When the Going Was Good

An Editor's Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines

De: Graydon Carter, James Fox - contributor

Narrado por: Graydon Carter

An Instant New York Times Bestseller

From the pages of Vanity Fair to the red carpets of Hollywood, editor Graydon Carter’s memoir revives the glamorous heyday of print magazines when they were at the vanguard of American culture

When Graydon Carter was offered the editorship of Vanity Fair in 1992, he knew he faced an uphill battle—how to make the esteemed and long-established magazine his own. Not only was he confronted with a staff that he perceived to be loyal to the previous regime, but he arrived only a few years after launching Spy magazine, which gloried in skewering the celebrated and powerful—the very people Vanity Fair venerated. With curiosity, fearlessness, and a love of recent history and glamour that would come to define his storied career in magazines, Carter succeeded in endearing himself to his editors, contributors, and readers, as well as as well as those who would grace the pages of Vanity Fair. He went on to run the magazine with overwhelming success for the next two and a half decades.

Filled with colorful memories and intimate details, When the Going Was Good is Graydon Carter’s lively recounting of how he made his mark as one of the most talented editors in the business. Moving to New York from Canada, he worked at Time, Life, The New York Observer, and Spy, before catching the eye of Condé Nast chairman Si Newhouse, who pulled him in to run Vanity Fair. In Newhouse he found an unwavering champion, a loyal proprietor who gave Carter the editorial and financial freedom to thrive. Annie Leibovitz’s photographs would come to define the look of the magazine, as would the “New Establishment” and annual Hollywood issues. Carter further planted a flag in Los Angeles with the legendary Vanity Fair Oscar party.

With his inimitable voice and signature quip, he brings listeners to lunches and dinners with the great and good of America, Britain, and Europe. He assembled one of the most formidable stables of writers and photographers under one roof, and here he re-creates in real time the steps he took to ensure Vanity Fair cemented its place as the epicenter of art, culture, business, and politics, even as digital media took hold. Charming, candid, and brimming with stories, When the Going Was Good perfectly captures the last golden age of print magazines from the inside out.

©2025 Graydon Carter (P)2025 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Yes, of course there’s tea—or dish, as the old folks say. This is Graydon, after all. Deep, deep dish . . . Waltzing, stumbling, dining, wining and twerking through When the Going Was Good, Graydon Carter’s memoir of his editorial glory days astride the New York Observer, Spy and Vanity Fair, are witty people doing anecdotal things.”—The Washington Post

“Carter, a former editor of Spy, the New York Observer, and Vanity Fair, has been held up over the years as a force of style, both in his personal taste and in his expansive vision of creative work, which grew from his editorial experiences during a prosperous and thrilling era in American magazines. This winsome memoir is a recounting of that period, brisk, bright, and full of well-told anecdotes about celebrities, artists, and other power players in Carter’s orbit.”—The New Yorker

“I quickly . . . consumed it. The journalism stories and the character analysis, as Elizabeth Hardwick liked to call gossip, are first-rate.”—Dwight Garner, New York Times Book Review

Vanity Fair days

Great stories. Food and friends. Not a diverse group though. A solid run of stories from the publishing world

Delicious Dish From The Peak Era Of Glossy Maga

Observing Graydon Carter from a distance during his phenomenal quarter century run as Editor of Vanity Fair magazine he seemed distant and somewhat annoying. But his memoir deliciously dishes his fantastic tenure at the top of one of the publishing history’s great magazine successes up until the Internet era when a magazine rich in content and rich in success hit a wall. Carter finally comes out of his cone of silence to provide insights into his amazing role and colorful character as a hit journalist happy to dish on everybody of note, except himself.
Carter started life as a kid from Canada and came south to join Time Magazine when it too was a monster success, and to help foster Spy Magazine when it was fun but not a big money maker. Then he took over the Editorship of Vanity Fair from Tina Brown when she escaped to the New Yorker. At first he had to battle to survive,, but within a few years he put his touch on the magazine in an era ad pages went for six figures, writers were paid big bucks, sent worldwide to find stories, and Vanity Fair became a powerful phenom in American culture, and especially in Hollywood. Carter brought a smart mix of intelligence, savvy ideas, an ability to handle talent, and a taste for the good life that he happily shared with his team, backers and even advertisers.
Carter was lavish in his assignments for an amazing group of writers he nurtured including Michael Lewis, Maureen Orth and Mark Bowden. It was the end of an era when writer/reporters could spend months, even years, tracking down stories all over the glove, for fees now beyond what any publication would pay today. He also tells the story of how vanity Fair came to host the most star studded Oscar party each year.
Carter goes through the many amazing stories he was involved with, some thousands of words long, and the accomplishments from exposing the Watergate scandal source “Deep Throat” to coverage of the O.J Simpson trial and much more.
Around 2008, with the financial crunch and rise of the Internet and social media, the golden age of glossy magazines came to an end and so did his tenure. The days when there was unlimited money and he had a free reign meant it was time for him to move on.
As a journalist I found this a fascinating story and came away admiring him and his accomplishments much more than I had watching from the outside over the years.
What vanity Fair did in his ear and what he accomplished can never happen again but this was a great telling of an incredible story and a history well worth a listen.

Insight that as we work at what we love changes occur and bypass us

Didn’t like many lists of famous glamorous people and places . Distracted from story but reinforced his focus on his own success

An Editor's Fulfilling Life

Graydon Carter's story of his life as an editor was like a wonderful visit with a friend.

Juicy NYC media history

Inside from ultimate insider. Wit carries the day. You can start reading when he arrives in New York.

very well written-

loved the writing and the journey- I didn’t know anything about the Author so it was a very interesting read-

Great chronicle of a now bygone era

Love that author read this himself, so that emphasis was put where he wanted it.
This was a fun & fascinating look into the publishing process and components of major magazines like vanity fair, which I never missed an issue.
Also Spy— oh what sorrow & weeping when Spy quit its publication. Author doesn’t spend enough time on Spy, but maybe cos they were young & hit out at the powerful who he later rubbed shoulders with (he brings up some still felt stung by something in it, sometimes as little as a reference to height, or small hands…). It was a LOL mag that we all looked forward to. It wasn’t often wrong in its assessments. It’s still missed.
Loved hearing about the authors & artists through the years. What a deep pool of talent. Plus bits of gossip thrown in.
A life well lived, Mr Carter. Kudos on a terrific read.

Luck and judgement

As an avid reader of Vanity Fair from the early 2000s until a couple of months after Graydon’s departure (I couldn’t keep on…) this book brought to life everything I imagined about a golden age and a golden editor. As a genuine lover, though only visitor, of New York this book reminded me why and validated my love.
The best bit though is listening to Graydon narrate his own story.

Fantastic glimpse of the time and people of the day.

Keith McNally recommended it, so I picked it up. Great book. NYC was this era seems very interesting.

His kindness

I loved this book. Its truth, lack of attitude and savvy got Graydon Carter to the top. We met him on Harbor Island with our friends, the late Richard Story and his wife Jennifer and he was lovely. He also willingly made reservations repeatedly at Waverly. This book is about optimism and gut instincts and values; about a golden age in NY magazine magical times.