The Business of Books: How the International Conglomerates Took Over Publishing and Changed the Way We Read

First edition. 12mo. Pp. viii, 181. Index. Quarter-bound black cloth over grey paper-covered boards, stamped in silver to spine; black endpapers.

Post-war American publishing has been ruthlessly transformed since André Schiffrin joined its ranks in 1956. Gone is the plethora of small but prestigious houses that often put ideas before profit. Now six – since consolidated into the "Big Five" – behemoths share 80% of the market and profit margin is all.

Currently the Director of the New Press, a flourishing independent house which he founded in 1993, André Schiffrin was, for thirty years, Publisher at Pantheon. Part-memoir, part-history, The Business of Books is an account of the collapsing standards of contemporary publishing. "Impassioned... a fascinating account of the post-World War II publishing scene." –USA Today