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Bennett CerfBennett Cerf
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Session:         Page of 1029

Cerf:

Oh, no. The first thing Donald and I did... I remember we were up in Lake Placid. We went through catalogues of all the publishers and picked out books we hoped to get for Modern Library.

Q:

Had they already sold or did you have this intuitive feeling...?

Cerf:

They were already famous books that Liveright had never been able to get or probably hadn't even bothered getting. It took too much trouble and time to go and woo these publishers. But, mind you, there were no paperbacks in those days, and if you offered a $5,000 guarantee for an old book, that was pretty snazzy. Of course, today they light their cigars with $5,000 bills.

Q:

What is amazing is that so many titles in Modern Library have become classics. Now, you can't really decide a classic is a classic ten years afterwards.

Cerf:

By the time we put books in Modern Library they were established successes. This is why, though it was fascinating, it ultimately became rather boring, because I was not taking any chances or any gambles; I wasn't discovering anybody. I was cashing in on other people's successes, and that was not enough for me. That didn't satisfy my cravings for fame, fortune and excitement.





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