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It wasn't muck-raking. It was just a story of a little Florida crook, who was caught stealing from a grocery store and thrown into jail without a lawyer. He appealed direct to the Supreme Court himself and it was there that the laws of the United States were changed. It's a very stirring book.

What do you think of having books put up for bids--not necessarily in the paperback field but...

I hate it.

This is a trend that's beginning and I...

Well, it's always been. Some agents play it all the time. They always explain that the authors make them do it. I don't think that it's very nice, but I can't think of any legal reason why they shouldn't do it as long as they're open about what they're doing. What I hate is agents who give you a book and let you think that you're the only one that's reading it--until it turns out they've slipped manuscripts to four or five other publishers at the same time. That's dishonest. But, if an agent tells you honestly that he's submitting the book simultaneously to several publishers and that it will go to the one who gives him the highest bid--that's legitimate. It very often leads, however, since publishers are children, to the publishers‘bidding