Harper's Magazine

Lewis Lapham at Harper's wanted writers placed on the first page. Michael Pollan edited at Harper's for about ten years. His editor Lewis Lapham distrusted the omniscient third-person voice because it fakes an authority that isn't real. He wanted the writer situated on the first page in a small way, not as confession.

Lapham kept asking of each pitch: who is this person and why do they care? Pollan quotes his view that the omniscient voice "implies an authority that isn't real."

How I Write▶ 22:50

Dana Gioia returned a Harper's advance rather than change an essay. Gioia sent back the Harper's advance instead of altering the essay, and chose to publish it elsewhere. He says saying no is the key to his success.

The Harper's essay is not named. Separately, he held back "Can Poetry Matter?" at the Atlantic after it was accepted, then added a middle section two months later. That essay drew more mail than any article in the Atlantic's history.

How I Write▶ 11:07