For many years a book reviewer at the New York Times,
Christopher Lehmann-Haupt was named editorial director of Delphinium
Books, the small literary press that is distributed by HarperCollins, earlier
this year. Recently we asked him several questions about his new
position.
What led you to join Delphinium?
An offer came along by chance, and it appealed to me as an opportunity
to finish up business I began in the early 1960s--that is, learn more
about publishing than I got to know in five years of playing musical
chairs among three houses, where I rose from doing everything at a
marginal house, A. S. Barnes & Co., from reading unsolicited
manuscripts to illustrating a children's book, to being senior editor
at the Dial Press, where I edited the likes of James Baldwin and Norman
Mailer. But there was a lot I didn't learn, and now I get to go to
finishing school, so to speak.
Do you plan to change anything at Delphinium?
I have a couple of ideas for good nonfiction books, one on fly-fishing,
another on sports photography. I've always felt that a good book could
be written about anything, and now I hope to have a chance to prove
that by publishing one or two very offbeat ones.
Is the pace working at a book publisher much different from that of a daily newspaper?
Very different, a matter of months and years instead of minutes and
hours. But the pressure is as great because have to think about 10
things at once instead of just reading, researching and writing to
deadline.
Please tell us about the press's new book, Male of the Species.
Male is a first-rate (though I says it) collection of stories
deconstructing the role of the male in American culture. In the title
story, a teacher threatens to flunk the star football running back in a
Texas high school. In "Stories of the Hunt," a father finally takes his
son on his annual deer hunt and reveals he knows less about the woods
than the son does. In "Sabor a Mi," an old Mexican guy has to accept
the notion of his daughter marrying another woman. And so it goes with
humor, absurdity, pathos and suspense. The stories grab the reader and
Alex Mindt's voice is unique and catchy. When I began in book
publishing more than 40 years ago, this collection would have been
snapped up by any house in a heartbeat, and for a good advance too.
Think of Irvin Faust, Ivan Gold or even Goodbye, Columbus. That
the book took seven years to find a publisher is a measure of how much
the business has changed and why Delphinium is much needed.
What projects are you working on?
A good novel, The Pig Did It, a comedy set in Ireland by Joseph
Caldwell, full of comically lyrical writing; and a couple more very
good story collections. I'm amazed at the high quality of the stuff on
our forthcoming list, much better than the average book I got to read
as a reviewer. I honestly would have raved had I gotten to review them,
but then of course I'd say that, being in the position I now am.
Have you had any surprises good or bad in your new position?
To repeat, I've been pleasantly surprised by the high quality of what
Delphinium gets to do by taking the books that the conglomerates don't
see as bestsellers or brand names. I've been unpleasantly surprised by
how hard it is to get attention for books these days, amidst the blare
of all the visual media. What happened to book reviewing? Does nobody
read anymore?