I really hoped for more from this book. It drags and is often dull; it is repetitive and ableist; and it's less about Katharine White and her work than it is about the author being unable to let go of unnecessary quotes that she somehow feels are important but which really aren't relevant. Reading offers little depth in her presentation of White's life, and while she does at times try to take on issues like how working women handled parenting, for example, the writing tends to be a little superficial, offering anecdotes rather than analysis. I was hoping for a biography of White that really dug into her editing practices, discussing her influences and style, but instead we get not much more than statistics about what authors she accepted, and how often she accepted their work, and how she didn't accept. There's a missed opportunity in Reading's take on White and Langston Hughes: we've already learned that the New Yorker was racist in almost all of its practices; here, Reading could have provided a much deeper reading of who was reading Hughes and publishing him, and what pieces, and why, and why White and the New Yorker couldn't see his importance and potential, and how White dealt with race in other ways--there's so much here that could have been really illuminating about White and the New Yorker and her peers there and the publishing world as a whole, but I'll have to find that somewhere else. While Reading has said in an interview about the book that "the author-editor relationship, which is rarely studied, can be quite crucial to literary culture," but she doesn't really write about that; she writes about how White was a friend to her writers, and we learn how she helped them through divorces and gave them advances, but there's so little of the "here's how the first draft was, and here's what White changed, and why, and here's how the author responded" that the editor-author relationship is almost entirely lost. Also: could an editor please get Reading to stop using words like "crippled" and "bedridden", please? It's ableist as fuck.

THE WORLD SHE EDITED is a book for a particular audience. Literary types interested in THE NEW YORKER and its many famous contributors and in the works of Katharine and Andy (E. B.) White will find it an interesting read.

If you love shows like Gilmore Girls, The Bold Type, Nora Ephron, you'll love this book. it tells the story of Katherine Sergeant Angell White and how she created a plethora of opportunities for women writers over 36 years in her tenure. She was a trailblazer who left her mark on her industry and those that came after her.

Reading’s brilliant biography takes the reader through the life of the iconic but frequently forgotten first fiction editor of The New Yorker, Katharine S. White. The intricacy of this biography is first-rate and you finish the book having observed an in-depth portrait of a complex figure. This is an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to know more about the importance of women in twentieth-century literature. As someone currently researching The New Yorker, I loved seeing how Reading used the archives to find new insights into White’s career and legacy. This immersive biography is truly a work to be admired.

I thoroughly enjoyed this expansive, well-researched biography of one of my personal niche obsessions, the great Katharine S. White. Anyone like me who loves great stories of literary history, like the battle over Katharine's husband EB White's book Stuart. Little, will eat this up. Like any true nerd, my favorite part of this book was the extensive footnotes. I already have several of White's New Yorker articles on request through my university's interlibrary loan. Bravo to Amy Reading for highlighting this under-appreciated literary giant!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Mariner Books for an advance copy of this biography about an editor who was at the perfect place to mentor and foster many literary careers, as well as live a life that was uniquely her own.

If one believes the writer Hunter S. Thompson and his comic book doppelgänger Spider Jerusalem editors are the scum of the earth, one step below politicians and child murderers. Editors get in the way of the artist, changing the words, their meanings, and adding commas where commas shouldn't be. Though, without editors Thompson never would have published anything, as editors typed his copy, listened to his rantings, and put him in the seat to get the ideas down. Taking the work of others and making is better takes skill, tact and an ability to see not only the work, but to get that work to others. An editor is both parent, pal, pusher and a means to publication. A good editor mentors talent, and knows that something the talent isn't there yet, it just needs a little help. This talent was something that Katharine Sergeant Angell White had, one she brought to The New Yorker for almost forty years. In her time she worked with famed authors, but more importantly championed the works of women, who might have been lost in the boys club that was and is the literary world. As good an editor as she was White was probably best at editing her own life, cutting characters and changing points of view to hide things that might effect her narrative. The World She Edited: Katharine S. White at The New Yorker by Amy Reading is a look at this woman the life she created for herself, and those she helped along the way.

Katharine Sergeant, always Katharine never Kate nor Kay was born in Massachusetts, the third and last child, in 1892. Katharine's mother passed away when Katharine was young, leaving her to be raised by a distant father who gave her a love of flowers, and an aunt, who lived her life the way she wanted it. Katharine was a reader devouring anything around her, especially scary books or books she did not understand, calling them the books that meant the most to her while growing up. After college Katharine married early to Ernest Angell, a corporate attorney. With two children, money was soon a little short, as was their relationship. Ernest was having numerous affairs, and so was Katharine. A chance mention got Katharine a job at a magazine that was not doing well at the time, The New Yorker. Katharine charmed Harold Ross, the editor and founder, and though the magazine was losing money, Ross hired Katharine as an editor in charge of going through the slush piles. Katharine was so good that soon she was in charge of a few sections, as well as finding writers for the magazine. One of these was a young writer, E. B. White, who soon became more to Katharine. Divorcing Angell, White and Katharine married, spending the rest of their lives together. Katharine's time at the magazine was one of discovery mentoring authors, pushing established ones out of ruts, or to create something new, or just helping authors find themselves.

A very enjoyable and informative book about a woman who did much for the arts, and yet does not seem to get the praise or appreciation Katharine White deserves. This is a well written book about a woman, who loved writers, and editing, however this is not a hagiography. Reading points out a lot of troubling things in White's career, her lack of minority writers in the magazine. White's ability to write people out of her life without a thought, nor a look back. The writing is really quite good, as is the research, which must have been hard, as White had also no problem changing the record, or erasing uncomfortable reminders. Reading is also very good about the literary aspects, detailing changes in various works, discussing the relationship White had with writers, and the little things that White would do to help people.

A book that is not only a biography, but a look at the literary world of the mid-20th century. White was an amazing woman, who was dealt a rough hand, losing her mother early, health issues, bad choice in a first husband. However, Katharine White never gave up on herself, thinking she was worth it, and unlike many others, proved it in many ways. A great read, one perfect for fans of strong women, strong people, or people who enjoy well written books.