Obscure in the Shade of Giants

"Readers dismayed at the increasing corporatization of the publishing world, lamented by Andr‚ Schiffrin in The Business of Books (LJ 8/00) and Jason Epstein in Book Business (Norton, 2001), will be somewhat heartened by this collection of interviews with 35 figures involved with independent presses. Gold (Publishing Lives) has interviewed 26 publishers, three book distributors, a sales representative, a wholesaler, two bookstore owners, a novelist, and a poet, granting them free rein to discuss visions as varied as his subjects themselves. Barney Rosset, who ran Grove Press, relates his legal battles against the censors to publish Henry Miller; Milkweed Editions’ Emilie Buchwald complains of the distributors who are “taking the money that should go to authors and publishing companies”; C.W. Truesdale, of nonprofit New Rivers Press, and Pearl Kilbride, of for-profit Ruminator Books, weigh the pros and cons of seeking outside funding; while Consortium Book Sales’ Randall Beek bemoans the decreasing shelf lives of books in chain stores. What emerges through the gloom is their deep commitment a commitment Schiffrin and Epstein would instantly recognize. A worthy follow-up to Volume 1: Interviews With Independent Book Publisher in the Pacific Northwest; recommended for academic, literary, and large business libraries." — Richard Koss, Library Journal

“These are people with a passion for books, reading and literature. They know full well what they’re up against but have an upbeat spirit. They’re cultured and literate the way the marketing slugs at the conglomerates can never understand.” — ZYX