David Streitfeld

David Streitfeld is a Pulitzer Prize–winning American journalist, best known for his reporting on books and technology. During his tenure as book reporter at The Washington Post, he definitively identified Joe Klein as the "Anonymous" author of the 1996 novel Primary Colors,^[1] upon which Klein admitted authorship, despite earlier denials.^[2]

Career

During his career, Streitfeld wrote for The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and is currently^[when?] a technology reporter for the New York Times. Since 1999, he has reported from San Francisco.

Washington Post

At The Washington Post, Streitfeld covered books and publishing between 1987 and 1998; for three more years, he covered Silicon Valley and technology for the Post from San Francisco.^[3] In 1997, Streitfeld identified Joe Klein as Anonymous, the author of the bestselling book about the Clinton presidential campaign, Primary Colors. Streitfeld, a book collector, spotted a galley proof, a pre-publication version of the novel, listed for sale in an antiquarian booksellers catalog. The proof reproduced handwritten changes, which Streitfeld sent to a handwriting expert, who compared the notes to Joe Klein's handwriting, confirming that he was the author.^[4]

Streitfeld has reported extensively on Amazon's business practices, dating back to the 1990s, when the company was primarily an online bookstore. In 1998, Streitfeld gave Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, his first tour of the Washington Post, which Bezos purchased in 2013.^[5] "The editors there thought Amazon was cute, interesting, a frill — not something transformative. The notion that the Post would one day be owned by the guy with the goofy laugh sitting in front of them was literally inconceivable.”^[6]

Los Angeles Times

In 2001, Streitfeld joined the Los Angeles Times as a technology reporter, later switching to covering Enron, housing, and general economics. In July 2006, the Atlantic magazine named him "The Bard of the Bubble" for his LA Times real estate coverage.^[7]

New York Times

In 2007, Streitfeld joined The New York Times as Chicago business reporter and later covered technology subjects.

Streitfeld was one of a team of New York Times reporters who won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for a series of 10 articles on the business practices of Apple and other technology companies.^[8][9] Streitfeld's contribution focused on freelance programmers and how hard it could be to make a living making apps for the iPhone.

In May 2014, Streitfeld broke the story of Amazon.com's negotiating tactics with publishing house Hachette,^[10] which he continued to cover for multiple months.^[11] The reporting on the topic by The New York Times and Streitfeld was the subject of a piece by The New York Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan in October 2014.^[12]

In January 2015, Melville House published Gabriel Garcia Marquez: The Last Interview, a collection edited by Streitfeld. The introduction details his friendship with Marquez and the circumstances of their talks on two continents.^[13]

In August 2015, Streitfeld and New York Times colleague Jodi Kantor co-authored Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace.^[14] The 6000-word story generated more than 6600 comments, the largest number of comments on a story in The New York Times history and the Times story reporting this fact drew over 200 comments.^[15]

Since 2015, Streitfeld has edited books in the "Last Interview" series for Melville House. The books collect interviews with authors. He has edited collections by Gabriel García Márquez, Philip K. Dick, Ursula Le Guin, Hunter S. Thompson, and David Foster Wallace.^[16] Maureen Corrigan gave a favorable review to the Philip K. Dick collection on NPR's Fresh Air.^[17]

Streitfeld is currently working on a book about the Texas writer Larry McMurtry to be published by Mariner Books.^[18]

Popular culture

Streitfeld's longtime friendship with science fiction author Elizabeth Hand inspired her Nebula Award-winning short story Echo.^[19]

Awards

• 2012 "Best in Business" award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers for his The New York Times stories on fake online reviews. Judges cited "a really nice job detailing this new review economy and how these reviews are replacing traditional advertising."^[20]
• 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting as part of a team reporting on the tech industry.^[21] Streitfeld's contribution was "As Boom Lures App Creators, Tough Part Is Making a Living", published on November 17, 2012.
• 2017 William Randolph Hearst Foundation Professional Award for Excellence presented by San Jose State University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications.^[22]

Personal life

Streitfeld is married and has a daughter. He lives near San Francisco, California, with a book collection exceeding 10,000 volumes.^[6] As a tech reporter, Streitfeld is reported to not use much technology outside of his job.^[23]

