When the Going Was Good: An Editor's Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines

Analyze the relationship between Carter’s life story and The Evolution of Print Journalism in the Digital Era. How do the two relate? What role do Carter’s vocational decisions and his distinct outlook on life play in his approach to the publishing industry?

Carter puts a heavy emphasis on his proximity to wealth and celebrity throughout the memoir. Craft an argumentative essay that explores the significance of Carter’s relationship to money and power. How does Carter’s involvement in the New York magazine world and in Hollywood relate to the American Dream?

Donald Trump is a recurring figure in Carter’s story. Analyze Trump’s role in Carter’s personal account and vocational trajectory. What role does Carter believe he had in Trump’s reputation and career, and why? How do Carter’s anecdotes about Trump relate to Trump’s 2016 and 2024 presidential terms?

Craft a critical essay that examines the role of Carter’s relationships to his success. Identify individuals who complicated and/or motivated Carter and analyze their influence over him as a person and an editor. Consider how Carter’s inclusion of these relationships relates to his beliefs about personal connections.

Analyze Carter’s use of humor throughout the memoir. What narrative, tonal, and/or thematic resonance does humor create? How would the memoir differ without this formal device?

Write an argumentative essay that supports or refutes the following claim: Under Carter, Vanity Fair controlled the political and cultural narrative of the late 1990s and early aughts. Consider the sorts of pieces Carter featured in his issues and how his readership responded to them?

Compare and contrast Carter’s public and private personas. How does Carter represent himself in the publishing world versus in his familial sphere? Are these personas at odds? How would Carter’s memoir differ without his references to his family, marriages, and home?

Choose a figurehead from another vocational sphere whose work coincided with Carter’s in the late 20th and early 21st century. Compare and contrast your chosen figure’s cultural influence with Carter’s cultural influence. Who made more impactful changes? Who had more ethical practices?