Veronica Geng: Difference between revisions
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'''Veronica Geng''' (1941 – |
'''Veronica Geng''' (1941 – December 24, 1997) was an [[USA|American]] [[Editing|editor]] and [[writer]]. |
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She was born in [[Atlanta, Georgia]], was raised in [[Philadelphia]], attended the [[University of Pennsylvania]], and died in [[New York City]] of [[brain cancer]]. |
She was born in [[Atlanta, Georgia]], was raised in [[Philadelphia]], attended the [[University of Pennsylvania]], and died in [[New York City]] of [[brain cancer]]. |
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Revision as of 01:54, 3 December 2009
Veronica Geng (1941 – December 24, 1997) was an American editor and writer.
She was born in Atlanta, Georgia, was raised in Philadelphia, attended the University of Pennsylvania, and died in New York City of brain cancer.
She was an influential and acclaimed humorist and editor who typically wrote short stories and essays, the best of which generated humor that worked on more than one level. The "Los Angeles Times" recently called her "a brilliant contributor to the New Yorker and the quirky dark lady of Manhattan's literary scene, celebrated for her deadpan essays and revolving-door sex life."[1]
Her work included satire and parody with allusions to both high culture and popular culture. These short pieces were often inspired by some contemporary comment or event but moved beyond mere contemporary gags. Critics praised her parodies for their unusual coupling of subjects and control of style, i.e., the Watergate Tapes reviewed by a hip “Rolling Stone” critic, or a sitcom about the young Henry James. She appreciated similar humour, and wrote approving essays about Monty Python in “New Yorker”, 27 August, 1979 and “New Republic”, 23 April 1990
She was a book reviewer for “The New York Times” for many years starting in the early 1970s. She wrote for the “Village Voice” in the early 1970s. Geng’s short parody of the film critic Pauline Kael, published in “The New York Review of Books” in 1975, caught the eye of Roger Angell, a fiction editor at The New Yorker. She began writing for "The New Yorker" in 1976 and also became an assistant fiction editor. She worked closely with writers such as Philip Roth, Frederick Barthelme, Milan Kundera, William Trevor, James McCourt, and Ian Frazier. Geng remained at "The New Yorker" until 1992. She left because of disagreements with New Yorker editor Tina Brown.[2]
Geng was a film reviewer in the 1970s and 1980s for “Film Comment”, American Film”, “The New Yorker”, “Soho News”, “New Republic” and “The New York Review of Books”.
She wrote about feminist issues in “Women in Science Fiction”, Bookletter” 27 October 1975; “Requiem for the Women's Movement”, Harper’s, November 1976; and “Comment” on the Equal Rights Amendment, “New Yorker” 22 May, 1978.
Bibliography
- Guess Who? A Cavalcade of Famous Americans 1969 (a children’s historical book)
- In A Fit Of Laughter: An Anthology Of Modern Humor, edited by Veronica Geng with an introduction by Steve Allen, 1969
Collections of her writings are published in:
- Partners 1985
- Love Trouble is My Business 1988
- Love Trouble, 1999, published posthumously, collects the two previous books and adds previously uncollected work.
Geng contributed to:
- Cosmopolitan's Hangup Handbook, 1971
- Not the New York Times, 1978
- The 80s: A Look Back at the Tumultuous Decade, 1980-1989, 1979
In 2007 her brother, Steve Geng, published a memoir entitled Thick as Thieves, which chronicled his relationship with his sister as well as his history of drug addiction, HIV, jail and osteonecrosis.
Contributions to The New Yorker
| Title | Department | Volume/Part | Date | Page(s) | Subject(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For Immediate Release (A Political Statement Hand-Distributed on the Sidewalk in Front of The Russian Tea Room) | 60/47 | 7 January 1985 | 22-23 | Humour |