Luxagraf

People always complain that there’s no good books being written anymore, but the truth is there’s no good books being published anymore. Ever since the publishing houses became multi-million dollar enterprises the level of risk taking dropped dramatically. Of course there’s a record of all the publisher’s bad decision, which this NYT piece wades through. Case in point”

“In the summer of 1950, Alfred A. Knopf Inc. turned down the English-language rights to a Dutch manuscript after receiving a particularly harsh reader’s report. The work was ‘very dull,’ the reader insisted, ‘a dreary record of typical family bickering, petty annoyances and adolescent emotions.’ Sales would be small because the main characters were neither familiar to Americans nor especially appealing. ‘Even if the work had come to light five years ago, when the subject was timely,’ the reader wrote, ‘I don’t see that there would have been a chance for it.’”

“Knopf wasn’t alone. The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank, would be rejected by 15 others before Doubleday published it in 1952. More than 30 million copies are currently in print, making it one of the best-selling books in history.”

And the truth is, despite blunders of this nature, there are good books published all the time, most of them just aren’t on the major presses — more or less just like the major labels in the music industry haven’t released a decent record in twenty years.

Visit Site: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/books/review/Oshinsky-t.html?ei=5090&...