Editor's Note

A Numbing Sensation

By Tim Whitaker
Add Comment Add Comment | Comments: 2 | Posted Jul. 23, 2008

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But why sweat the details?

In the '90s, Carr served as editor of the Washington City Paper.

We'd met a few times, briefly, and each time he seemed pleasant, rational and conventionally unconventional.

Yet rumors and stories about Carr were rampant and persistent: He was a dick, a visionary, a crackhead, an abusive boss, a remarkably prolific writer, a top-flight line editor.

Always, though, it would come back to crackhead.

When Carr landed at the New York Times, most of us with only passing knowledge of his history figured it had been exaggerated in the extreme.

People with "crackhead" on their resume don't get hired at the New York Times.

To write well you have to live inside your own head a lot.

Good writers are never off the clock; they think about their stories 24/7.

The good ones ruminate over how to fairly depict their subjects and replay what they witnessed over and over until certain what they saw was truth and not illusion.

Few who try writing have the energy or work ethic to pull off the kind of disciplined thinking it takes to succeed long-term.

To be clear, Carr, the user, was not like the pedestrian users we all know.

He didn't just do a little recreational blow in the bathroom between sets at clubs, or get into the occasional macho dustup after throwing down too many shots with buddies at the local dive. He was a one-man wrecking crew--Hunter S. Thompson meets John Belushi; Kurt Cobain meets Robert Downey Jr.

His abuse was epic; the fact that he's still alive, miraculous.

At times you'll want to hurl The Night of the Gun across the room in exasperation. In some passages Carr comes perilously close to fetishizing his fucked-up buddies of yore and the life he says he left behind.

In these moments he can seem frighteningly vulnerable and more than a little uncool.

Still, where it counts, when writing about himself, Carr is unmerciful: What. An. Asshole.

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1. Tom T. said... on Jul 23, 2008 at 08:27PM

“"That NYT took a chance on Carr shows just how deep his talent runs." Or it, hmm, suggests some quality control issues at the Times.”

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2. nelle bird said... on Jul 27, 2008 at 05:58PM

“integrity in the work place...a fascinating issue in any field, of that I am certain. Well chosen topic, and it satiates...lets face it; what writer doesn't want to write about writing? cheers.”

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