Robert Gottlieb

For the American academic and environmentalist, see Robert B. Gottlieb. For the American basketball coach, see Bob Gottlieb.

Robert Gottlieb
Robert Gottlieb at C-Span event in 2011
Born
Robert Adams Gottlieb

(1931-04-29)April 29, 1931
New York City, U.S.
DiedJune 14, 2023(2023-06-14) (aged 92)
New York City, U.S.
Alma materColumbia University (BA)
Cambridge University
OccupationEditor
Employers
Spouse(s)
Muriel Higgins (divorced)
Maria Tucci (m. 1969)
Children3 (including Lizzie)
Notes

Robert Adams Gottlieb (April 29, 1931 – June 14, 2023) was an American writer and editor. He was the editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster, Alfred A. Knopf, and The New Yorker.

Gottlieb joined Simon & Schuster in 1955 as an editorial assistant to Jack Goodman, the editorial director.[2] At Simon & Schuster, Gottlieb became editorial director within five years and drew attention for the publishing phenomenon of Catch-22.[3][4]

In 1968, Gottlieb—along with advertising and marketing executives Nina Bourne and Anthony Schulte—moved to Alfred A. Knopf as editor-in-chief; soon after, he became president.[3] He left in 1987 to succeed William Shawn as editor of The New Yorker, staying in that position until 1992. After his departure from The New Yorker, Gottlieb returned to Alfred A. Knopf as editor ex officio.[3]

Gottlieb was a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, and The New York Times Book Review, and had been the dance critic for The New York Observer from 1999 until 2020. While at Simon & Schuster and Knopf, he notably edited books by Joseph Heller, Jessica Mitford, Lauren Bacall, Salman Rushdie, Toni Morrison, John le Carré, and Robert Caro, among others.

  1. ^ "Robert A. Gottlieb". Contemporary Authors Online. Biography In Context. Detroit: Gale. 2013. Gale Document Number: GALE|H1000038386. Retrieved April 12, 2013 – via Fairfax County Public Library. (subscription required)
  2. ^ The Paris Review Interviews, Vol. 1, p. 337, New York: Picador, 2006.
  3. ^ a b c Kirkpatrick, David D. (August 13, 2001). "The Man Who Will Edit Clinton; Legendary Figure Will Try to Elicit Meaningful Memoir". The New York Times. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  4. ^ Schwed, Peter (1984). Turning the Pages: An Insider's Story of Simon & Schuster, 1924-1984. MacMillan. pp. 235–246. ISBN 978-0026077903.