The Glossy Years: Magazines, Museums and Selective Memoirs

(Paperback)

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Description

A gossipy, scandalous and riveting memoir from the chairman of Conde Nast Britain Over his thirty-year career at Conde Nast, Nicholas Coleridge has witnessed it all. From the anxieties of the Princess of Wales to the blazing fury of Mohamed Al-Fayed, his story is also the story of the people who populate the glamorous world of glossy magazines. With relish and astonishing candour, he offers the inside scoop on Tina Brown and Anna Wintour, David Bowie and Philip Green, Kate Moss and Beyonce and a surreal weekend away with Bob Geldof and William Hague. The Glossy Years also provides perceptive insight into the changing and treacherous worlds of fashion, journalism, museums and a whole sweep of British society. This is a rich, honest, witty and very personal memoir of a life splendidly lived.

Reviews

Coleridge is a witty writer . . . reading this book is like sitting next to a sharp but generous-hearted raconteur at dinner * Mail on Sunday *
Has bounding vitality, glorious zest and and an uplifting generosity of spirit. It is always playful, sometimes hilarious - but above all it is wise * Richard Davenport-Hines, Literary Review *
In these dark days of everlasting Brexit, Nicholas Coleridge's sparkling memoir is a welcome reminder that all is not gloom and doom. Witty, nimble and engaging, it is wonderfully entertaining and a marvellous slice of social history * Jane Ridley, Spectator *
A deliciously moreish memoir of the author's glittering career in magazine publishing. Like having a really good gossip over a glass of fizz with Evelyn Waugh. * Allison Pearson, Sunday Telegraph *

Tittle-tattle, tiffs and titanic egos, this book has them all. A hugely entertaining read by the ultimate insider

* A Sunday Times best memoir of 2019 *
Forthright, witty and gossipy . . . a passion for glossy magazines shines through this effervescent memoir * Sunday Express *
A Waugh-like whirlwind of eccentric characters, lavish parties and even a spell in a Sri Lankan jail. It was funny enough to excuse all the name-dropping * Evening Standard, Books of the Year *
I truly think this is a brilliant book. laughed almost continuously * Charles Moore, The Spectator *
Beady and slyly funny, my favourite bit concerns punctuation in the late Betty Kenward's society column. It's that kind of book * India Knight, Sunday Times *
Gloriously funny, affectionate and well-written, his ear for how other people speak is mischievously spot-on and his optimism is infectious * Daily Mail, Memoirs of the Year *
Worth every penny for names dropped, inside stories, expertise in how that world worked and, endearingly, how his happy marriage and family have too * Susan Hill, Spectator *
The most entertaining book of the year * Sunday Times *
An entertaining whirlwind * Evening Standard *
Gentle, jolly . . . Blissfully funny . . . One might wish to make people as happy, personally and professionally, as Coleridge has done - and will continue to do with this amusing book * The Sunday Telegraph *
I adored it. Coleridge has a Waugh-like eye for hilarious social nuance and a Henry Jamesian ear for precision. He is both self-deprecating and shrewd as he regales us with his rollicking ride as editor and tastemaker in the world of British glossy magazines: an irresistible read * Tina Brown *
The memoir of a ludicrously well-connected magazine impresario. Whimsical tales of Bob Geldof, William Hague, Princess Diana and George Osborne jostle with recollections of glitzy parties at castles and producing the Eton magazine with Craig Brown. It's gossipy good fun * The Sunday Times Best Memoirs of 2019 *

Author Bio

Nicholas Coleridge has been Managing Director of British Conde Nast and President of Conde Nast International, publisher of 130 magazines around the world, including Vogue and Vanity Fair. Journalist, editor, magazine executive, author, environmental campaigner, and Chairman of the Victoria and Albert Museum and British Fashion Council, he has for three decades been a prevalent figure in the publishing and fashion industries. Nicholas Coleridge and his wife live in London and Worcestershire. They have four children.