Books: Publishing Rises in the West

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Therein lies the difference between coasts. As Kaufmann observes, "New York publishers bring out a list twice a year, promote the hell out of the books that appear on it, run with those that are successful and remainder everything else." And along the Pacific? "Out here we put out our lists and stick with them. We don't like to see anything go out of print." Like a practiced surveyor, he knows exactly where to draw the line: "What we and Black Sparrow and North Point offer has perhaps less to do with geography than philosophy. Ten years ago, the East published the book, but we live it: Small Is Beautiful."