Call Number:

MSS 0672

Repository:

University of Delaware Library Special Collections

Extent:

• 17.2 linear foot (21 boxes)
• 1 oversize box
• 38 audio cassette

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

MSS 0672, Ben Yagoda papers, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

Date:

1975-2015 (inclusive)

Creator:

Yagoda, Ben

Form:

Photocopies, Manuscripts for publication, Page proofs, Business letters, Books, Magazines (periodicals), Notes, Audio cassette, Interviews, Calendars, Notebooks, and Clippings (information artifacts)

Abstract:

American author, editor, critic and blogger Ben Yagoda (born 1954) retired from teaching journalism and writing at the University of Delaware in 2016. The collection includes research material, drafts and notes, and interviews toward Yagoda's various articles and book-length projects.

Author and journalist Ben Yagoda (born 1954) is a retired professor of English and journalism at the University of Delaware. Before joining the University of Delaware faculty, Yagoda was a freelance writer and editor for several major magazines, including

Philadelphia and New Jersey Monthly.

Yagoda graduated from Yale University in 1976 and worked as an editor at

The New Leader until 1978, when he left to work as a freelance writer full time. Yagoda wrote for many different publications and edited for New Jersey Monthly and Philadelphia Magazine, while also working as a movie critic for the Philadelphia Daily News. He joined the University of Delaware faculty in 1992.

Yagoda has authored several books on writing and genre, including

How to Not Write Bad: The Most Common Writing Problems and the Best Ways to Avoid Them (2013); Memoir: A History (2009), a study of the memoir genre; When You Catch an Adjective, Kill it: The Parts of Speech, for Better and/or Worse (2007); and About Town: The New Yorker and the World It Made (2000).Yagoda retired from University of Delaware in 2018.

Yagoda, Ben. "Bio." Ben Yagoda. http://www.benyagoda.com/content/bio (accessed October 14, 2013).Yagoda, Ben. "Books." Ben Yagoda. http://www.benyagoda.com/content/books (accessed October 14, 2013).

The Ben Yagoda papers comprises 17.2 linear feet of materials documenting the publishing, editorial, and teaching career of University of Delaware professor Ben Yagoda (born 1954). The collection includes research material, drafts and notes, and interviews toward various articles and book-length projects.

The collection reflects Yagoda's research and writing processes and his particular interest in grammar and teaching students to write. The collection is arranged in six series: I. Subject files; II. Works; III. Teaching and career; IV. Notes and notebooks; V. Publications and clippings; and VI. Media.

Series I. Subject files, consists of research files Yagoda compiled and maintained on a variety of topics for potential writing projects. Some files include drafts of his later articles and correspondences with editors. The folders retain Yagoda's original labels.

Series II. Works, contains publication materials, research, notes, drafts, proofs, and manuscripts toward Yagoda's book-length writing projects. This series is organized by title of work: II.A.

About Town: The New Yorker and the World it Made ; II.B. The Art of Fact: A Historical Anthology of Literary Journalism (co-edited with Kevin Karrane) ; II.C. The B Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song ; II.D. How to Not Write Bad: The Most Common Writing Problems and the Best Ways to Avoid Them ; II.E. Memoir: A History ; II.F. The Sound on the Pages ; II.G. When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better and/or Worse ; II.H. What in the Word compilation ; and II.I. Will Rogers: A Biography. Many folders retain Yagoda's original labels.

Subseries II.A.

About Town , is the largest body of work represented in the collection. This subseries consists mostly of photocopies of primary documents that Yagoda used to write his history of The New Yorker magazine, primarily letters, proofs, notes, and memos. Some of these copies have original marginal notes and some have notes by Yagoda. Included is a full manuscript of the Selected Letters of Harold Ross , edited by Thomas Kunkel. Organized alphabetically by subject heading, research is grouped by subject and often around significant New Yorker contributors.

Subseries II.B. comprises Yagoda's notes, articles, research materials related to

The Art of Fact.

Subseries II.C. comprises publication materials, research, and drafts related to

The B Side. Publication materials include Yagoda's requests to various musicians and composers for interviews. Research materials in this series include notes, articles, clippings, and photocopied materials related to mid-century American popular song. Draft materials include various proofs and notes.

Subseries II.D. consists of the book proposal and manuscript drafts of

How to Not Write Bad . Yagoda's handwritten and typed comments are found thoughout drafts in the series. Not all of the manuscripts are complete. A proof of the publication and a letter from Yagoda's editor are also included.

Subseries II.E. consists of research materials, notes, articles, and clippings related to Yagoda's project

Memoir: A History , a study of the genre.

Subseries II.F. comprises research materials, and drafts related to

The Sound on the Page . The series includes excerpts of different types of writing, interview transcripts, and notes about specific writing styles. Correspondences and interviews with well-known writers about their style and writing processes are also included. Drafts include chapter excerpts and a full pre-publication typescript of the work. The series also includes reviews of the work

Subseries II.G. comprises research materials and drafts related to

When You Catch an Adjective. Research materials are arranged by alphabetically by part of speech. Materials in each folder relate to their history and current usage of each select part of speech. The series also contains drafts, bound galley proofs, and excerpts from the work.

Subseries II.H., comprises drafts and essays related to Yagoda's unpublished project,

What in the Word?, a compilation of the author's career-long writings. The two folders of drafts are divided into three categories: I. The States of the Language, II. Journalism Observed, and III. Literary Lives.

Subseries II.I. consists primarily of reviews of Yagoda's book

Will Rogers after publication as well as promotional materials for the work. Research for the work consists of a photocopied chapter of Frank Hawk's book Speed , an itinerary of Rogers' drought relief tour and chronology of 1931, a copy of a photograph of Rogers and his son, and Yagoda's notes.

Series III. Teaching and career, comprises materials related to Yagoda's teaching and journalism careers. Teaching materials, CVs, and correspondences to and from agents and job applications are represented in this series. Also included is some of his work from his graduate degree in American Civilization from University of Pennsylvania (1985-1990), as well as collections of work and research from his time writing for the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Series IV. Notes and notebooks, consists of Yagoda's correspondences, calendars, notes, and interviews represented in notebook transcriptions. The "notebooks" section of this series encompasses a wide range of notes, including classes Yagoda taught, lists of professional contacts, research for articles and works, letter drafts, school notes, schedules, drafts of articles, and interview transcriptions.

Series V. Publications and clippings, consists of published work of Ben Yagoda from 1976-2012, including letters to the editor, cover stories, and magazines he edited. Also in this series are books Yagoda wrote, including

All in a Lifetime: An Autobiography of Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer and Dr. Ruth Talks to Kids, which Yagoda co-wrote with Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer, and The Art of Fact, which he edited with Kevin Kerrane. This series also includes issues of the Philadelphia Magazine between 1982-1994, when Yagoda was editing and writing consistently for the magazine.

Series VI., Media, consists of recorded audiocassette interviews Yagoda conducted for The Sound on the Page, Will Rogers, and various other subjects. Also included is a VHS recording of Yagoda's appearance on the "Book Notes," program.