tragically, never realized.”
- Kitty Kelley’s review of The Vanity Fair Diaries: 1983-1992 by Tina Brown. “Brown makes intriguing entries about New York’s new-money barons, particularly Donald Trump, who keeps a collection of Hitler’s speeches in his office. On February 23, 1990, she writes that Trump, in between wife number one and two, is ‘having a fling with a well-known New York socialite. If true, this could give Trump what money can’t buy — the silver edge of class.’”
- Michael Causey’s review of Lou Reed: A Life by Anthony DeCurtis. “Biographer and esteemed music critic Anthony DeCurtis knew Reed moderately well, yet does an admirable job maintaining objectivity, especially when confronting some of Reed’s episodes of cruelty, violence, and pettiness, while balancing those with positive qualities of quiet tenderness and mentorship he often showed, especially toward the end of his life.”
- “What Makes a Good Editor?” In this installment of her monthly column, Write Now, Jenny Yacovissi extolled the virtues of Peter Ginna’s book, What Editors Do, which explains the hidden — yet vital — role these folks play in the publishing process. [Editor’s note: You have no idea…]
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