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At Random: The Reminiscences of Bennett Cerf

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When all of us who are now officially Older Than Dirt were growing up back in the 1960's, we usually aspired to be one of three particular men of achievement. For those of us with an athletic bent, Mickey Mantle was the man of choice. For those adventurers and dreamers among us, John Glenn appeared to offer the perfect life. Finally, for us bookish sorts, Bennett Cerf, publisher of Random House, panelist on "What's My Line," author of some of the worst puns ever written, and all around man about town, was who we aspired to be. This book is in essence his memoirs, told in oral history format just a short time before his unexpected death in 1971. He describes in detail why he was able to grow Random House at such a rapid rate: in his day, the book business was a stuffy one, and no publisher worth his salt would dream of lowering himself to seek out new authors. Bennett, being young, foolish, and very intelligent, would travel to wherever these authors lived and impress them with his obvious wit and sincerity. The sheer number and weight of authors whose service he was able to acquire through these means was absolutely staggering: Eugene O'Neill, James Joyce, Robinson Jeffers, Gertrude Stein, and Bill Styron, to name a very few. Through his liberal editing policies, he was even able to publish authors whose ideas he completely disagreed with, such as Ayn Rand. Some, like playwright Moss Hart, became lifelong friends. Although New Yorkers have long thought of their city as the center of the universe, Bennett's long and storied career made many believe it was true. The reader will enjoy his chatty, breezy style time and again, as a reminder that at one time, in the world of books and publishing, one man truly made a difference.

Bennett Cerf's legendary career had him founding, leading, then selling one of the world's pre-eminent publishing houses, writing best-selling anthology and humor collections, speaking live and appearing weekly on the "What's My Line?" quiz program. He assembled much of his oral history through transcribed interviews and journals for what would be his autobiography, which he planned to write before dying in 1971.

His family, most notably son Christopher, assembled "At Random" from Cerf's exhaustive life chronicles. His family focused it, according to their introduction, "primarily about publishing and (Cerf's) pre-eminent role in it."

The result is a fascinating story which assembles Cerf's life and career as businessman, newspaperman, TV celebrity and, finally, his role as husband, father, and friend (a lovingly remembered childhood, glimpses of his marriages and family, loving remembrances of friends and co-workers from George Gershwin to Moss Hart.)

Cerf knew and published some of the 20th century's most well-known and beloved authors. "At Random" teems with anecdotes and personal remembrances of James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence, Dorothy Parker, Sinclair Lewis (with some frank critique of his career), William Faulkner, and Ayn Rand. Cerf also crosses paths with legends like New York's Cardinal Spellman (who shares an unusual lunch date with author John O'Hara) Presidents Roosevelt and Truman, and General David Sarnoff who, at the book's conclusion, clashes with Cerf over a fraction in Random House's sale price to RCA.

"At Random" has much to teach about publishing, its machinations and the egos and careers of its stars, the authors. But you come away wanting to know Bennett Cerf better: his political liberalism, hot temper, love of celebrity and of language. He hints at each in his narrative, only leading you to wish other quotes and remembrances could have been included in an addendum to this lovingly compiled book.. (Excerpts from some of his still popular pun collections may have helped.)

"At Random" examines the life and legacy of a celebrity too rare amid an increasingly sordid and more coarse media landscape - an author and businessman who became a TV celebrity first, celebrating the brief period when books were as anticipated and celebrated as films and recorded music are today. It's essential for anyone appreciating 20th century classic literature and history, a love letter to its first star authors and, by proxy, the man who published them.

It was Cerf's intention to write AT RANDOM using as a basis the transcriptions of 21 question and answer interviews conducted by Mary R. Hawkins of Columbia University's Oral History program. Unfortunately, he died before he could edit these thousand or so pages into a cohesive manuscript. The good news was that he had discussed his intentions with the editors of this book, and they feel that they have brought his intentions to fruition.

They not only used the aforementioned transcripts, but they also made use of the copious diaries that he had kept since his student days at Columbia University. In addition to that, they had his scrapbooks and many articles he had written which came in handy where clarification was needed.

The resulting book is not just a biography of Bennett Cerf's life. It is also a history of the publishing business, centering, of course around the company he had co-founded, Random House, and containing a number of anecdotes about writers, entertainers, politicians, editors, power-brokers, and just plain everyday people, and, in addition, it is a condensed history of the U.S. for the first three quarters of the twentieth century.

Through the course of the book we are given insights into the characters and personalities of such diverse persona as Eugene O'Neill, Robert Sherwood, Ayn Rand, George Gershwin, Moss Hart, Irwin Shaw, Harry Truman, Douglas MacArthur and many, many more with whom Cerf had business and/or personal relations. No matter how difficult the person was to deal with (and many of them were) he could usually find some redeeming features. There were one or two exceptions to this, but I'll let you read the book to find out who and why.

Along the way, Cerf was instrumental in building the company, Random House, that he had co-founded and nursed through its infancy, from a single office with four or five people to a publicly owned organization, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and one with a book list that included a number of authors and titles that anyone would be proud to represent. Many of the books Random House brought out were Pulitzer Prize winners, Book-of-the-Month Club selections, etc. He was also responsible for bringing the Modern Library to its prominent current position in the book industry. On the reverse side of the coin, he was also responsible for bringing out a few real stinkers.

