Amanda Dameron

Editor / Architecture; Interior Design; Product Design / United States / Dwell Media

Design Editor’s Choice: Amanda Dameron’s Book List

Reading has always been a simple pleasure for me, something I’m driven to do. I don’t remember a time in which I didn’t know how to read—though perhaps I should say I don’t remember a time in which I didn’t know how to lose myself by simply enjoying a book.

Last year I moved from the West Coast to New York, and I barely brought any furniture or clothes with me. What I did bring was 50 boxes of books and vintage magazines. For the first time in my life, I am lucky enough to have enough bookcase space to display all of my collection.

My list contains books that have seeded my design education, books that have contributed to my understanding of and appreciation for editing, and books that have simply delighted me.

2 books
Ved Mehta

This book is a touching tribute to the incomparable William Shawn, the editor of The New Yorker from 1952 to 1987, written by one of his long-standing contributing writers, Ved Mehta. I’ve long been interested in the life of Mr. Shawn, who was an exceedingly sensitive editor, a staunch defender of writers, and a complicated man in his personal life. This book helped me understand why he was considered such a great editor: he listened and focused on the ideas and words of the writers, but he did not rewrite. A good editor is flexible, but stands firm when needed, not without emotion but without ego.

Mary Wortley Montagu
Introduction by Anita Desai
Text edited and annotated by Malcolm Jack

Written in the first half of the 18th century by Lady Mary Wortley, wife of an ambassador to Turkey, this book is one of the finest collections of travel essays I’ve read. Her language is so evocative, the details she notes about the people, buildings, places she visits are beautiful without being florid. Her narrative style is objective without being dispassionate, engaging and innately curious.

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