Sam Tanenhaus's appointment as editor of the New York Times Book Review on March 10 raised more hopes than hackles in the publishing industry. The jury's still out, however, on whether he can refashion it to draw more readers and reliably boost book sales—at least until the redesign is unveiled on October 3, and probably until he's been on the job for a year or so. But publishers say the incremental changes in the Review's pages this summer have been encouraging. That they're talking about the NYTBR with any animation is already a marked contrast with the past few years, when the industry settled into the uneasy consensus that the Book Review was too often missing the opportunity to prove that books really matter.
In particular, publishers are applauding the return of NYTBR covers featuring the opening paragraphs of the lead review, luring readers to turn immediately to the jump page. Though illustrated covers have spurred book sales in the past, a text-oriented treatment for a superlative review can really kick up the velocity, they say. So far, four such cover reviews have run. Of course, it's hard to pinpoint the sales effect of Larry McMurtry's July 4 tribute to Bill Clinton's My Life (Knopf) or Richard Posner's August 29 rebuttal to the 9/11 Commission Report (Norton), given the avalanche of coverage those books received. But Andrew Sullivan's tender and exuberant endorsement of Tony Hendra's Father Joe (Random) clearly helped itjump to #5 on the Times bestseller list after May 30. And Orhan Pamuk's Snow (Knopf) has returned to press several times since Margaret Atwood's impassioned case for its importance on August 15.
Some major houses are even rethinking the newsmaking possibilities of placement in the NYTBR, in the wake of recent headlines. At the end of June, McMurtry's pointed defense of Clinton's memoir drew sharp attention from a handful of columnists shortly after Michiko Kakutani eviscerated the book on the Times's front page. And in mid-August, New York Post's "Page Six" covered Tanenhaus's attempt to cool down the racy language in an excerpt from Tom Wolfe's November novel, I Am Charlotte Simmons (FSG). "It's clear that the Times Book Review is in a position to make news, and it's interesting to imagine what role it will play going forward," said Knopf executive v-p of publicity Paul Bogaards, referring to the new possibility of serialization there.
Turning Up The Volume
Tanenhaus's mission, he told PW in a recent interview in his unpretentious office at the Times, is for the Book Review to reflect and influence the cultural scene as it's unfolding, making it a must-read for anyone who wants keep up with books and ideas. So far, the most dramatic change he's introduced is in the timeliness and tone of the reviews, which often stems from volatile pairings of reviewers and authors in the case of political books. Rather than "going down the middle the way the Times historically has done," Tanenhaus said, his strategy is to solicit reviews from writers across the spectrum to present "what the debates and disagreements really sound like when articulate people are able to make them with no holds barred."
One of the first major shots over the bow was Slate founder Michael Kinsley's May 23 assault on the "schtick" he saw in conservative Times columnist David Brooks's sociological report On Paradise Drive (S&S). "People talked about that," said Ann Godoff, who publishes political books at Penguin Press but has not worked with either author. "It showed the NYTBR is not taking any prisoners. It was a negative review, but a lively read. Sam got a lot of points for that." Many publishers agreed that the pairings have been unpredictable and haven't suggested any partisan favoritism overall. But some expressed concern that the reviews are going too far—such as National Review senior editor Richard Brookhiser's declaration that New Yorker editorial director Hendrik Herzberg's "time has passed"—and that some serious political writers may suffer over the long term.
The Book Review's new vigor has led to a decidely more active letters column than under previous editor Chip McGrath, who wouldn't run letters if he didn't feel their grievances were justified, according to Tanenhaus. "There used to be weeks without a letters page. But now, it's almost a competition to get onto it," he said, noting that the section has expanded from two columns to three. Yet, Tanenhaus added, he makes a point of inviting authors who've received harsh treatment in the NYTBR to write reviews shortly afterward, "to let them know we value their contribution." That conciliatory gesture suggests that while his instincts were honed as an assistant editor of the Times Op-Ed page and a contributor to Vanity Fair, they've also been tempered by writing his own biography, Whittaker Chambers (Random).
