W. Gordon Graham (1920–2015)

Gordon Graham explains the origins of this volume in his Foreword: 'I have not actually written it. It came at me', describing it as an exercise in distillation, an opportunity for third thoughts, as he selected and combined speeches and articles from his near fifty years in international publishing. Its thesis he presents as 'that there is a cohesive worldwide book community, made more cohesive in the second half of the twentieth century by the invasive and distracting onset of the electronic media into the magical process whereby one mind communicates with an, other'. Authors, booksellers, copyright, electronic publishing, Europe, librarians, management, missions, nationalism, prices, publishers, territorial rights, trans, atlantic connections, each have a chapter to themselves.

What results is a literary collection of thoughtful, highly crafted essays informed by the author's great experience and shrewd perceptions. The essays are interspersed with 'interludes': animadversions upon dictionaries, desks, politicians and slides; autobiography; moving verse on closed borders; high comedy the account of Caxton's difficulties in the face of the NSA (National Scribes Association) on attempting to introduce PRINT (People's Right to Information through New Technology) should become a classic. There is irony: In discussion with a Singapore book pirate, Gordon 'was distressed to learn that one of his Butterworth titles is moving rather slowly'. There is compassion for the book hungry.

There is even scope for fourth thoughts: surely some of these descriptions deserve further publication in a Grahamian glossary:

Committees: 'At any given moment, somewhere in the world, there is a publisher gnashing his teeth. ... Their ailments are treated by group therapy ... sufferers are appointed to the chairs of committees composed of sympathizers and well wishers who allow them to talk themselves well again.'

Databases: 'Text in a database which is never called up ... makes it possible today to be "published" without ever being read ... a pronouncement into a vacuum. ... Only the author will ever know that he thought it. It will be a soliloquy without an audience.'

Librarians: 'He [Maurice Line] is genuinely puzzled about publishers' antagonism to [the British Library Lending Division]. "What do publishers want?" he asked me (rather like Freud on women).'

'The good living publisher' is depicted here as dividing books into four purposes: information, education, enlightenment and entertainment. This book fulfils all four; here, reading for information blends with reading for pleasure, both quests nicely rewarded.… (meer)