Boris Kachka named Los Angeles Times books editor

Los Angeles Times Executive Editor Norman Pearlstine, Managing Editor Scott Kraft and Deputy Managing Editor for Arts and Entertainment Julia Turner made the following announcement.

We’re pleased to announce that Boris Kachka is joining The Times as books editor. Kachka comes to us from New York magazine, where he has been books editor for the last few years, and a writer and editor for two decades. During his time there, he was an early stalwart of the magazine’s inventive “Culture” section; reported features on authors including Joan Didion, Toni Morrison, and Harper Lee; and investigated turmoil at various cultural and media institutions, including the New York Times, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and WNYC. He’s also written and edited every conceivable type of story for digital and for print. In recent years he has substantially expanded the magazine’s book coverage across all of its verticals, overseeing excerpts, stories on new authors and titles, publishing news, and more.

Kachka is also the author of several books, including “Hothouse: The Art of Survival and the Survival of Art at America’s Most Celebrated Publishing House, Farrar, Straus and Giroux” and “Becoming a Veterinarian.” (He’s versatile!)

Kachka will be reporting to Julia Turner and working closely with Donna Wares on the Book Club she launched this year. He starts on January 13.