The Time of Their Lives
The Golden Age of Great American Book Publishers, Their Editors, and Authors
Published on 19. January 2016
512 pages
978-1-5040-2825-7 (ISBN)
Description
A lively portrait of mid-twentieth-century American book publishing-"A wonderful book, filled with anecdotal treasures" (
The New York Times).
According to Al Silverman, former publisher of Viking Press and president of the Book-of-the-Month Club, the golden age of book publishing began after World War II and lasted into the early 1980s.
In this entertaining and affectionate industry biography, Silverman captures the passionate spirit of legendary houses such as Knopf; Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Grove Press; and Harper & Row, and profiles larger-than-life executives and editors, including Alfred and Blanche Knopf, Bennett Cerf, Roger Straus, Seymour Lawrence, and Cass Canfield. More than one hundred and twenty publishing insiders share their behind-the-scenes stories about how some of the most famous books in American literary history-from The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich to The Silence of the Lambs-came into being and why they're still being read today.
A joyful tribute to the hard work and boundless energy of professionals who dedicate their careers to getting great books in front of enthusiastic readers, The Time of Their Lives will delight bibliophiles and anyone interested in this important and ever-evolving industry.
According to Al Silverman, former publisher of Viking Press and president of the Book-of-the-Month Club, the golden age of book publishing began after World War II and lasted into the early 1980s.
In this entertaining and affectionate industry biography, Silverman captures the passionate spirit of legendary houses such as Knopf; Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Grove Press; and Harper & Row, and profiles larger-than-life executives and editors, including Alfred and Blanche Knopf, Bennett Cerf, Roger Straus, Seymour Lawrence, and Cass Canfield. More than one hundred and twenty publishing insiders share their behind-the-scenes stories about how some of the most famous books in American literary history-from The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich to The Silence of the Lambs-came into being and why they're still being read today.
A joyful tribute to the hard work and boundless energy of professionals who dedicate their careers to getting great books in front of enthusiastic readers, The Time of Their Lives will delight bibliophiles and anyone interested in this important and ever-evolving industry.
More details
Person
Al Silverman (1926-2019) was the author of ten books, including
The Time of Their Lives,
My Life Is Baseball (cowritten with Frank Robinson), and
I Am Third (cowritten with Gale Sayers), which was adapted into the acclaimed television movie
Brian's Song. Over the course of his forty-year career in publishing, Silverman served as chief editor of
Sport magazine, president of the Book-of-the-Month Club, and publisher of Viking Press, where he edited works by Saul Bellow, T.C. Boyle, William Kennedy, and Robertson Davies. He lived with his wife, Rosa, in New York City.
Content
- Cover Page
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Introduction
- Part I: The Newcomers
- 1. You Are What You Publish: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- 2. Wishing for a Fair Wind: Grove Press
- 3. A Quest to Know More About the World: George Braziller
- 4. An Uncertain Partnership of Equals: Atheneum
- 5. A Most Unusual Cog in the Profession: St. Martin's Press
- Interlude: The Prettiest Backlist in the Business
- Part II: The Survivors
- 6. Independent Publishing at Its Height: The Viking Press
- 7. The Curious Family Establishment: Doubleday
- 8. The Company That Was Always About Cass: The House of Harper
- 9. Give the Reader a Break: Simon & Schuster
- Interlude: Publishing Was in His Veins
- 10. The Place That Ran by Itself: Random House
- 11. Living in a Dream World: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
- 12. A Father and Son Story: Little, Brown
- Interlude: Making Memoirs
- Part III: Swirl-The Paperbound Rush to Life
- 13. Ballantine, Avon, Pocket Books, Dell
- 14. New American Library, Bantam, Fawcett
- Interlude: The Gothic Romance
- Image Gallery
- Sources
- Index
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Copyright Page
