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was so delighted to be left alone. We broke our necks to please him. Random House books always looked beautiful. That was one of the reasons we were so happy to tie up with Knopf later. Between us, we had the best-looking books in the country. Both of us cared. Some publishers just don't care what their books look like. But Alfred Knopf always did, and we emulated his example. We thought he was a great publisher.

Would-you visit William Faulkner? Would he visit you?

After we tied up, Bill wrote that he remembered me and was happy with the new arrangement. And I wrote and told him, “Getting you on our list was the best part of the deal.” He didn't come up to New York for quite a while thereafter. When he did come up, he usually misbehaved.

What do you mean by that?

Bill would come up from Oxford, Mississippi. One time he was going to be here for ten days, and we arranged all kinds of interviews for him--the Times, the Tribune, Time magazine, etc. Everything was beautifully scheduled ahead of time. Faulkner arrived and we had dinner together. Unfortunately, Hal Smith came along, plus a gentleman named Dashiell Hammett.

Do I know that name?