David Carr
New York Times Media Columnist
David Carr is a reporter for The New York Times, writing the weekly "Media Equation Column" and contributing pieces to the Culture section. But twenty years before he came to work at the Times, he was a hopeless coke addict and an alcoholic. He sobered up, obtained custody of his twin daughters, survived a bout of cancer and became a successful journalist.
His book "The Night of the Gun: A Reporter Investigates the Darkest Story of His Life. His Own" pieces together the story of his seemingly impossible journey from crack-house regular to regular columnist for the New York Times. The book has been very well-received, with the New Yorker calling it “riveting,” the New York Times Book Review describing it as “brave, heart-felt (and) funny” while the Wall Street called it “arresting” and Time describing it as “a great read.”
In conceiving the book as a reported memoir, Carr set out to fact-check his memory against on-the-ground reporting. Built on sixty videotaped interviews, legal and medical records, and three years of reporting, The Night of the Gun is a ferocious tale that uses the tools of journalism to verify the past. In so doing, Carr breathes life into the besmirched genre of memoir by providing a fierce, funny and brutally honest look his life and the quixotic nature of memory. A companion website, nightofthegun.com, gives the reader a deep look into Carr’s notebook, adding verisimilitude and transparency to the book.
At the podium, Carr speaks about recovery, addiction, and personal accountability, reminding listeners that there is no such thing as “hopeless.” Carr went from practical homelessness and chronic unemployment to a job at one of the nation’s most prestigious media organizations, a journey of sobriety, industry, and of course, a large amount of luck. Apart from drawing on his improbable second act, Carr uses his experience in researching his own story to explore the nature of memory and the tendency of people to mythologize their own past, presenting only a history they can live with.
Carr began working at the Times in 2002 covering the magazine publishing industry for the Business section. Prior to arriving at the Times, Carr was a contributing writer for The Atlantic Monthly and New York Magazine; writer for Inside.com, a web news site focusing on the business of entertainment and publishing; and editor of the Washington City Paper, an alternative weekly in Washington D.C. for five years.
During the Oscar season, Carr writes a daily blog about the awards season as "The Carpetbagger," including weekly video segments. For the past 25 years, Carr has been writing about media as it intersects with business, culture and government. He know writes about the intersection of media and culture, with a particular emphasis on the how digital technology is altering the entertainment landscape.
He is married, with three children and lives in Montclair, New Jersey.
Interested in booking David Carr to speak at your next event?
His book "The Night of the Gun: A Reporter Investigates the Darkest Story of His Life. His Own" pieces together the story of his seemingly impossible journey from crack-house regular to regular columnist for the New York Times. The book has been very well-received, with the New Yorker calling it “riveting,” the New York Times Book Review describing it as “brave, heart-felt (and) funny” while the Wall Street called it “arresting” and Time describing it as “a great read.”
In conceiving the book as a reported memoir, Carr set out to fact-check his memory against on-the-ground reporting. Built on sixty videotaped interviews, legal and medical records, and three years of reporting, The Night of the Gun is a ferocious tale that uses the tools of journalism to verify the past. In so doing, Carr breathes life into the besmirched genre of memoir by providing a fierce, funny and brutally honest look his life and the quixotic nature of memory. A companion website, nightofthegun.com, gives the reader a deep look into Carr’s notebook, adding verisimilitude and transparency to the book.
At the podium, Carr speaks about recovery, addiction, and personal accountability, reminding listeners that there is no such thing as “hopeless.” Carr went from practical homelessness and chronic unemployment to a job at one of the nation’s most prestigious media organizations, a journey of sobriety, industry, and of course, a large amount of luck. Apart from drawing on his improbable second act, Carr uses his experience in researching his own story to explore the nature of memory and the tendency of people to mythologize their own past, presenting only a history they can live with.
Carr began working at the Times in 2002 covering the magazine publishing industry for the Business section. Prior to arriving at the Times, Carr was a contributing writer for The Atlantic Monthly and New York Magazine; writer for Inside.com, a web news site focusing on the business of entertainment and publishing; and editor of the Washington City Paper, an alternative weekly in Washington D.C. for five years.
During the Oscar season, Carr writes a daily blog about the awards season as "The Carpetbagger," including weekly video segments. For the past 25 years, Carr has been writing about media as it intersects with business, culture and government. He know writes about the intersection of media and culture, with a particular emphasis on the how digital technology is altering the entertainment landscape.
He is married, with three children and lives in Montclair, New Jersey.
Interested in booking David Carr to speak at your next event?
Contact Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau.
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- THE NIGHT OF THE GUN: A Reporter Investigates the Darkest Story of His Life. His Own
- Addiction and Recovery
- Intersection of Politics, Media and Society
- Film Industry
