The Untold Story of Books: A Writer’s History of Publishing

Health writer and mystery novelist Castleman (Sizzling Sex for Life) has written a concise, informative history of book publishing. He discusses book distribution, brokers, excess inventory, and digital publishing in ways that are appealing for audiences seeking easy readers, more so than academic audiences. Castleman, who has been a writer by trade for decades, presents a practitioner’s viewpoint of the industry, demonstrating how shifts in publishing have impacted authors over time. He asserts that long-form reading will never die, despite new technologies and frequent eulogies for the book as a form and reading as a practice. Castleman’s book is divided into three eras: the Gutenberg press up to the end of the 19th century, from World War I to the new millennium, and the past 25 years. Throughout, he highlights bookish trivia: for example, that the arty New York City neighborhood known as Chelsea is linked to the estate by the same name, which was owned by the family of Clement Clarke Moore, author of the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas.”