Includes bibliographical references (pages 393-419) and index.
Contents:
Prologue : the ringmaster-1919 -- Living down mr. disappoint -- Fanny's "even-handed" justice -- It's not what you know -- The adman before mad men -- Battling the fakirs, swindlers, and manufacturers of bad whiskeys -- A natural talent to sniff out life's pattern -- How to build a new woman's railroad -- The genie bean counter and his class publication -- What women want -- Couturiers, cutthroats, and conflict -- The spirited Mrs. Chase lands her big fish -- Enter stage right Frank Crowninshield-and brogue -- From vanity fair to mayhem -- Back to the business of "fried fish and stewed eels" -- How to keep a park bench warm -- "Ain't we got fun?" -- The high priestess meets her forces of nature -- All those flaming "bright young things" -- Let the good times roll -- The new and renewed kids in town -- Fireflies in the garden paradise -- Casting for pearls -- Boom, crash, bang, clatter -- Beware of frenemies -- In the death throes -- The stain of defection -- A very British salvation -- But who's to save vanity fair? -- "Of cabbages . . ." -- ". . . and kings" -- Answering the distant cry of war -- How to win in the end -- The king is dead -- A new leaf -- A new house, a new empire.
Summary:
"The first biography in over thirty years of Condé Nast, the pioneering publisher of Vogue and Vanity Fair and main rival to media magnate William Randolph Hearst. Condé Nast's life and career was as high profile and glamourous as his magazines. Moving to New York in the early twentieth century with just the shirt on his back, he soon became the highest paid executive in the United States, acquiring Vogue in 1909 and Vanity Fair in 1913. Alongside his editors, Edna Woolman Chase at Vogue and Frank Crowninshield at Vanity Fair, he built the first-ever international magazine empire, introducing European modern art, style, and fashions to an American audience. Credited with creating the "café society," Nast became a permanent fixture on the international fashion scene and a major figure in New York society. His superbly appointed apartment at 1040 Park Avenue, decorated by the legendary Elsie de Wolfe, became a gathering place for the major artistic figures of the time. Nast launched the careers of icons like Cecil Beaton, Clare Boothe Luce, Lee Miller, Dorothy Parker and Noel Coward. He left behind a legacy that endures today in media powerhouses such as Anna Wintour, Tina Brown, and Graydon Carter. Written with the cooperation of his family on both sides of the Atlantic and a dedicated team at Condé Nast Publications, critically acclaimed biographer Susan Ronald reveals the life of an extraordinary American success story"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.