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Did you run into any problems? When you went in there were you aware of some of the problems that Liveright had?

I soon learned them!

It was a very good learning experience.

Oh, what an experience! I learned all the things to do, and, more important, a lot of the things not to do in the publishing business while I was at Liveright's.

When I came he had just published The Story of Mankind by Van Loon. He also had on the list one of the biggest best sellers in the United States--Black Oxen by Gertrude Atherton, which was a book about rejuvenation by monkey glands. It was the talk of the town in those days. Some Viennese doctor had started the fashion. And suddenly a withered old woman could be a sex queen again! Oh, I forgot one of the most charming convivials--Samuel Hopkins Adams--who was writing a column in the Tribune exposing crooked advertising. He was fascinating and had written several best sellers. He became a lifelong friend of mine, too.

Let's go back. What did you learn and what did you find were the problems then?

Well, first of all, Tommy Smith had published a book called Poetica Erotica. He was doing limited editions. This