Pantheon Books
Encyclopedia
Pantheon Books is an American imprint with editorial independence
that is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing
Group.
The current editor-in-chief at Pantheon Books is Dan Frank.
, Doubleday Publishing, Dell Publishing
, Times Books
, the Modern Library
, Everyman's Library
, Vintage Books
, Crown Publishing Group
, Schocken Books
, Ballantine Books
, Del Rey Books
, Fawcett Publications
also acquired Random House
in 1998, making Bertelsmann
the largest publisher of American books.
In addition to classics, international fiction, and trade paperbacks, recently Pantheon has moved aggressively into the comics
market. It has published many critically acclaimed graphic novel
s and comics collections, including Ice Haven
, La Perdida
, Read Yourself RAW
, Maus
, In the Shadow of No Towers
, and Black Hole
. Many of its comics publications are high-quality collected editions
of works originally serial
ized by other publishers such as Fantagraphics Books
.
, a publishing company known to be actively involved in the Holocaust. Important early works published by Pantheon were Zen and the Art of Archery by German scholar Eugen Herrigel
, the Bollingen series (composed of C.G. Jung's collected works in English and books of noted Jungian scholars), the first complete translation of the I Ching
, and Boris Pasternak
's Doctor Zhivago
.
When Random House
bought Alfred A. Knopf
in 1960, the front page of the New York Times reported that the merger "united two of the nation's most celebrated publishers of quality writing" The following year, Random House would buy Pantheon, which would be moved into the Knopf Publishing Group. Also in 1961, Pantheon hired Andre Schiffrin
as executive editor of Pantheon Books.
Under the direction of Schiffrin, Pantheon continued to publish important works by European writers such as The Tin Drum by Günter Grass
, who would later receive a Nobel Prize for his work; Madness and Civilization by Michel Foucault
, The Lover by Marguerite Duras
, and Adieux by Simone de Beauvoir
. By the late 1960s, Pantheon started to bring American writers such as Noam Chomsky
, James Loewen
and Studs Terkel
to European readers. In 1965, RCA
bought Random House
. Throughout the 1970s, Pantheon continued to publish intellectual and often leftist works of fiction and nonfiction "without a profit-and-loss sheet in sight". In other words, Pantheon editors prided themselves on subsidizing the cost of publishing less commercially successful (but socially or intellectually important) works with the profits from more commercially successful books.
In 1980, RCA
sold Random House to Samuel Irving Newhouse, Jr.
, and Pantheon Books came under pressure to increase profits.
In early 2009, long-time Pantheon publisher Janice Goldklang was laid off as part of a general restructuring of Random House and its publishing divisions.
which, at the time, was owned by SI Newhouse
, were plagued with controversy throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. In December 1989, Alberto Vitale, a former banker, replaced Robert L. Berstein as chairman and president of Random House
. In February 1990, Schiffrin was "asked to resign after he refused to reduce the number of titles published [by Pantheon] or to trim Pantheon's 30-member staff". In protest of Schiffrin's forced resignation and other changes in staffing, such as the hiring of Erroll McDonald, editors and staff Tom Englehardt, David Sternbach, Helena Franklin, Diane Wachtel, Gay Salisbury, and several others resigned in the following months. Authors of books published by Pantheon, Random House
, and other related imprints, including Studs Terkel
, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., and Oliver Sacks
, held a protest outside of Random House
in March of 1990 during which they argued that the termination of Schiffrin amounted to corporate censorship
of the books that would not be printed without him. Novelist E.L. Doctorow used his acceptance speech for a fiction prize at the March 1990 National Book Critics Circle award ceremony to criticize Random House
for ousting Schiffrin.
