THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES The Golden Age of Great American Book Publishers, Their Editors and Authors

Al Silverman, the former head of Book-of-the-Month Club, remembers his experiences during what he calls the golden years of publishing. His recollections of the publishers, editors, and authors he met during that time—from 1946 to the early 1980s—make for a nostalgic but tedious story. The disconnected events have sparse continuity, and the hundreds of mostly obscure names have little relevance to someone outside the publishing industry. Narrator Tom Weiner reads at a brisk pace, with his baritone voice never dropping a word. Since the memoir wanders so much, the continuity of a strong reader creates a narrative drive that is lacking in the written manuscript. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2009]