Along with his business acumen, Cerf built up a reputation of honesty and integrity. He was well liked by almost everyone who knew him and was respected for his compassion and sense of humor.

When he died, THE SATURDAY REVIEW OF LITERATURE carried an obituary that included the words I used for the title of this review. AT RANDOM concludes with an excerpt from this obituary.

The beauty of this book is that you get to know Bennett Cerf as the scholarly, brillant, and excellent businessman who met the most amazing and well known writers of the 20th century. The gentle questioner on What's My Line was the powerhouse of Random House.

This is the book you keep if you want insights into the personalities of such greats as Sinclair Lewis, F Scott Fitzgerald, William Saroyan, James Joyce, William Faulkner, Dorothy Parker, and a hundred other writers.

This is the book you keep when you want to remember a time when, in business deals, your word was all that was needed and great writing meant having something intelligent to say.

Bennett Cerf, who older readers, will remember as the witty and charming panelist on the TV Show, "What's My Line?", from the l950s and 60s, will not be disappointed with his recollections. He has incredible anecdotes and reminiscences of many of the top authors of the 20th Century, including Eugene O'Neill, William Faulkner, Sinclair Lewis, and, yes, even Truman Capote. He also offers a wonderful history of publishing in New York, and knew everyone from Simon and Schuster to Alfred Knopf. He brings all these names and times to life in a series of short, but memorable, chapters. If you love reading, this book will enhance your love and understanding of your favorite writers. It's the perfect book for your nightstand. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This book is a must read for bibliophiles. Mr.Cerf may be more well known by the public for his radio and television appearances, but the bulk of this book is dedicated to his adventures in publishing. This book made me want to go into the publishing business! He talks about many well known authors: Ayn Rand, Eugene O'Neill, William Saroyan, and William Faulkner just to name a few. He also devotes time to writing about the ins and outs of the publishing business. On every page, Cerf's love of books and publishing is obvious. The book is interesting, funny, and informative. I highly recommend it.

The title gives us a clue as to the interesting irony we will find and enjoy in reading this book. These are stories told by a founder of Random House, and he tells them in a friendly and free-structured style. We gain not only insights into the private lives of some of the world's best-known authors, but also a sense of what goes on behind the scenes in getting a book from the author's typewriter (as was the case in those days) to the printing press and the bestseller list. A classic memoir of a book publisher's heart and mind. A delightful book to read--in one sitting or at random.

From his early days at Columbia, starting out with the Liveright Publishers in the 1920's, and buying into the Modern Library Classics, this is without doubt the best look at publishing I've ever read! The amusing story of how a special copy of Ulysses came across the Atlantic, and into the hands of US Customs is worth the price of the book! Add to that, hilarious yarns, like meeting with Gerturde Stein & her Sidekick Alice, featuring the hilarious promotion of their book so it could "compete" with the hot new book FOREVER AMBOR ,and its even hotter author K. Windor makes for some real fun. Mr. Cerf even wrote a short comment in some of Ms. Stein's books admitting he could not always figure out what they were about. A trip to London to meet Bernard Shaw is also good for some laughs. His comments on many other "Literati", including Saroyan, Faulkner, O' Hara, Ayn Rand,Wittaker Chambers, etc. plus general comments on the state of the world are all top. In short, a must read for anyone of all ages, even if you don't care too much about writing and publishing!

Bennett Cerf is mentioned in so many biographies from that era of 1920s-1950s, he seemed genuinely well-liked and this memoir shows why.

From what I understand, Bennett Cerf did not sit down and write this out, rather it came from a series of oral interviews although it is not in an interview fashion, but it does have a slightly more conversational tone.

Nevertheless, this is a completely engaging and entertaining book, particularly if you are interested in the writers etc from the 1920s-1950s. Bennett seems to have a generous and uplifting nature and whenever I put this book down I was left with the happy feeling of good humor towards life. So this was really a nice change compared to reading other memoirs or biographies of good or great writers of that era who self-distructive and depressing.

He was also good friends with so many important and interesting people of that time such as Moss Hart, George Kaufman etc etc and it is always fascinating to read stories of all these people, along with how he got so many great writers to Random House.

Highly recommend this entertaining yet thoughtful account of a well-spent and relatively happy life. What a lucky guy.

Taken from twenty-one interviews with Bennett Cerf between September 1967 and February 1968, this would have been the greatest work for this American publishing giant.
Unfortunately, his life was ended suddenly in August of 1971. This book covers birth right up to death, between those two points is a life I find myself envious of.
Schooled at Columbia, purchased The Modern Library with Donald Klopfer in 1925 and set out to create a publishing empire. Bennett kept in true "high-society" - actors, musicians, politicians, executives, and authors. Bennett has a great style, not often seen today. In all his books and appearances he leaves the reader/viewer feeling good.
This is an excellent companion book to "Dear Donald, Dear Bennett". Plenty of photos too: book catalogs, Truman Capote, Ayn Rand, J. Edgar Hoover, Cerf family, etc. This makes a great read for anyone who: has seen Bennett on "What's My Line?" is interested in any of Random House's authors or the publishing industry in general.