Ass Hooked Whitey publishes a brilliant letter from the late Norman MacLean (author of A River Runs Through It) to a publisher who rejected his first manuscript (after apparently toying with MacLean for some time), but was gunning to publish his second book.
Every writer who has ever, ever been yanked around by a publisher or editor (and that’s most of us) will want a copy of this literary gem, which includes passages like:
The dream of every rejected author must be to see, like sugar plums dancing in his head, please-can’t-we-see-your-next-manuscript letters standing in piles on his desk, all coming from publishing companies that rejected his previous manuscript, especially from the more pompous of the fatted cows grazing contentedly in the publishing field.
Ohh, the majesty! Naturally, his closing line is one for the history books:
if the situation ever arose when Alfred A. Knopf was the only publishing house remaining in the world and I was the sole remaining author, that would mark the end of the world of books.
Norman MacLean, I stand and salute you. Don’t miss this letter. And thanks to AHW for locating this gem.
[tags]norman maclean, a river runs through it, publisher, author[/tags]
{ 0 comments… add one now }