Another Life: A Memoir of Other People

Michael Korda wrote two autobiographical books—Charmed Lives, first, published in 1979, and Another Life, published in 1999. Since I have read the books concurrently, I’m treating my review of them as one. You can, of course, read the books chronologically with Korda’s early life recounted in Charmed Lives and his later experiences in America detailed in Another Life. I chose to read them together, and it was a grand experience.Why read them at all, you want to know. Well, Michael Korda, apart from being the son and nephew of some extraordinarily important cinematic professionals (his uncle Alex an ostentatious movie mogul and noteworthy director, his uncle Zoli a formidable director as well, and his father Vincent an award winning art director) and disregarding the fact that he was the editor in chief of Simon and Schuster for over 40 years and is himself a well-known and respected author, the real reason to read them is that he is one of the best story tellers around with exemplary descriptive powers and a sense of humor and satire that make pooh-poohing the pomposities delicious fun while retaining a sympathy for the imperfections of humanity.To observe, to be aware, to create a world, and to write with a certain elegant flair that is fluid and fascinating—this is the mark of an excellent writer, which Mr. Korda certainly is in the telling of his own story in both these books. As his first title hints at, you will be charmed by his extraordinary life and his remarkable style. You will also be rewarded with incisive and yet compassionate descriptions of the friends, enemies, lovers, and acquaintances he encounters on this journey through his growth from a boy in the capitals and grand towns of Europe and the back lots of Hollywood studios into adulthood as an editor in the frantic publishing house cauldrons of New York City.The famous, the infamous, the longing-to-be famous, and the once famous all inhabit these two books in glorious vignettes. Lawrence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Carol Reed, Orson Welles, and Charles Laughton, for example, mosey through the first book. And Jacqueline Susann, Harold Robbins, Graham Greene, and Irving Wallace, traipse through the second one.In the first book, there are descriptions of the predicaments around the making of such classic movies as 1949’s The Third Man, produced by Alex Korda with art direction by Vincent Korda staring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten, 1933’s The Private Life of Henry VIII with Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester directed by Alex Korda with sets by Vincent Korda, and 1941’s That Hamilton Woman staring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, produced and directed by Alex with production designed by Vincent.But the first book is primarily about Alexander Korda, the impresario of the British film industry after the Second World War. He was a true dynamo of a movie mogul in Britain—the embodiment of the saying, “living well is the best revenge.” He lived in a suite at Claridge’s in London for several years and owned a collection of paintings at his death that included Renoirs and Cézannes. From poor circumstances in his early life in Hungary, he wound up through extraordinary effort and focused intelligence to live large, work hard, and make some great movies in the process, all the while being the Napoleon of the Korda family and a well-respected peer in British society. Although he directed over a hundred films himself, he preferred in his later years to produce and finance them. His nephew’s tribute to him in this book delves into the complexity and the contradictions of a larger-than-life financial genius and cinema titan who happened to be his beloved uncle.Near the end of Charmed Lives, Korda recounts his naïvely-conceived “adventure” to the war-torn Budapest of October 1956 with some poignant anecdotes, including a few with a shadowy British figure ostensibly called Major Temple and one with the doomed prime minister of Hungary Imre Nagy who tried to fight the Russians but sadly lost.At the end of the first book, Michael Korda comes to grips with his own life at age 23 and what he must do and presents a simple yet profound analysis of what made his uncle Alex a great and generous man. It is a lovely tribute to an admired relative, someone who transformed a nephew’s life in many meaningful ways.In the second book, his characterization of Charles D. Bluhdorn, for example, the blustery emperor of the late 1960s conglomerate known as Gulf + Western and owner at the time of Simon & Schuster, is a priceless example of entertaining satire and an engaging treatise on human psychology. His first encounter with Tennessee Williams is a drop-jaw, laugh riot you will not believe. And his subsequent experience with probably the greatest American playwright at a tribute dinner to him is astonishing as is the description of the playwright’s sad decline in his later years.Luminaries from the publishing world inhabit this book. Dick Snyder (President, CEO, and Chairman of Simon & Schuster), Robert Gottlieb (Editor in Chief of Simon & Schuster), Bennett Cerf (Founder and Publisher of Random House), Harold Evans (President and Publisher of Random House) and Joni Evans (President and Publisher at Simon & Schuster) are some of the executives (and their positions at the time) described in Korda’s second autobiography. His long-standing relationship with Irving “Swifty” Lazar, the uber-talent-agent, is chronicled.The successes (The Love Machine by Jacqueline Suzann) and the failures (Shardik by Richard Adams who also wrote the hugely successful Watership Down) of his time at Simon & Schuster as editor in chief are wittily depicted. Indeed, he edited the memoirs of Charles De Gaulle and Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, just to name a few political powerhouses. Speaking of politics, there is a story about a dinner Korda attended at Nixon’s house in Saddle River, New Jersey, with a delegation of apparatchiks from China that is quintessentially Nixonian (self-aggrandizing and delusional) and supremely ironic, satiric, and sad. As he left Nixon’s house and the weird experience that night, he writes: “I left feeling like Dorothy leaving Oz.” Not to be considered one-sided politically, there is an anecdote about Jimmy Carter that is hilarious. And there are sympathetic accounts of frustrating but genial meetings with Ronald Reagan soon after his presidency regarding his memoirs.Toward the end, there is a section on Mafia books that is priceless, especially Joe Bonanno’s (a Mafia don, head of his own family, and labeled by the tabloids Joe “Bananas”) toast to a table of “associates” and Korda and his wife at the start of a meal at an Italian restaurant close to Bonanno’s home in Tucson. Right after that section, there is one on police books, most notably one called Commissioner by Patrick Murphy, Mayor John Lindsay’s police commissioner, that caused a stir in the NYPD because Murphy had the audacity to demand that police be investigated for wrongdoing if there was evidence that there was, and his trip to Detroit during the riots of 1967 to discuss a book with the Detroit police commissioner. At the very end of the tome, there is a tale involving the infamous Claus von Bulow, Andrea Reynolds (his mistress), “Swifty” Lazar, Joni Evans, and Korda that is worth the price of the book.In both books, you will discover wisdom and petulance and everything in between in the great and not-so-great narrated by the author who is a keen observer of the humanity surging around him with all its glories and failings wrapped up in ever-striving egos. Both autobiographies are literary treasures to marvel at, read greedily, and vainly hope that they never end.

