James Wolcott (born December 10, 1952) is an American journalist, known for his critique of contemporary media. Wolcott is the cultural critic for '' Vanity Fair'' and contributes to ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''. He had his own blog on ''Vanity Fair'' magazine's main site which was awarded a

Webby Award The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...

in 2007.

Background and education

Wolcott was born in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, and raised in a suburban setting. He attended Maryland's Frostburg State College for two years. From there, he moved to New York City, to work at ''

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 ...

,'' first in the circulation department answering phone complaints, then as a receptionist. He is married to

Laura Jacobs Laura Jacobs is a novelist, journalist, and critic. Jacobs is a regular contributor to ''The Wall Street Journal'', where she reviews museum exhibitions on fashion. She was a staff writer at '' Vanity Fair'' from 1995 to 2018, where she wrote awar ...

, a contributing editor at ''Vanity Fair''. He began practicing the

Transcendental Meditation technique The Transcendental Meditation technique (abbreviated as TM) is the technique associated with the practice of Transcendental Meditation developed by the Indian spiritual figure Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The practice involves the use of a private m ...

in 2007.

Career

Since arriving in New York, Wolcott has been a columnist on media and pop culture for such publications as ''

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 ...

'', '' Harper's Magazine'', ''

'', ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

'', and ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

''. He was taken on at ''Vanity Fair'' by

Leo Lerman Leo Lerman (May 23, 1914 – August 22, 1994) was an American writer and editor who worked for Condé Nast Publications for more than 50 years.Grimes, William (August 23, 1994). Leo Lerman, 80, Editor at Conde Nast Magazines. ''The New York Time ...

, then the magazine's editor. Wolcott's novel, ''The Catsitters'', was published in 2001. In 2004, he published '' Attack Poodles and Other Media Mutants'', a critique of right-wing media in the United States. In addition, he recently contributed the foreword to

Geoffrey Beene Geoffrey Beene (born Samuel Albert Bozeman Jr.; August 30, 1924 – September 28, 2004) was an American fashion designer. Beene was one of New York's most famous fashion designers, recognized for his artistic and technical skills and for creati ...

's forthcoming book, ''Identity''. His memoir ''Lucking Out: My Life Getting Down and Semi-Dirty in Seventies New York'' was published October 25, 2011. In 2017, he advocated for the overthrow of the

Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory ...

by American intelligence agencies.

Awards and honors

*2014

PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay The PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay is awarded by the PEN America (formerly PEN American Center) to an author for a book of original collected essays. The award was founded by PEN Member and author Barbaralee Diamonstein a ...

for ''Critical Mass''

Bibliography

Fiction

Non-fiction

* * ''Lucking Out: My Life Getting Down and Semi-Dirty in Seventies New York '' * ''Critical Mass: Four Decades of Essays, Reviews, Hand Grenades, and Hurrahs'' * * * "Sisyphus at the Selectric" (review of

Blake Bailey John Blake Bailey (born July 1, 1963) is an American writer and educator. Bailey is known for his literary biographies of Richard Yates, John Cheever, Charles Jackson, and Philip Roth. He is the editor of the Library of America omnibus editi ...

, ''Philip Roth: The Biography'', Cape, April 2021, 898 pp., ;

Ira Nadel Ira Bruce Nadel (born July 22, 1943) is an American-Canadian biographer, literary critic and James Joyce scholar, and a distinguished professor at the University of British Columbia. He has written books on the twentieth-century Modernists, espec ...

, ''Philip Roth: A Counterlife'', Oxford, May 2021, 546 pp., ; and Benjamin Taylor, ''Here We Are: My Friendship with Philip Roth'', Penguin, May 2020, 192 pp., ), ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of ...

'', vol. 43, no. 10 (20 May 2021), pp. 3, 5–10. Wolcott: "He's a great writer but is he a ''great'' writer? And what does 'great writer' mean now anyhow?" (p. 10.)

References

External links

James Wolcott article archive
at ''Vanity Fair''
James Wolcott's blog
before 2006-10-18 * Maneker, Marion

'' New York'' magazine, June 11, 2001 * Bernhard, Brendan, ttp://www.laweekly.com/2001-07-05/art-books/medium-cool/1/ "Medium Cool: James Wolcott on lowbrow vs. highbrow, common sense and his first novel, ''The Catsitters''" ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose paren ...

'', June 27, 2001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolcott, James 1952 births Living people 21st-century American novelists American bloggers American male journalists American male novelists Frostburg State University alumni PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award winners Vanity Fair (magazine) people Writers from Baltimore Writers from New York City The Village Voice people 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) Novelists from Maryland 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male bloggers