James Wolcott is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
journalist, known for his critique of contemporary media. Wolcott is the cultural critic for
Vanity Fair and contributes to
The New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
. He also writes a
blogA blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
.
Background and education
Born in the suburbs of
BaltimoreBaltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Wolcott attended Maryland's
Frostburg State CollegeFrostburg State University is a four-year university located on a campus in Frostburg, Maryland, in Western Maryland, and is part of the University System of Maryland. FSU is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.-History:...
for two years. From there, he moved to
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, to work at
The Village VoiceThe Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
.
Career
Since then, Wolcott has been a columnist on media and pop culture for such publications as
EsquireEsquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
,
Harper's MagazineHarper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
,
The New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
,
The New York Review of BooksThe New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...
, and
New York Magazine. He was lured to
Vanity Fair by the late
Leo LermanLeo Lerman was an American writer and editor who worked for Condé Nast Publications for more than 50 years. Lerman also wrote for the New York Herald Tribune, Harper's Bazaar, Dance Magazine, and Playbill.Lerman grew up in a Jewish immigrant family in East Harlem and Queens, New York...
, then the magazine's editor.
Books
Wolcott wrote a novel,
The Catsitters, published in 2001. In 2004, he published
Attack Poodles and Other Media MutantsAttack Poodles and Other Media Mutants: The Looting of the News in a Time of Terror is a book by American media critic James Wolcott.-Summary:Wolcott takes as his subject matter popular right-wing pundits whom he dubs "attack poodles"...
, a critique of right-wing media in the United States. In addition, he recently contributed the foreword to
Geoffrey BeeneGeoffrey Beene was an American fashion designer.Beene was born in Haynesville, Louisiana. He studied medicine at Tulane University, but dropped out in 1946, after three years. He moved to New York in 1947 to attend the Traphagen School of Fashion...
's forthcoming book,
Identity.
His memoir
Lucking Out: My Life Getting Down and Semi-Dirty in Seventies New York will be published October 25, 2011.
Personal
He is married to
Laura JacobsLaura Jacobs is a novelist, journalist, and dance critic. The Bird Catcher, her second novel, was published in June 2009, by St. Martin's Press. In July, 2010 Picador released a paperback edition...
, a contributing editor at
Vanity Fair. He began practicing the
Transcendental Meditation techniqueThe Transcendental Meditation technique is a specific form of mantra meditation often referred to as Transcendental Meditation. It was introduced in India in 1955 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi...
in 2007.
Non-fiction
External links
- James Wolcott's blog, Vanity Fair webpage.
- James Wolcott's blog, jameswolcott.com
- Maneker, Marion, "The King James Version: Critic James Wolcott, the reigning monarch of the literary put-down, is about to publish his first novel, and legions of his victims are already sharpening their knives", New York
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
magazine, June 11, 2001
- Bernhard, Brendan, "Medium Cool: James Wolcott on lowbrow vs. highbrow, common sense and his first novel, The Catsitters", LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
, June 27, 2001.