The golden age of book publishing, Al Silverman informs us with utter certainty, began in 1946 and lasted into the late 1970s and early 1980s. In his intimate history of those years, Silverman sets out to prove this sweeping conceit by relying on the eyes and ears and memories of the men and women who were there creating that history. Without inhibition, more than 120 of the most notable heads of houses, editors and publishers of this time shared many never-before told stories about how the most important books in postwar America came into being, and are still being read today. In The Time of Their Lives we learn how … -- Robert Gottlieb worked with Joseph Heller to make Catch-18, as it was then called, into the world renowned Catch-22… -- Corlies “Cork” Smith took a risk on a shy young man he had neverheard of, Thomas Pynchon, after being absorbed by one of his earliest short stories … -- Leona Nevler edited under delicate working conditions with a most difficult author, to make Peyton Place a novel for all generations. It was Arthur Thornhill, Sr., in his years as president of Little, Brown’s grand publishing house who said about the occupation he loved, “I wanted to be part of something that was good, ” his word for publishing in the golden age. In this fascinating and elegiac history, Al Silverman illuminates a period in publishing that was not only good, but formed a distinguishing landmark of culture in American life -- a golden time that certainly deserves a new life.

这本书是关于第二次世界大战后到20世纪80年代初期，美国图书出版业的一部最新力作，反映了当时美国大众的文化品位。其中不仅涉及克诺夫、兰登书屋、西蒙- 舒斯特、哈珀、双日、利特尔-布朗、法尔-斯特劳斯-吉鲁、格罗夫等著名出版社，还有新美国文库出版社、巴兰坦这样的平装书出版社。书中对那时著名出版人、天才编辑的出版逸事以及他们对美国文学事业的贡献都有很多精彩的描述。