Cosmo Landesman (born September 1954) is a British-based American-born journalist and editor. With his then-wife

Julie Burchill Julie Burchill (born 3 July 1959) is an English writer. Beginning as a staff writer at the ''New Musical Express'' at the age of 17, she has since contributed to newspapers such as ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''The Sunday Times'' and ''The Guardi ...

and friend

Toby Young Toby Daniel Moorsom Young, Baron Young of Acton (born 17 October 1963), is a British social commentator and life peer. He is the founder and director of the Free Speech Union, an associate editor of ''The Spectator'', creator of '' The Daily S ...

, he founded the

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

'' Modern Review'', which operated from 1991 to 1995 with Young as editor.

Early life

Cosmo Landesman is the older of two sons of writer and publisher Jay Landesman and lyricist and poet

Fran Landesman Fran Landesman (born Frances Deitsch; October 21, 1927 – July 23, 2011) was an American lyricist and Poetry, poet. She grew up in New York City and lived for years in St. Louis, Missouri, where her husband Jay Landesman operated the Crystal Pal ...

, from

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

and New York, respectively. He and his younger brother Miles Davis Landesman were born in St. Louis. Their parents worked in music and theatre. The family emigrated to London in 1964. By 1967, they embraced

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

culture, wearing beads and long hair. While Cosmo studied books more deeply, Miles became footloose, leaving their secondary school. Always more bookish, Cosmo envied his younger brother's willingness to plunge into the world; he left school in London at age 16 and experimented with the fringes of performance.Landesman, Cosmo (11 October 2008). "My brother, my hero"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Retrieved 16 January 2014 In 2008, by then a journalist for several decades, Landesman's memoir ''Starstruck'' was published. The book largely concerns growing up with his theatrical parents, described by Geordie Greig as "two wacky, middle-aged American egotists who arrived in 'the land of the stiff upper lip' and caused mayhem. Blind to their own blush-making toxicity, they were obsessed with being famous." Landesman also came to terms with his parents, who viewed themselves as appropriate subjects for his book.

Career

''The Modern Review''

With his then wife,

, he became friends with

, a writer and editor. The three collaborated on founding ''The Modern Review'' in 1991, in which they intended to cover low-brow culture for the high-brows. The founders argued how to proceed when circulation fell. Landesman and Burchill separated after she had an affair with Charlotte Raven, who was then an intern at ''The Modern Review''. Landesman quit the UK in 1995 for

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He was one of the contributors to '' Vanity Fair's'' '' Cool Britannia'' issue in March 1997. He was a dating columnist for ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

''.

Article in ''The Spectator''

In April 2022, an article by Landesman in ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'', arguing for a right to "stare at women", was criticised by

British Transport Police British Transport Police (BTP; ) is a national special police force that polices the railway network of England, Wales and Scotland, which consists of over 10,000 miles of track and 3,000 stations and depots. BTP also polices the London Under ...

. His article was in response to a poster campaign which warned against 'intrusive staring'. Dawn Butler MP criticised the magazine for publishing the "creepy and misogynistic" article.

Personal life

As a young man, he joined the Groucho Club. He married Julie Burchill. Their son, Jack, took his own life in June 2015, aged 29, after suffering depression for many years. In 2024, he described himself as living in " genteel poverty" after spending the money he received from an inheritance in the 2000s unwisely and ignoring his financial affairs.

Bibliography

Books

Articles

Critical studies and reviews of Landesman's work

;''Starstruck'' *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landesman, Cosmo 1954 births Living people British film critics British Jews The Spectator people Writers from St. Louis The Sunday Times people