To All the Books I Published Before - The Millions

Last spring, Henry Bean, with whom I hadn't been in touch for at least 30 years, sent me an email to tell me that McNally Editions was reissuing his first and only novel, False Match, under its original title, The Nenoquich, as part of its series of "hidden gems." What thrilling news! Most first novels, unless the author goes on to write more, vanish and are never heard of again. And now, 41 years later, the signal novel of my career as a young editor was making a comeback.

As it happened, that email was bookended by the deaths of two book publishing titans who were my models and inspirations: Dick Snyder, the tough, brave, unbookish marketing genius who made his publishing house function like a business; and Bob Gottlieb, the brilliant, erudite, and highly eccentric editor who was without a doubt the most important editor of the second half of the 20th century.