Readers are treated to firsthand accounts of author versus publisher spats and insights into the challenges of managing international rights for a surefire bestseller... will leave readers with a vivid picture of the working life of a publisher - Publishers Weekly. After arriving in London just before WWII as a penniless and friendless Austrian-Jewish refugee, George Weidenfeld went on to transform not only the world of publishing but the culture of ideas. The books that he published include momentous titles such as Lolita, Double Helix, The Group and The Hedgehog and the Fox, with authors he championed ranging from Joan Didion, Mary McCarthy, Golda Meir and Edna O'Brien to Henry Miller, Harold Wilson, Saul Bellow and Henry Kissinger. In this first biography, written with the support of the family, Thomas Harding provides a full, unvarnished and at times difficult history of this complex and fascinating character. Was he, as described by some, the 'greatest salesperson', 'the world's best networker', 'the publisher's publisher' and 'a great intellectual'? Or was he instead a 'swindler', a 'parvenu' or even a 'monster'? Was his life-long effort to be the world's best host a cover for his desperate loneliness? Harding has fun detailing his subject's four marriages and associated romantic interludes. Who, in fact, was the real George Weidenfeld? Packed with fascinating accounts of book deals and debacles during the 'golden age of publishing,' as well as plenty of high-society gossip, drawing on author correspondence, internal memos and other documents buried deep in the secret publishing files of Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Harding provides an unprecedented look at how the publishing industry actually works. Structured around 20 books associated with George Weidenfeld, and intercut with explorations of contemporary concerns such as cancel culture, the right to publish, freedom of speech and separating the art from the artist, The Publisher is an illuminating account of a misunderstood character, providing fascinating insight into what makes a successful book and a successful publisher. Photos, 324 pages.
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