In the week following the protests, forty Random House
editors and publishers signed a statement that defended the personnel changes at Pantheon, stating: "like Pantheon, we abhor corporate censorship. We have never experienced it, nor do we believe that Pantheon has ever experienced it. We would not tolerate censorship of any form, and we are offended by any suggestion to the contrary. But, unlike Pantheon, we have preserved our independence and the independence of our authors by supporting the integrity of our publishing programs with fiscal responsibility". Another supporter of Schiffrin's termination wrote that the protests and resignations were "a hilarious specimen of people intoxicated by self-importance. It also is a case study of the descent of intellectuals' leftism into burlesque".
In 1998, Random House
made news again when it was bought by Bertelsmann
. The Authors Guild approached the Fair Trade Commission, arguing that "the $1.4 billion acquisition of Random House by Bantam's parent, Bertelsmann
A.G., the German media conglomerate, would create a 'new economic behemoth' with the potential to restrict readers' choices and authors' ability to market their works". Bertelsmann
was allowed to make the purchase, however, making it the largest publisher of English-language trade books. Again, Schiffrin protested, noting that in the eight years since Random House had come under the direction of Vitale, "Random House's 'high end'—the literary translations and books of criticism, cultural history and political analysis that had built the reputation of the Knopf and Pantheon imprints—were being sacrificed" and that concerns for the "bottom line" would outweigh intellectual and social concerns.
Schiffrin published a memoir in 2000, in which he explains his side of the controversies surrounding Pantheon and Random House called The Business of Books: How International Conglomerates Took Over Publishing and Changed the Way We Read, in which he accused Vitale and those with money-making interests of homogenizing the publishing industry by focusing too much on profits and warns, "the resulting control on the spread of ideas is stricter than anyone would have though possible in a free society". In a 2003 interview, former Pantheon editor Tom Englehardt reflects on the Pantheon controversy in light of the acquisition by Bertelsmann: "Pantheon was a very specific place, publishing a very specific kind of book, and we felt that was being wiped out. As it turned out, what happened at Pantheon was the beginning of the gargantuan feasting on the independent publishing house and not-so-independent houses as well"
s. Pantheon published a graphic-based "for beginners" series in the 1970s and 1980s, and decided to bring the series back in 2003. One of the first graphic novels Pantheon published was the highly acclaimed Maus
: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman
in 1986. Spiegelman has become somewhat of a comics consultant, advising editor-in-chief Dan Frank. In 2005, Pantheon published The Acme Novelty Library by Chris Ware
. That same year, Pantheon published The Rabbi's Cat, a graphic novel by Joann Sfar
which "tells the wholly unique story of a rabbi, his daughter, and their talking cat".
Books published by Pantheon in 2007 that are doing well (ranked by number of holdings in libraries according to OCLC Worldcat) are: The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith
, The Little Book of Plagiarism by Richard Posner
, Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business by David Mamet
, and Toussaint Louverture: A Biography by Madison Smartt Bell
.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence is the freedom of editors to make decisions without interference from the owners of a publication. Editorial independence is tested, for instance, if a newspaper runs articles that may be unpopular with its advertising clientele....
that is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
Group.
The current editor-in-chief at Pantheon Books is Dan Frank.
Overview
Bertelsmann AG, the German company that also owns Bantam BooksBantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...
, Doubleday Publishing, Dell Publishing
Dell Publishing
Dell Publishing, an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte, Jr.During the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, Dell was one of the largest publishers of magazines, including pulp magazines. Their line of humor magazines included 1000 Jokes, launched in...
, Times Books
Times Books
Times Books is a publishing imprint owned by The New York Times Company and licensed to Henry Holt and Company....
, the Modern Library
Modern Library
The Modern Library is a publishing company. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, it was purchased in 1925 by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer...
, Everyman's Library
Everyman's Library
Everyman's Library is a series of reprinted classic literature currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent , who continue to publish Everyman Classics in paperback.J. M. Dent and Company began to publish the series in 1906...
, Vintage Books
Vintage Books
Vintage Books is a publishing imprint founded in 1954 by Alfred A. Knopf. Its publishing list includes world literature, fiction, and non-fiction...
