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Frank Rich Memoir Papering the House to Publish April 6

Penguin Press will release the Times critic's memoir about his years covering Broadway's 1980s crisis.

Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Books

Wide view of an empty mid-century theater auditorium with rows of red velvet seats facing a bare stage under a single warm spotlight.
Penguin Press will publish Frank Rich's memoir Papering the House on April 6, recounting his years covering Broadway's struggling 1980s theater scene. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Penguin Press will publish Papering the House: A Memoir by Frank Rich on April 6. The book is set against the 1980s New York theater scene, when Broadway struggled to fill its houses.

Why it matters

The memoir offers a first-hand account of a formative period for American theater criticism and the New York stage. It follows Rich's earlier book Ghost Light and his commentary on media and politics.

Papering the House is scheduled for release on April 6, 2026, by Penguin Press. Rich joined the New York Times as drama critic in 1980, and the extraction does not provide sales projections or commercial figures for the book.

The players

Frank Rich

Frank Rich is a longtime New York Times drama critic and opinion columnist who previously wrote The Greatest Story Ever Sold and the memoir Ghost Light.

Penguin Press

Penguin Press is an American imprint of Penguin Random House that publishes general-interest nonfiction and literary titles.

The details

Papering the House: A Memoir recounts Rich's early career and the state of the New York theater scene in the 1980s. Rich is currently chief drama critic and an opinion columnist for the New York Times and writer-at-large for New York Magazine.

Timeline

  1. • 1980: Rich is hired as drama critic for the New York Times, as Broadway struggles to fill its houses.

  2. • April 6, 2026: Penguin Press releases Papering the House: A Memoir.

Legacy Context

Papering the House follows Rich's earlier memoir Ghost Light, extending his account of a career spent covering New York theater and national culture. It joins his body of work that includes The Greatest Story Ever Sold, which examined media and politics from 9/11 through Katrina.

Readers interested in Broadway history and criticism can pre-order Papering the House ahead of its April 6 release. The memoir will be available through standard bookstore and online retail channels once published.

The takeaway

Rich's memoir arrives as a personal record of how a critic watched a major cultural institution struggle and recover. Readers who follow American theater or media criticism will find its first-hand perspective a useful companion to his earlier work.

What happens next

Papering the House is scheduled for release by Penguin Press on April 6, 2026.

Further reading

Browse more recent releases in Books to see how memoirs by critics and journalists are being covered this year.