Customer Reviews

In the Web of Ideas: The Education of a Publisher

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There is a dignity to Charles Scribner Jr's IN THE WEB OF IDEAS that is somewhat refreshing in the current of mass publishing. The heir of the legendary publishing house, Scribner did not rest on the family's laurels when his dad suddenly died in 1950. Rather, he went to work, and the first author that he entered into a professional relationship was Ernest Hemingway. Scribner explains what is was like to work with Hemingway in the best chapter in the book. Hemingway was interested in grace under fire, or character in the face of hardship. Says Scribner of Hemingway's writing, "What counted was what one was prepared to sacrifice for one's convictions, rather than what one gained by them" (37).

Admittedly the rest of the chapters are not as not exciting as the Hemingway material, but they are solid and they give insight into the business of publishing. Scribner doesn't say it, but he implies that you must love ideas and reading if you're going to be a first-rate publisher.

Scribner's collection of thoughts and essays is a must read for any aspiring novelist, publisher, or teacher.