, Crown Publishing Group
Crown Publishing Group
-External links:*...
, Schocken Books
Schocken Books
Schocken Books is a publishing company that was established in Berlin with a publishing office in Prague in 1931 by the Schocken Department Store owner Salman Schocken. It published the writings of Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Franz Kafka and S. Y...
, Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books
Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a...
, Del Rey Books
Del Rey Books
Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn since 1998, by Bertelsmann AG. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It specializes in science fiction and fantasy...
, Fawcett Publications
Fawcett Publications
Fawcett Publications was an American publishing company founded in 1919 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota by Wilford Hamilton "Captain Billy" Fawcett . At the age of 16, Fawcett ran away from home to join the Army, and the Spanish-American War took him to the Philippines. Back in Minnesota, he became a...
also acquired Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
in 1998, making Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann AG is a multinational media corporation founded in 1835, based in Gütersloh, Germany. The company operates in 63 countries and employs 102,983 workers , which makes it the most international media corporation in the world. In 2008 the company reported a €16.118 billion consolidated...
the largest publisher of American books.
In addition to classics, international fiction, and trade paperbacks, recently Pantheon has moved aggressively into the comics
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
market. It has published many critically acclaimed graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
s and comics collections, including Ice Haven
Ice Haven
Ice Haven is a 2005 graphic novel by Daniel Clowes. The book's contents were originally published as the comic book Eightball #22 and were subsequently reformatted to make the hardcover Ice Haven book....
, La Perdida
La Perdida
La Perdida is an independent comic book series created by Jessica Abel and published by Pantheon Books.-Content:La Perdida is a story centered on the life of a young American woman , living abroad in Mexico...
, Read Yourself RAW
Read Yourself RAW
Read Yourself RAW is a book collecting most of the non-Maus contents of the first three issues of the magazine RAW, edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly and published by Pantheon Books....
, Maus
Maus
Maus: A Survivor's Tale, by Art Spiegelman, is a biography of the author's father, Vladek Spiegelman, a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. It alternates between descriptions of Vladek's life in Poland before and during the Second World War and Vladek's later life in the Rego Park neighborhood of...
, In the Shadow of No Towers
In the Shadow of No Towers
In the Shadow of No Towers is a comic by Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic artist Art Spiegelman.-Overview:The comic evolved from Spiegelman's experiences during the September 11 terrorist attacks...
, and Black Hole
Black Hole (comics)
Black Hole was a twelve-issue comic book limited series written and illustrated by Charles Burns and published first by Kitchen Sink Press and then Fantagraphics...
. Many of its comics publications are high-quality collected editions
Trade paperback (comics)
In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
of works originally serial
Serial (literature)
In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...
ized by other publishers such as Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics Books
Fantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, graphic novels, and the adult-oriented Eros Comix imprint...
.
History
Pantheon Books was founded in 1942 in New York City by European intellectuals who had come to the United States to escape fascism and the Holocaust. Pantheon is currently part of BertelsmannBertelsmann
Bertelsmann AG is a multinational media corporation founded in 1835, based in Gütersloh, Germany. The company operates in 63 countries and employs 102,983 workers , which makes it the most international media corporation in the world. In 2008 the company reported a €16.118 billion consolidated...
, a publishing company known to be actively involved in the Holocaust. Important early works published by Pantheon were Zen and the Art of Archery by German scholar Eugen Herrigel
Eugen Herrigel
Eugen Herrigel was a German philosopher who taught philosophy at Tohoku Imperial University in Sendai, Japan, from 1924-1929 and introduced Zen to large parts of Europe through his writings.While living in Japan from 1924 to 1929, he studied kyūdō, traditional Japanese archery, under Awa...
, the Bollingen series (composed of C.G. Jung's collected works in English and books of noted Jungian scholars), the first complete translation of the I Ching
I Ching
The I Ching or "Yì Jīng" , also known as the Classic of Changes, Book of Changes and Zhouyi, is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts...
