Word of the latest casualties in the Village Voice evisceration is traveling this morning, and it appears that book review editor Ed Park is no longer there. A shame, that. Park’s reviews were always thoughtful and on target and his impeccable taste meant good books from all over the place got covered. The NYT has this:
Ed Park, a senior editor in charge of the books section who said he learned by telephone on Wednesday that he was being let go, said he was “shocked and insulted” by the firings. But, he said, “I could see that this was coming,” in part because of talk of centralized arts coverage. He added that Village Voice management had an “attitude of disdain for what I thought were the strong points of The Voice. It was a swaggering attitude that their chain of papers were so good and The Voice was an embarrassment and we have to get up to their level somehow.”
Here’s hoping Park lands somewhere prominent quickly and that the people who made this decision experience stabbing pains all day. And Jenny Davidson says he’s working on a brilliant novel, which is a bit of good news in with this very bad stuff (see link below).
See also:
Jenny D mourns the firing.
Eek on Robert Christgau.
This is indeed terrible news. A foolish move by mergers and acquisitions. Talents like Ed Park are exceedingly rare in any millieu and the Voice is betraying its cultural legacy by shitcanning him.
That sucks! I like Ed a lot–a really nice guy. (And a very good fiction writer).
JeffV
Some Good News and Some Bad News
Two things to read before you scamper off on your weekend. First, the good news. As usual, Jeffrey Yamaguchi has a great new project to show us. It reminded me of the most important thing a writer can do: WRITE…