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. He had his own blog on Vanity Fair magazine's main site which was awarded a Webby Award in 2007.

James Wolcott
Born (1952-12-10) December 10, 1952 (age 71)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
OccupationJournalist, novelist
LanguageEnglish
Alma materFrostburg State College
Notable worksAttack Poodles and Other Media Mutants

Background and education

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Wolcott was born in Baltimore, Maryland, 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, first in the circulation department answering phone complaints, then as a receptionist.[1] He is married to Laura Jacobs, a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. He began practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique in 2007.[2]

Career

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Since arriving in New York, Wolcott has been a columnist on media and pop culture for such publications as Esquire, Harper's Magazine, The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books and New York. He was taken on at Vanity Fair by Leo Lerman, then the magazine's editor.[3]

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.

His memoir Lucking Out: My Life Getting Down and Semi-Dirty in Seventies New York was published on October 25, 2011.

Awards and honors

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Bibliography

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Fiction

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  • Wolcott, James (2001). The Catsitters: A Novel. New York: HarperCollins.

Non-fiction

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References

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  1. ^ Epstein, Joseph (October 16, 2012). Essays in Biography. Mt. Jackson, VA: Axios Press. p. 483. ISBN 978-1604190687.
  2. ^ Wolcott, James. "Welcome, My Brother! | James Wolcott's Blog". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on May 29, 2010. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
  3. ^ "James Wolcott:A Q&A by Russ Smith & John Strausbaugh". New York Press. April 24, 2001. Archived from the original on March 18, 2011.
  4. ^ John Williams (July 30, 2014). "James Wolcott and Frank Bidart Among 2014 PEN American Winners". New York Times. Retrieved August 1, 2014.
  5. ^ Garner, Dwight (October 24, 2013). "'Critical Mass,' a Collection of James Wolcott's Writings". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
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