Coleridge, Nicholas 1957–

(Nicholas David Coleridge)

PERSONAL:

Born March 4, 1957, in London, England; son of David Ean (an insurance underwriter) and Susan Coleridge; married Georgia Metcalfe (a book reviewer), July 22, 1989; children: four. Education: Eton, Trinity College, Cambridge, degree in art history, 1979. Politics: Conservative. Religion: Church of England.

ADDRESSES:

Home—London, England. Office—Conde Nast Publications, Vogue House, Hanover Sq., London WIR 0AD, England. Agent—Ed Victor, 6 Bayley St., Bedford Sq., London WC1B 3HD, England.

CAREER:

Tatler, associate editor, 1979-81; London Evening Standard, London, England, columnist, 1981-84; Harpers & Queen, features editor, 1985-86, editor, 1986-89; Conde Nast Publications, London, England, editorial director, 1989-91, managing director, 1992—.

MEMBER:

Periodical Publishers Association.

AWARDS, HONORS:

British Press Award, Young Journalist of the Year, 1984; Mark Boxer Lifetime Achievement Award for Magazine Journalism, 2003.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

Tunnel Vision, Quartet, 1981.

(With Napier Miles) The Long Weekend Book, Stourton, Coleridge & Miles, 1983.

Around the World in Seventy-eight Days, Heinemann (London, England), 1984, McGraw (New York, NY), 1985.

(Editor, with Stephen Quinn) The Sixties in Queen, introduction by Jocelyn Stevens, Ebury, 1987.

The Fashion Conspiracy: A Remarkable Journey through the Empires of Fashion, Heinemann (London, England), 1988, Harper (New York, NY), 1988.

Paper Tigers: The Latest, Greatest Newspaper Tycoons and How They Won the World, Heinemann (London, England), 1993, Birch Lane Press (Secaucus, NJ), 1994.

FICTION

Shooting Stars, Heinemann (London, England), 1984.

How I Met My Wife and Other Stories, Heinemann (London, England), 1991.

With Friends like These, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1997.

Streetsmart, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Godchildren, Orion (London, England), 2002.

A Much Married Man, Orion (London, England), 2006, Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to periodicals, including Spectator and Sunday Telegraph.

SIDELIGHTS:

Nicholas Coleridge, a journalist and managing director of Conde Nast Publications, has written both fiction and nonfiction on such topics as travel, fashion, publishing, and the upper class. In an early nonfiction work, Around the World in Seventy-eight Days, Coleridge uses the fictional journey of Phileas Fogg—the hero of the novel Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne—as a model for his own 1984 global tour, which took him through nineteen countries. Remaining true to the spirit of Verne's adventure story, Coleridge eschewed air travel; Washington Post reviewer James T. Yenckel reported that "with the scarcity of sea berths, balky immigration officials and Third World trains that halted unannounced in the middle of nowhere, Coleridge's ingenuity, like Fogg's, was tested repeatedly in the constant pressure to maintain a tight and calculated schedule." In the Times Literary Supplement, John Ure commented that Coleridge "brought to the task intrepid high spirits, an ingenious persistence, a columnist's eye for the pertinent social or sartorial indicator, and a journalist's ear for dialogue," although Ure thought the trip offered only "mild excitement." Yenckel, however, found that "Coleridge's real-life journey is every bit as suspenseful as Fogg's fictional one, and, in its own way, as entertaining."

In his number-one best seller The Fashion Conspiracy: A Remarkable Journey through the Empires of Fashion, Coleridge examines the designer clothing industry, visiting fourteen countries and interviewing more than four hundred people. Several reviewers noted his exhaustive research; for instance, in the New York Times Book Review, Woody Hochswender related how he followed garments from a primitive Indian factory to their high-markup retail display in New York City.

