Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Vanity Fair's March Issue is Great

I used to work in the magazine business and I still receive a passel of subscriptions from Conde Nast. I have been watching as successful magazine's have become smaller and smaller due to lack of advertising. It is sad and I suspect we are going to see some titles disappear in the near future. I just hope it's not any of the good one's like Vanity Fair.

Vanity Fair was originally published in the United States in 1914. It celebrated the lives of the rich and famous. During the depression years a magazine devoted to such frivolous topics did not do well and the magazine finally closed it's doors in 1936 just 7 years after the stock market crash. Then in 1984 the magazine was resurrected and once again focused on the rich and famous in the era of Reagan.

The success of this magazine, in my opinion, lies not completely within its subject matter but with its plethora of gifted writers and photographers. Annie Leibovitz is an icon in her field of photography and in this issue she takes some great ones of our new President and his cabinet (including an unfortunate one of Tom Daschle.)

My favorite stories in the March issue are "Glamour Begins at Home" by Matt Tyrnauer and "Children of Paradise" by Todd S Purdum. "Glamour" is about architect and interior decorator John Woolf who practiced in Hollywood in the 40's, 50's, and 60's. It delves respectfully into the unique relationship John had with his partner, lover and eventual adopted son. The story has all the glitter of that period and includes wonderful pictures of some of the homes he built.

"Children" is similar in that it is about the older Hollywood that no longer exists. Purdum interviews some of the children growing up in Beverly Hills during the 40's, 50's, and 60's to find out how it was then. He describes a more innocent time where your every move wasn't monitored by a pack of paparazzi. Not that it made all of their lives perfect. Purdum also talks about the troubled families like the Crawfords (i.e. coat hanger girl), and the Crosbys.

The writer also reminded me of a great book that I read as a young woman called "Haywire" by Brooke Hayward. She is the daughter of Leland Hayward and actress Margaret Sullavan and describes in intimate detail the tragedy of her families life. Now that Vanity Fair has brought all of this up for me I've decided I must read it again. The book would be a great read for anybody interested in this period in Hollywood.

1 comment:

  1. I must get this issue! I used to subscribe, until I found I didn't have time to do justice to the long articles (take VF and New Yorker and just try to squeeze books in there, too!). But I always love the Hollywood issue and the article about the children growing up there, especially, sounds wonderful.

    I, too, read Haywire -- very good, I thought, though I haven't read it for years. And I'm with you -- keep Vanity Fair -- too many magazines are drifting slowly away.

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