First edition

Bennett Cerf’s At Random

Bennett Cerf founded Random House in 1927. It was privately held until going public in 1959. Over the next couple of years Random House acquired Alfred A. Knopf and Pantheon Books, then Ballantine Books in 1973.

Over the years Random House published (and Cerf was acquainted with) many of the time’s literary stars. He worked with William Faulkner, Eugene O'Neill, Gertrude Stein, André Malraux, Sinclair Lewis, James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel), US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), and many others.

Cerf was also friends from a young age with others who started other publishing houses. For example, two of his friends in college include Richard Simon and Max Schuster, who later formed the publishing house Simon and Schuster. His close friend Harold Ross founded the New Yorker magazine. Ross introduced Cerf to Ginger Rogers’ cousin Phyllis Fraser, who Cerf soon married. Bennett and Phyllis were married in New York City Hall, officiated by Mayor La Guardia (after whom the airport is named). Cerf later became a good friend of Alfred A. Knopf and other publishers, all of whom were concentrated in New York City and saw each other regularly.

Cerf himself wrote many best-sellers, wrote popular columns, had radio shows and appeared as a regular on the TV show What’s My Line for about ten years. He had an eventful life, right at home in the stratosphere of the literary world, the NYC hub of publishing greats.

Cerf died in 1971. He had written this book, but had not published it yet. It was published posthumously in 1977. The book is well written, as expected, given Cerf’s writing talent, and also given that the best editors in the world worked on it.

This book serves as both autobiography of Cerf and history of Random House and of twentieth-century publishing in general. The storyline merges the histories of Cerf and Random House seamlessly with many delightful encounters and personal experiences. There were endless memorable episodes throughout Cerf’s exciting life at the center of New York City’s brightest lights. From the giants of publishing to the wackiest oddball authors, Cerf was at home among them all, and shares it with us. Anyone interested in twentieth-century history, biography, book publishing as it used to be, or just a compelling story with an amazing cast of characters, this book is for you.
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I vaguely remember watching Cerf on "What's My Line" back in the early 60s and loving his wit & humor, so when I found his 'autobiography,' AT RANDOM (1977, re-issued 2003), on sale this past summer, I snapped it up. Calling it a memoir or autobiography is not quite accurate, however, as Cerf died before he ever had the chance to do the book. But, per his son's intro, Bennet Cerf had recorded numerous interviews over his lifetime that were filled with anecdotes, stories and memories from his forty-plus years in the publishing business, and so much of what's in here comes from transcriptions of those interviews, as well as from Cerf's copious journals and notes. So what you get is a narrative that makes you feel like he's right there in the room with you, talking and remembering and laughing, etc. And there are plentiful stories of his interactions and friendships with some pretty notable authors, folks like John O'Hara, Moss Hart, Eugene O'Neil, Truman Capote and more - all of which I found most entertaining. He also gives you an insider's close-up look at the publishing business in its heyday, from the 1920s all the way up into the sixties, when even the authors could make a living. Not so easy today in the digital age. The book became a bit less interesting in the final chapters when he talked more about big money and mergers among the major publishing houses. But all the rest of it was fascinating as hell. Bennet Cerf was one of a kind. Recommended highly for book nerds.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER ( )

These reminiscences by the late publisher Bennett Cerf are a joy to read. He repeatedly describes himself as a lucky man, and his many stories about famous and fascinating people proves that he was right. ( )

My only reason for reading this book was to get some insight into a TV personality that I grew up with. This is a breezy book with Cerf telling you about all the books he got involved with abd meeting notweorthy personalities. But he had a rather distinguished accent reflecting East Coast origins and an academic bent, but not strongly New Yorkish. He grew up in Manhattan as did both of his parents and all four of his grandparents. But I didn't get my answer until I reread the first chapter and noted that his father gave elocution lessons.

For all this, it is fun to read about a passed era, where publishing and books seemed to have a real relevance in American life. ( )