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Timothy Noah and Marjorie Williams

the breakfast table
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from: Timothy Noah

Last Obsessive Posting on the New Yorker

Posted Tuesday, July 14, 1998, at 10:44 AM ET

Dear Marjorie,

Even I am starting to get sick of New Yorker succession gossip. I offer up only one further possible lesson to derive from my obsessive reading and gossiping on this topic: the Written word is mightier than the Spoken one.

Here is a quick review of Si Newhouse's brief seduction and abandonment of Mike Kinsley: 1) Newhouse really liked Kinsley when he met with him over the weekend. According to Kinsley's now-famous e-mail account (which some idiotic scruple kept me from quoting yesterday), Newhouse offered Kinsley the job Saturday, then took Kinsley out to dinner Sunday with various other Newhouses (during which time the talk was "virtually no business"). 2) Immediately after the dinner, Newhouse called Kinsley and said let's call it off. 3) Monday morning he gave the job to David Remnick.

Clearly, something happened between 1) and 2). Since Kinsley, with whom I have dined many times, has excellent table manners, I seriously doubt he picked up the wrong fork. We must find a different explanation.

Now, consider this: According to today's New York Times, Remnick sent Newhouse a "several-thousand-word memo" outlining his ideas for editing the magazine. Kinsley, I suspect, did not write a memo (am I right, Mike?), because he'd been led to believe he already had the job. Kinsley's impressive gab about what he wanted to do with the New Yorker failed to dazzle Newhouse as much as Remnick's impressive writing about what he wanted to do with the New Yorker. Newhouse read this crucial memo just before, or perhaps (if he's a quick reader) just after, dinner with Kinsley Sunday.

This explanation still leaves Newhouse looking flaky, but at least it offers the hopeful lesson that he likes to read more than he likes to listen--an excellent quality in a publisher.

One problem with this theory: If we embrace it, we have to assume the Washington Post is wrong in reporting today that Remnick sent his memo to Newhouse "late Sunday night." According to Kinsley's e-mail account (which, incidentally, came to me by way of someone else who doesn't work for Slate or Microsoft), Newhouse had already dropped Kinsley before 10 p.m. (Kinsley sent the e-mail describing the ordeal at 9:55 p.m. Sunday.) According to my construct, Newhouse would have to have seen Remnick's memo before 10 p.m. Sunday, which is not "late."

Okay, enough. Now I'm ready to discuss the real news in today's paper, whatever that is. Some new interpretation of the Zapruder film?

Tim

the breakfast table
entries
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546474849505152535455565758596061626364656667686970717273747576
from: Timothy Noah

Last Obsessive Posting on the New Yorker

Posted Tuesday, July 14, 1998, at 10:44 AM ET
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Timothy Noah writes Slate's "Chatterbox" column. Marjorie Williams is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair.
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