Amy Dunkin observed in Business Week that The Fashion Conspiracy is "like a whirlwind tour, stopping for twenty minutes at a Seoul sweatshop, a Paris showroom, a Seventh Avenue office, while our guide exposes the industry's seamier side." In the London Times, Fiona MacCarthy remarked: "Coleridge's rather wistful and melancholy streak makes him an ideal analyst of what one might call the negation of fashion, the symbols of which are those forlorn expensive clothes shops with hardly a garment or customer in sight." Isabel Fonseca, reviewing for the Times Literary Supplement, called Coleridge "funny and astute," adding that he "appreciates the absurd language of the fashion industry."

Paper Tigers: The Latest, Greatest Newspaper Tycoons and How They Won the World was another nonfiction best seller. In this work, Coleridge profiles such media owners as Rupert Murdoch, Conrad Black, Otis Chandler, and Samir Jain. Coleridge's subjects may make ambitious philosophical statements about their obligation to readers, but most appear to be interested primarily in profit. Some critics thought Coleridge's sometimes unflattering portraits provided valuable, humanizing insight into these "tycoons."

"Some of Coleridge's fat-cats make fine fools of themselves as they expatiate on their commitment to the ethic of public truth," commented Pat Kane in New Statesman & Society. An Economist contributor noted: "The virtue of Mr. Coleridge's admirable account is that it demythologises the proprietor…. Themen and women he meets are indeed mostly paper tigers." In the Columbia Journalism Review, Piers Brendon expressed the opinion that Coleridge challenged his "tigers" too little and "missed a chance to produce a telling expose." A Publishers Weekly reviewer wished for more analysis of newspaper content, but concluded: "Those eager to find out what makes newspaper magnates tick will have a field day." Quill critic Chris Petrakos credited Coleridge with making "serious observations" about media consolidation and the executives' not-always-benign political influence, while writing a "breezy, entertaining" book.

Coleridge's short story collection How I Met My Wife and Other Stories reflects his interest in travel. The stories are set in various locales around the world. The collection won critical praise. In the London Observer, for example, Boyd Tonkin related that Coleridge uses "the recipe perfected by Somerset Maugham, but purges it of sneers at lesser breeds." London Times reviewer Antonia Brenner deemed Coleridge's stories to be "often very funny."

The novel With Friends like These is a murder mystery set amid high-end magazine publishing. Magazine executive Kit Preston falls in love with one of his top writers, Anna Grant, and becomes a suspect when she is murdered. To clear his name, he then tries to find the real perpetrator. Several reviewers found this novel to be an entertaining, knowing look at a glamorous industry. In the Library Journal, Michele Leber called it "stylish recreational reading," while Booklist commentator Stephanie Zvirin noted "that the pace is fast, the plot intriguing," with Coleridge offering "a fascinating insider's view" of his business. A Publishers Weekly critic deemed the story "occasionally weak" but liked the "sly insider atmosphere" and added: "Coleridge writes compellingly."

Streetsmart likewise mixes magazines and murder. Prominent fashion magazine editor Saskia Thompson is found dead in her New York apartment, and a struggle to succeed her ensues. Some reviewers again complimented Coleridge's insider perspective, with a Publishers Weekly contributor noting the appeal of this aspect of the book but adding: "It is the novel's soap opera-ish glamour that will keep readers turning the pages to the bravado finale."

Godchildren offers a different look at the lives of the rich and famous, with a wealthy, enigmatic businessman gathering his six godchildren on an island where he seeks revenge on them for their ingratitude. Spectator critic Andrew Barrow found the protagonist to be "superbly diabolical" if "not fully human," and he thought Coleridge's use of luxury brand names excessive, but allowed that he was "utterly gripped" by this "highly entertaining, fast-moving book."