Books

• Gabriel García Márquez: The Last Interview (as editor). Melville House (2015) ISBN 978-1-61219-480-6. A collection of interviews with the Nobel Prize-winning author, including two by Streitfeld.
• Philip K. Dick: The Last Interview and Other Conversations (as editor). Melville House (2015) ISBN 978-1-61219-526-6 Parameter error in {{ISBN}}: checksum. A collection of interviews with the science fiction author, including the first one ever published and one conducted the day before his fatal stroke.
• J. D. Salinger: The Last Interview and Other Conversations (as editor). Melville House (2016) ISBN 978-1-61219-589-6.
• Hunter S. Thompson: The Last Interview and Other Conversations (as editor). Melville House (2018) ISBN 978-1-61219-693-0.
• David Foster Wallace: The Last Interview and Other Conversations (as editor). Melville House (2018) ISBN 978-1-61219-741-8. An expanded edition, with a new introduction by Streitfeld.
• Ursula K. Le Guin: The Last Interview (as editor). Melville House (2019) ISBN 978-1-61219-779-1.
• Western Star: Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove, and the Making of an American Myth (forthcoming). Mariner Books.^[18]

References

1. Alicia Shepard. "A "book nut" turned sleuth. (searching for the author of 'Primary Colors')," American Journalism Review, September 1996.
2. David Corn. "The Liars Club," 2008-05-17 at the Wayback Machine Salon.com, July 18, 1996. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
3. Craig Offman. "Washington Post book reporter defects," 2004-03-01 at the Wayback Machine Salon.com, August 4, 1999. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
4. Streitfeld, David (1996-07-17). "Anonymous' Undone By His Own Hand?". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
5. Irwin, Neil; Mui, Ylan Q. (2013-08-05). "Washington Post sale: Details of Bezos deal". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
6. Hare, Kristen (2014-06-05). "David Streitfeld on Amazon: 'They don't care if they're liked'". Poynter. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
7. William Powers. "The Bard of the Bubble," 2008-07-20 at the Wayback Machine the Atlantic, July 25, 2006. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.
8. "The 2013 Pulitzer Prize Winners - Explanatory Reporting". Pulitzer.org. from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
9. "2013 Journalism Pulitzer Winners". The New York Times. 15 April 2013. from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
10. Kristen Hare, David Streitfeld on Amazon: 'They don’t care if they’re liked' 2015-02-08 at the Wayback Machine, Poynter.org, June 5, 2014. Retrieved on 8 February 2015.
11. David Streitfeld, Amazon and Hachette Resolve Dispute 2017-02-25 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 13 November 2014. Retrieved on 8 February 2015.
12. Margaret Sullivan, Publishing Battle Should Be Covered, Not Joined, 2017-01-05 at the Wayback Machine The New York Times, 4 October 2014. Retrieved on 8 February 2015.
13. Gabriel Garcia Marquez: The Last Interview 2015-01-08 at the Wayback Machine, Melville House website. Retrieved on 8 February 2015.
14. Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace 2017-06-29 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 16 August 2015. Retrieved on 19 January 2016.
15. A Deluge of Comments from Readers with an Opinion About Amazon 2017-07-31 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 18 August 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
16. Philip K. Dick: The Last Interview 2016-02-14 at the Wayback Machine, Melville House website. Retrieved on 19 January 2016.
17. Revisiting The 'Last Interview' Of Ernest Hemingway, Philip K. Dick And Nora Ephron 2018-09-16 at the Wayback Machine, NPR.org, 11 January 2016. Retrieved on 19 January 2016.
18. "Sold to Publishers, November 2021". Biographers International Organization. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
19. Elizabeth Hand's short story "Echo," earns her second Nebula Award! 2008-05-02 at the Wayback Machine, M Press Books News, May 2007.
20. "2012 Best in Business competition winners". SABEW. from the original on 3 April 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
21. "The 2013 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Explanatory Reporting, Staff of the New York Times". www.pulitzer.org. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
22. "David Streitfeld / Academic Spotlight". blogs.sjsu.edu. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
23. "When a Tech Reporter Doesn't Use Much Tech". July 18, 2018. from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.

External links

• Column archive at The New York Times