Sitting opposite a life-size poster of Kurt Cobain that's perched on a three-foot-high drift of galleys, Tanenhaus also emphasized his commitment to mingling what he calls "high and low culture." "We're committed to the very serious, idea-based review and, combined with that, the more fun kind of commercial review about a mystery or mass market book—something that will connect with more of the diversity we see in books themselves," he said. While it's hard to imagine Jenna Jameson's How to Make Love Like a Porn Star (Regan Books) or "Tough Girl Fiction" getting a full page before Tanenhaus came on board, that's not enough to give the NYTBR credibility among pop culture mavens just yet. "He has to serve so many masters in publishing, he's never going to get the Book Review right for everyone," said Barnes & Noble fiction buyer Sessalee Hensley. "Some want it to be like the New York Review of Books, and others want mysteries on the cover. Some issues are absolutely brilliant, like the [June 13] music issue, where he had a songwriter contributing, but it can still be humdrum."
Will fiction lose ground in the new mix? Several publishers expressed a wait-and-see attitude. But others noted that Tanenhaus is clearly making an effort to review first novels. They were also encouraged by the June 27 cover devoted to four story collections, and a full-page "chronicle" of seven poetry books on Aug. 15. Putnam publishing director Dan Harvey was also heartened by the recent half-page reviews of Mark Mills's out-of-category mystery Amagansett, and Nick Sagan's science fiction novel Edenborn, which would probably not have appeared in previous years. B&N's Hensley agreed that this broad-based approach is better than the more literary one of past years, but isn't convinced the average reader has caught on to it yet.
Courting Publishers
The structural changes Tanenhaus is planning seem calculated to please publishers as well as to make the Review more reader-friendly. Among those soon to be unveiled is a new publishing column that will run alongside the weekly bestseller list, and a contributors page that will accommodate biographical information about selected reviewers, with adjacent ad space. The rest won't surprise close readers of the last dozen issues: more reported pieces; essays by public figures and publishing insiders; author dialogues; and "chronicles" of thematically related books written by a single reviewer, rather than the "In Brief" reviews, which will be dropped. The relaunch will also see the page count expand by 25%, allowing room for the new features without sacrificing review space, said Tanenhaus.
Overall, the new magazine-style format suggests an edge of competition with other cultural coverage at Times, including the daily Arts section (which will also unveil a new design on October 3) and especially the New York Times Magazine. "The Book Reviewand the Magazine are the two sections of the paper that give writers the kind of space we can," said Tanenhaus. "And it's not just about politics. Look at Daniel Mendelsohn's 4,000-word review of Colm Toibin's The Master [Scribner]. What we want our writers to know is that there is space here to get things said in the way they need to do it." Tanenhaus was unruffled that Mendelsohn's review didn't create much of a spike in sales of Toibin's book, he said, suggesting that he will reserve room for "a gorgeous piece of literary criticism" as well as reviews that make people want to buy a book.
Those hoping for a dramatic shift in the design of the Book Review that will help draw attention to its new direction may be disappointed. There will be more photos—including specially commissioned author portraits—and more sans serif type, but the result seems to reflect a series of adjustments rather than a back-to-the-drawing board overhaul. It's an open question to what degree this measured approach is a sign of Tanenhaus's deference to designer Steve Heller, who has been at the Book Review for 20 years. In any case, Tanenhaus emphasized that many of the editorial and design changes had been under discussion during McGrath's tenure, and that he deserved some of the credit for them as well.
Still, publishers seem willing to give Tanenhaus time to execute his vision. While their goodwill is a measure of the NYTBR's importance to the industry, it's also the result of Tanenhaus's considerable efforts to meet with them and solicit their feedback on his efforts, beginning at BEA and extending throughout the summer. "He's listening and responding and weighing our concerns. It's very collegial and helpful to have his interest in what we're up against as far as spending our resources there," said Putnam's Harvey, voicing a sentiment shared by others at the major houses. Independents, too, are noticing a new openness at the NYTBR. "We've had a sense of genuine connection with Sam," said Avalon Publishing Group CEO Charlie Winton. "He understands who we are and what we publish, and seems to have a good sense of the indie press community. That's all it really takes."
Publishers' enthusiasm has already lead to an incremental increase in the frequency of advertising by the NYTBR's major publishing accounts, according to ad director Jill Holzman. Though the redesign and expansion are the result of an "editorial investment in our cultural coverage that has been in the works for a while," she hopes it will also translate into a consistently higher level of ad support.
In the long run, of course, publishers' response to the Review is a subplot. The larger drama hinges on whether the Book Review can draw a vigorous new readership, perhaps best measured in increased subscribership and single-copy sales. While publishers' early reactions suggest that may happen, the full story remains to be written.