The title character of A Much Married Man, banking heir Anthony Anscombe, is navigating a complicated set of relationships involving his current wife, former wives and lovers, his children, and his stepchildren. Once more, a Coleridge novel prompted reviewers to remark that he knows his setting well. "This magnificent novel offers an intriguing insider's view of the lives of the gentry," reported Ron Terpening in the Library Journal. Barrow, writing this time for the London Observer, praised the story's "self-mocking element," finding that it enhances a "long and luscious … slightly crazy, semi-slapstick account." Carol Haggas, critiquing for Booklist, summed up the novel as a "scathingly waggish yet quirkily charming satire."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Coleridge, Nicholas, Around the World in Seventy-eight Days, Heinemann (London, England), 1984, McGraw (New York, NY), 1985.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 1, 1997, Stephanie Zvirin, review of With Friends like These, p. 309; April 1, 2007, Carol Haggas, review of A Much Married Man, p. 26.

Business Week, February 6, 1989, Amy Dunkin, review of The Fashion Conspiracy: A Remarkable Journey through the Empires of Fashion, p. 23.

Campaign, August 5, 1994, Tina Mistry, "Born Leader Stamps Class on the Comeback at Conde Nast," p. 24.

Columbia Journalism Review, September 1, 1994, Piers Brendon, review of Paper Tigers: The Latest, Greatest Newspaper Tycoons and How They Won the World, p. 53.

Economist, July 17, 1993, review of Paper Tigers, p. 86.

Far Eastern Economic Review, December 23, 1993, Derek Parker, review of Paper Tigers, p. 37.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2007, review of A Much Married Man.

Library Journal, September 15, 1997, Michele Leber, review of With Friends like These, p. 100; June 15, 2007, Ron Terpening, review of A Much Married Man, p. 54.

Marie Claire, June, 2007, review of A Much Married Man, p. 112.

Marketing, October 30, 2003, "Stop Press: Coleridge Named Chairman-elect of Periodical Publishers Association," p. 4.

New Statesman, December 19, 1997, review of With Friends like These, p. 87.

New Statesman & Society, July 16, 1993, Pat Kane, review of Paper Tigers, p. 38.

New Yorker, July 23, 2007, review of A Much Married Man, p. 79.

New York Times Book Review, December 4, 1988, Woody Hochswender, review of The Fashion Conspiracy, pp. 30, 32.

Observer (London, England), January 20, 1991, Boyd Tonkin, review of How I Met My Wife and Other Stories, p. 58; April 30, 2006, Andrew Barrow, "Decline and Fall of a Chinless Wonder," p. 23.

Publishers Weekly, February 21, 1994, review of Paper Tigers, p. 245; September 15, 1997, review of With Friends like These, p. 50; May 8, 2000, review of Streetsmart, p. 206; February 26, 2007, review of A Much Married Man, p. 52.

Quill, July 1, 1994, Chris Petrakos, review of Paper Tigers, p. 22.

Spectator, June 26, 1993, Magnus Linklater, review of Paper Tigers, p. 34; February 1, 1997, Christa D'Souza, review of With Friends like These, p. 33; October 23, 1999, Vicki Woods, review of Streetsmart, p. 45; February 16, 2002, Andrew Barrow, review of Godchildren, p. 36; May 6, 2006, "Wives and Wallpaper."

Times (London, England), March 17, 1988, Fiona Mac-Carthy, The Fashion Conspiracy; January 24, 1991, Antonia Brenner, review of How I Met My Wife and Other Stories, p. 20.

Times Literary Supplement, October 5, 1984, John Ure, review of Around the World in Seventy-eight Days, p. 1112; December 23, 1988, Isabel Fonseca, review of The Fashion Conspiracy, p. 1424; June 25, 1993, Michael Davie, review of Paper Tigers, p. 36; February 21, 1997, review of With Friends like These, p. 23.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), June 2, 2007, Kristin Kloberdanz, review of A Much Married Man, p. 7.

Washington Post, James T. Yenckel, "Galloping the Globe," May 27, 1985, p. C10.

ONLINE

Curled up with a Good Book,http://www.curledup.com/ (January 10, 2008), Michael Leonard, review of A Much Married Man.

Hindustan Times,http://www.hindustantimes.in/ (January 10, 2008), brief biography.