The Last Days of Publishing (Paperback)

by Tom Engelhardt (Author) "When you visit Pompeii, as perhaps you have, as up to a million people do each year, and walk stony expanses that were once bustling..." (more)
Key Phrases: cashew chicken, Walter Groth, Marissa Kuby, Wendell Moore (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
A former editor at Pantheon Books, Englehardt (The End of Victory Culture: Cold War America and the Disillusioning of a Generation) has penned an opinionated, nostalgic novel about the trials of a seasoned book editor in the information age. Rick Koppes, a literary purist, former commune resident and anti-Vietnam War activist, works at highbrow Byzantium Press. His publishing house has been taken over by German magnate Bruno Hindemann's Multimedia Entertainment, where executive David Marsden, many years his junior, hopes to capitalize on Koppes's lone bestselling author with videos and merchandise ("We want to brand him awesomely"). Koppes's ex-wife, a treacherously bottom-line-minded publishing exec, becomes his boss. He meets his old friend, Larry, a fellow longtime editor, for lunch and learns that Larry has been fired for not bringing in enough money. In his agitated state, Larry berates the waiter at their Vietnamese restaurant, while Koppes wonders silently whether the waiter had been tortured by American soldiers during the war. Woven through these apocalyptic snapshots are laments about the ramifications of electronic publishing and the decline of the reading public. The novel will likely try the patience of any reader not wholly fascinated with the publishing industry; though there are some emotionally vivid passages, the book often gets bogged down in descriptions of the minutiae of the business. Engelhardt seems primarily to be addressing his colleagues, but even those inclined to agree with his view may find his hero self-righteous and unsympathetic.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review
"An ex-editor laments the death of the book - by writing a wonderfully observant novel about an editor whose career and way of life are both coming to an end. Having been a senior editor at Pantheon for 15 years, unsurprisingly, has given Engelhardt an easy command of the tone and texture of the publishing world, but the graceful abilities he also demonstrates in bringing character, place, and mood achingly to life must be the gifts of the man alone.... A brilliantly realized cri de coeur, pulsing throughout with life, sorrow, and thought." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "A satisfyingly virulent, comical, absurd, deeply grieving true portrait of how things work today in the sleek factories of conglomerate book producers.... [A] skillful novel of manners - of very bad manners.... The scenes are vividly set, and this writer, made of stem scuff, was laughing through his tears. Engelhardt tells us that the love of literature persists even in these frantic times. It is essential to good reading to recognize that novels are true lies - truer and more philosophical than history, as Aristotle said about history. The episodes in Engelhardt's account emit a sense of autobiographical anguish, seasoned with an ironic notch at one corner of his mouth." - Los Angeles Times Book Review "The first thing to notice about The Last Days of Publishing, this interesting new novel about a gifted editor during the death throes of publishing as we've known it, is that it comes to us from a university press rather than a commercial house.... If you have any curiosity about the state of affairs in the publishing world, and, beyond that, the world of ideas, you should read this book." - San Francisco Chronicle "An engaging, at times bitterly funny lament for what [Engelhardt] sees as an endangered industry." - Business Week "Maintains a detached, bemused tone throughout, ultimately making the loss at its center all the more bitter. Engelhardt's unflashy observational style and rueful lit-geek koans ("To be a good editor has... nothing more to do with being a good person than saying "Polly wants a cracker" does with being a good parrot') are a treat for bookish types, and his Armageddon fixation is sure to strike a chord with middle-aged readers." - The Village Voice "Engelhardt has written the rarest of books: a truly intellectual novel. This faux memoir uses the decline of quality book publishing both as landscape and metaphor to explore in ways that are often heartbreaking the failure of the sixties to drastically change the world and the devastating moral and cultural consequences of that failure." - Ariel Dorfman"

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Product Details

• Paperback: 215 pages
• Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press (October 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558495061
• ISBN-13: 978-1558495067
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,178,653 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read This Book, June 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Last Days of Publishing: A Novel (Hardcover)

When a book is more than a good read, it becomes necessary to share it. Engelhardt draws us into a world both devastating and fascinating. Following his lead character through his episodes, I laughed, I held my breath, I kept learning more. This is a world about which very little appears in fiction. I recommend this book for its originality and authenticity, and also because it's a wonderful journey.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE novel about publishing, October 17, 2003

By	gene h. bell-villada (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Days of Publishing: A Novel (Hardcover)

What's been happening in book publishing these last 20 or 30 years is most discouraging. As an antidote, I recommend Tom Engelhardt's vivid, lively novel, which helps us see those depressing developments from the inside. He does it, though, with humor and flair--no preachiness here. Reading it, you'll encounter a fascinating gallery of New York City character types. The scene at the Museum of Natural History is unforgettable in its look at cultural-sexual office politics. The whole book is sardonic fun, and a fast, compelling read. I read the entire thing on a Transatlantic flight.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely brilliant!, October 16, 2003

By	Ted G. (Somerville, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Days of Publishing: A Novel (Hardcover)

It isn't often that you find a novel as intelligent, original and humorous as it is powerfully poignant. Somehow, though, Engelhardt has written just such a book. The Last Days of Publishing is a crisp and compelling read. In fact, don't be surprised if the story of Rick Koppes, Engelhardt's tragic-hero narrator (and, perhaps the last man of integrity in the increasingly soulless world of publishing) captivates you to the point of reading the novel in one sitting. Yes, it is simply that good.