Taylor Jenkins Reid is the subject of Time magazine’s new cover story.
Lucy Feldman profiled the bestselling author of novels including The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones & the Six, Carrie Soto Is Back, and the forthcoming Atmosphere for the magazine. Reid joins a relatively short list of literary figures to appear on its cover this century, including Amanda Gorman, Colson Whitehead, and Jonathan Franzen.
Two of Reid’s books have been adapted for the screen, and three more adaptations in the works. Reid told Time she never knows how to react when people ask her how it feels to have found literary success or to have received the approval of Stevie Nicks, said to be the inspiration for the Daisy Jones character. Nicks has floated the idea of working on a second season of the series.
“Well, what do you want me to feel?” Reid said. “Like I’m hot shit? That happened to somebody else, I think. It happened to Taylor Jenkins Reid, right? God bless her. Good for you, babe.”
Reid also discussed getting negative reviews for her 2021 novel, Malibu Rising, which she thought might be well received by literary critics. One reviewer dismissed the novel as “Candy Land Franzen.”
“Because I know you’re trying to insult me, it hurts,” Reid said. “But I am not writing as complex stories as Jonathan Franzen—that wasn’t the point. So it probably is Candy Land Franzen. And maybe I love being Candy Land Franzen. I’m chasing a feeling. Maybe it doesn’t matter if I’m fancy. Maybe I’m just fun.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