This is one of my all time favorite books. I just reread it for the third time and each time I've learned something new or understood something at another level. The book is far more than a memoir, although Korda does tell about his adventures in the Hungarian Revolution, how he came to the United States from England and how he got into the publishing business. He also tells how he came to write some of his own best sellers like CHARMED LIVES and QUEENIE. But the heart of this book is other people--well known writers, movie stars and political superstars like Ronald Regan and Richard Nixon--people who wrote books that Korda edited over the years. (The story of Korda's dinner at Nixon's home is worth the price of the book) Korda makes each one of these figures, whether its Harold Robbins or R.F. Delderfeld or Jacqueline Susann or Joan Crawford or Jesse Jackson come to life in just a few pages by identifying the telling details that made each one of theses individuals memorable.But the book is even more. Its also a history of the American publishing industry from the mid-1950s to the turn of the century. Korda writes authoritatively about the corporate growth and infighting at Simon and Schuster, where he was an editor for most of the second half of the 20th century, as well as the industry in general. He details how a Tsunami of Bigness overwhelmed houses like Random House Little Brown, Alfred Knopf and others, taking American publishing from a cottage industry to a mega-business where the people making the key decisions on which books to publish never bother to read the books, choosing instead to focus solely on projected sales numbers.Korda ties all of this together with an engaging writing style and I would highly recommend his work to anyone interested in books, celebrities or the history of the American publishing industry.

For a man whose life work was editing other people's stories, he proved pretty verbose when telling his own tale. For the most part it's very interesting, but my god...too long.

Michael Korda's family biography, Charmed Lives, remains one of my all time favorite reads. This book, Another Life: A Memoir of Other People, came to my attention while doing research on the web regarding the meaning of memoir/biography. There has been some recent controversy over whether a memoir is based on facts or simply on subjective opinion. I will take Michael Korda's facts, and subjective opinion, anytime. He has a balanced point of view, and the gift of seeing us all as people. He also understands the nature and the nuturing of creative talent.Another Life is a memoir of the publishing industry; it presents a view of how publishing used to be in the old days, the Golden Age of the famous name publishing houses. Though I think we are in another and very different Golden Age at present. I am entering the publishing business myself, and it gave me insights into truly how the business operates on a personal level.I am now reading his biography of Ulysses S Grant, and am very much interested in his assessment of Grant. It stays with me. I hope Mr. Korda continues to write historical biographies. He has a lot to share with the world.

An amazing chronicle of the history of publishing. Korda paints a moving portrait of a fascinating world of colorful characters who crossed his path during decades in the business. The reader is given a glimpse into the behind the scenes deals, the period details of society, and the shifts in publishing. As a writer, I found his writing not only informative and easy to follow, but fun to read. Korda gave the world an excellent piece of history, written by someone who was there during the many years of hard work, the heady moments of triumph and the tricky, delicate and outrageous deals that were made. So glad I read this book! I wish he was my editor.

A beautifully written book about Michael Korda and and the business of publishing. Many interesting and revealing anecdotes about famous people he met during his career. His description of colleagues never malicious, always understanding. If you are not interested in the minutee of the publishing business, it can be a bit too detailed, otherwise an easy and entertaining book.

Love Michael Korda's easy style. It lures me on and I never want to the book to end. It's like an engrossing conversation with a friend on a quiet evening with a glass of wine. Also loved 'Charmed Lives' - the book he wrote about his family; his father and famous uncles. My next read will be 'Queenie'.