Middlemen - by Laura B McGrath (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A revealing account of how agents have shaped book publishing and the literary canon from the 1950s to today

Middlemen rewrites literary history from the perspective of one of its most important but least visible figures: the literary agent. Chronicling the story of agents in the United States from the 1950s to today, Laura McGrath uncovers their critical role in the making of American literature. From the famed three-martini lunch to the Frankfurt Book Fair, Middlemen takes readers behind the scenes to show how agents influence what we read. Along the way, it explains why many debut novelists never publish another book, why agents champion short story collections even though they sell poorly, how agents advocate for writers of color in a system that values whiteness, and why there are so many New York novels.

Weaving together original archival research, data analysis, and interviews with scores of agents and other publishing professionals, Middlemen demonstrates that agents--eighty percent of whom are in fact women--are much more than "middlemen." As intermediaries between author and publisher, agents act as advocates, matchmakers, negotiators, and tastemakers, and they must balance artistic values with the commercial imperatives of publishing conglomerates. The book describes the decisive role agents have played in celebrated novels--from Jack Kerouac's On the Road to Colson Whitehead's The Intuitionist--but also in the creation of entire literary categories like the debut novel, the story collection, postmodernism, multiethnic fiction, and world literature.

Featuring profiles of agents past and present such as Sterling Lord, Lynn Nesbit, Candida Donadio, Marie Brown, and Andrew Wylie, along with perspectives from agents at all stages of their careers, Middlemen is an entertaining and eye-opening account of how literary fiction--and the literary canon--is made.

Review Quotes

"McGrath is a lively writer, eschewing academic jargon in favour of anecdotes."-- "Economist"

"Shrewd, scholarly, and generous. . . . McGrath writes with a deft and dust-free feeling for scene and character that is matched by the depth and clarity of her analysis."---Michael Gorra, New York Review of Books

"If we are to truly come to grips with contemporary fiction, literary agents and their logic of fit are essential parts of the story. While Middlemen may concentrate on the powerful few who do it best, McGrath offers a new and important way to orient our understanding of the novel today."---Tom Williams, Los Angeles Review of Books

"Because their work is largely invisible to the public, [agents] would seem to typify the publishing industry at its most commercial, cliquish, and hidebound. . . . Nevertheless, many of them are decent people, [McGrath] contends--they protect writers from a variety of evils, including themselves--and their profession has become central to cultural production. Your favorite novelist, no matter how experimental or antiestablishment, all but certainly has some representative . . . negotiating her contracts, talking her up over cocktails, talking her down from the ledge."---Dan Piepenbring, Harper's

"An enlightening study of how agents have shaped the American literary landscape. . . . McGrath's research is extremely thorough and presented in entertaining prose. Anyone curious about how their favorite books came to be will appreciate this peek behind the curtain."-- "Publishers Weekly"

"Middlemen is a thorough, diverting investigation of the role literary agents play in the creation of book markets and reader tastes. . . . An invaluable work of literary analysis."-- "Foreword Reviews"

"Drawing on archival sources, input from more than 75 agents (including several of the most influential in the field), trade and industry publications, biographies, and memoirs, McGrath offers insights into the strategies, values, and relationships that shape an agent's work. . . . A fresh, well-researched debut."-- "Kirkus Reviews"

About the Author

Laura B. McGrath is assistant professor of English at Temple University. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Nation, and the Los Angeles Review of Books.