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Dwight Garner (born January 8, 1965) is an American journalist and longtime writer and editor for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''. In 2008, he was named a book critic for the newspaper. He is the author of ''Garner's Quotations: A Modern Miscellany'' and ''Read Me: A Century of Classic American Book Advertisements.''


Journalism and writing

Garner's previous post at ''The New York Times'' was as senior editor of ''
The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'', where he worked from 1999 to 2008. He was a founding editor of ''
Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/ liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...
'',Author bio
at
HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...
where he worked from 1995 to 1998. His monthly column in ''
Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...
'' magazine was a finalist for the
National Magazine Award The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...
in 2017. His essays and journalism have appeared in ''
The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...
'', ''
Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...
'', ''
The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication i ...
'', the ''
Oxford American The ''Oxford American'' is a quarterly magazine that focuses on the American South. First publication The magazine was begun in late 1989 in Oxford, Mississippi, by Marc Smirnoff (born July 11, 1963). The name "Oxford American" is a play on ''T ...
'', ''
Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'', ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
'', the ''
Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States of America by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the ''Portland Phoenix'' an ...
'', ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...
'', and elsewhere. For several years he wrote the program notes for
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...
's American Songbook Series. He has served on the board of the
National Book Critics Circle The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization ( 501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the National Book Critics C ...
. In a January 2011 column for ''Slate'', the journalist
Timothy Noah Timothy Robert Noah (born 1958), an American journalist and author, is a staff writer at ''The New Republic.'' Previously he was labor policy editor for ''Politico'', a contributing writer at MSNBC.com, a senior editor of ''The New Republic'' ass ...
called Garner a "highly gifted critic" who had reinvigorated ''The New York Times''s literary coverage, and likened him to
Anatole Broyard Anatole Paul Broyard (July 16, 1920 – October 11, 1990) was an American writer, literary critic, and editor who wrote for ''The New York Times''. In addition to his many reviews and columns, he published short stories, essays, and two books dur ...
and John Leonard. "If you read just one literary critic in the ''Times'', you should read Dwight Garner. But let's say you don't read any books sections, which would sadly put you in the vast majority of the population: You should still read Dwight Garner", Benjamin Errett wrote in Toronto's ''
The National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Mo ...
''. Garner "is an excellent guide to what to read, so much so that he's often all you need to read." Garner wrote a biweekly column for ''The New York Times'' called "American Beauties", which focused on under-sung American books of the past 75 years. His championing of certain titles—including ''The Complete Novels of Charles Wright'' and ''On Fire'' by Larry Brown—helped return them to print. For ''Esquire'', Garner played in the 2017 World Backgammon Championship in Monaco.


Early life and work

Garner was born in Fairmont,
West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
and grew up in that state and in
Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...
. Garner graduated from
Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...
, where he majored in American literature. While in college, he wrote book criticism for ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...
'', music and theater criticism for the ''Vanguard Press'', a Burlington, Vermont alternative weekly, and was a stringer for ''The New York Times''. After his graduation from college, Garner was a reporter for '' The Addison Independent''. He then became the arts editor of ''Vermont Times'', a new alternative weekly in Burlington. He also became a contributing editor to the ''Boston Phoenix''. In the 1990s Garner was a columnist for the ''Hungry Mind Review''. After moving to New York City in 1994, he worked for one year as an associate editor at ''Harper's Bazaar'' under the editorship o
Liz Tilberis
Garner lives in New York City with his wife, the writer Cree LeFavour. He has two children and is a member of the Organ Meat Society.


References


External links


Knight News interview, 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garner, Dwight American literary critics 1965 births Living people Critics employed by The New York Times Middlebury College alumni Journalists from West Virginia People from Fairmont, West Virginia 20th-century American journalists American male journalists