Great read and insight into the mind and life of a honest London publisher/editor

Lovely memoir by Diana Athill who edited books for André Deutsch and was a partner in his publishing house. The first section of the book tells how she came to publishing, the second section is profiles of some of the famous or interesting writers she worked with over the years. I liked the first section better, but the choice of authors to profile is of itself interesting, even if I don't care about one person or another.

Not everyone will be interested, but if book publishing is a thing for you, then you should read this book. ( )

A memoir from someone who, before it's publication, had been more-or-less confined -- happily, mind you -- to publishing's back office. "Stet" is a must for readers curious about behind-the-scenes goings-on at publishing houses, if any of those should exist. Diana Athill is one to give you the straight dope on what it took to make it in the heady, slightly chaotic publishing industry as it existed after peace was declared. She seems to be the writer to do it: not only does she have a good eye for the telling detail and an obvious fondness for the characters she met while working there, she also has the good judgment to know the difference between good, clean gossip -- which she enjoys -- and mere sniping, which she avoids. She provides loving portraits of several of her long-term colleagues -- including John Deutsch, her longtime boss -- and comic portraits of some short-termers who, for various reasons, didn't last. I imagine that "Stet" will appeal to those readers who enjoy stories set in that becalmed slightly gray period that followed the end of the Second World War in Britain: you know, the sort of people who read Beryl Bainbridge, Muriel Spark, and Penelope Fitzgerald. All the fun ends in the eighties, of course, after the recession hits, the big money arrives, and the wave of corporate conglomeration that was affecting the rest of the corporate world begins to sweep up publishing houses, too. In the end, though, the author provides a remarkably hopeful for a diagnosis for the industry as a whole. The golden age of sorts that she participated in is long gone, but as a person who labored in publishing houses that preferred to put out "our sort of book," she's heartened that there are still plenty of people out there who care about quality writing and others who care about getting it to readers. Athill seems to have had a fun, productive life and seems to have been rather an optimist at the end of it.

Her insights into the authors she profiles -- most especially V.S. Naipaul and Jean Rhys -- are also valuable. Frankly, I had no idea that Rhys's life was so unforgivingly bleak, or her mental state so perilously unstable, although Athill provides a good analysis about exactly why she ended up the way that she did. She also seems to have been a charter member of what she calls "the Jean Committee," which took care of Rhys in her later years and to have played a not-insignificant part in midwifing Rhys's best-known work, "Wide Sargasso Sea". Naipaul was something more of a known quantity to me, but the information and analysis of his background -- which also included various visits to Trinidad -- was also very enlightening, going some way to explain him, if not to excuse his behavior. The union between Vidia and his English wife, Pam, must rank among the most hellish literary marriages of all time, and that's saying something. It seems hardly surprising that Sir V.S. was both a nearly flawless writer, even in his drafts, and hypersensitive to any perceived criticism.

In addition to all of this, "Stet" is an enjoyable read because of Athill herself. She's a brilliantly clear, engaging writer who gives the impression of knowing every molecule of the subjects she discusses here. Not unsympathetic but ruthlessly perceptive about the situations and people she describes, she seems to be the sort of person who makes "being no-nonsense" into a minor art form and takes the gold medal in what the kids today call "adulting." "Stet" is the unmistakable product of a fully developed personality. Of course, Athill is, more or less by her own admission, the product of a rather antiquated rural upper class and a somewhat insular, left-leaning bookish community, but she owns her prejudices and meditates productively on what her "caste" got right and got wrong over the years. The posh tone is hard to miss, and while it may grate on some, Athill owns it. Her satisfaction with the life she lived and the book she wrote about it couldn't be more evident. Recommended. ( )

she certainly worked with a lot of crazy writers. ( )

Diana Athill's self-awareness makes this book a great read. She has such a measured approach to life that one almost feels calmed by spending time in her head. She is humble yet clearly talented. I think I enjoyed Part One more than Part Two. This is surprising because the really detailed accounts take place in Part Two, but Diana's more sweeping observations in Part One give a fuller picture of her experience in the publishing industry. I came for the publishing info., but I stayed for the great insights into other people.

"I called upon a tactic often employed in families: Aunt Emily may have infuriating mannerisms or disconcerting habits, but they are forgiven, even enjoyed, because the are so typically her. The offending person is put into a fictional, almost a cartoon, character, whose quirks can be laughed or marvelled at as though they existed only on a page." Page 226. ( )