Middlemen : literary agents and the making of American fiction / Laura B. McGrath.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McGrath, Laura B., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American fiction.

American fiction--History and criticism.

American fiction 20th century--History and criticism.

American fiction 20th century.

American fiction 21st century--History and criticism.

American fiction 21st century.

Literary agents--United States--History--21st century.

Literary agents.

Literary agents--United States--History--20th century.

Authors and publishers--United States--History--21st century.

Authors and publishers.

Authors and publishers--United States--History--20th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xvi, 273 pages) : illustrations (black and white)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2026.

Summary:

"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, multi ethnic 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.2-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Preface: The Agent

1. The Pitch

2. The Debut

3. The Collection

4. The Lunch

5. The Advocate

6. The Export

Coda: The Trial

Methodological Afterword.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-691-28692-2

0-691-28579-9

9780691285795 (electronic book)

OCLC:

1574118760