, and Boris Pasternak
Boris Pasternak
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was a Russian language poet, novelist, and literary translator. In his native Russia, Pasternak's anthology My Sister Life, is one of the most influential collections ever published in the Russian language...
's Doctor Zhivago
Doctor Zhivago
-Original creation:*Doctor Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak, published in 1957**Yuri Andreyevich Zhivago, a fictional character and the main protagonist of the book Doctor Zhivago-Adaptations:There are several adaptations based on the Doctor Zhivago book:...
.
When Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
bought Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
in 1960, the front page of the New York Times reported that the merger "united two of the nation's most celebrated publishers of quality writing" The following year, Random House would buy Pantheon, which would be moved into the Knopf Publishing Group. Also in 1961, Pantheon hired Andre Schiffrin
André Schiffrin
André Schiffrin is a European-born American author, publisher and socialist.- Life :Schiffrin is the son of Jacques Schiffrin, a Russian Jew who emigrated to France and briefly enjoyed success there as publisher of the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, which he founded, and which was bought by...
as executive editor of Pantheon Books.
Under the direction of Schiffrin, Pantheon continued to publish important works by European writers such as The Tin Drum by Günter Grass
Günter Grass
Günter Wilhelm Grass is a Nobel Prize-winning German author, poet, playwright, sculptor and artist.He was born in the Free City of Danzig...
, who would later receive a Nobel Prize for his work; Madness and Civilization by Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
, The Lover by Marguerite Duras
Marguerite Duras
Marguerite Donnadieu, better known as Marguerite Duras was a French writer and film director.-Background:...
, and Adieux by Simone de Beauvoir
Simone de Beauvoir
Simone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir, often shortened to Simone de Beauvoir , was a French existentialist philosopher, public intellectual, and social theorist. She wrote novels, essays, biographies, an autobiography in several volumes, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and...
. By the late 1960s, Pantheon started to bring American writers such as Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
, James Loewen
James Loewen
James W. Loewen is a sociologist, historian, and author whose best-known work is Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong .-Early life and career:...
and Studs Terkel
Studs Terkel
Louis "Studs" Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for The Good War, and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.-Early...
to European readers. In 1965, RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
bought Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
. Throughout the 1970s, Pantheon continued to publish intellectual and often leftist works of fiction and nonfiction "without a profit-and-loss sheet in sight". In other words, Pantheon editors prided themselves on subsidizing the cost of publishing less commercially successful (but socially or intellectually important) works with the profits from more commercially successful books.
In 1980, RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
sold Random House to Samuel Irving Newhouse, Jr.
Samuel Irving Newhouse, Jr.
Samuel Irving Newhouse, Jr. , nicknamed Si Newhouse, is the chairman and CEO of Advance Publications, which, among other interests, owns Condé Nast, publisher of many marquee brands in the world of magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker. He is the son of Samuel Irving...
, and Pantheon Books came under pressure to increase profits.
In early 2009, long-time Pantheon publisher Janice Goldklang was laid off as part of a general restructuring of Random House and its publishing divisions.
Controversies
Pantheon and Random HouseRandom House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
which, at the time, was owned by SI Newhouse
Samuel Irving Newhouse, Jr.
Samuel Irving Newhouse, Jr. , nicknamed Si Newhouse, is the chairman and CEO of Advance Publications, which, among other interests, owns Condé Nast, publisher of many marquee brands in the world of magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker. He is the son of Samuel Irving...
, were plagued with controversy throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. In December 1989, Alberto Vitale, a former banker, replaced Robert L. Berstein as chairman and president of Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
. In February 1990, Schiffrin was "asked to resign after he refused to reduce the number of titles published [by Pantheon] or to trim Pantheon's 30-member staff". In protest of Schiffrin's forced resignation and other changes in staffing, such as the hiring of Erroll McDonald, editors and staff Tom Englehardt, David Sternbach, Helena Franklin, Diane Wachtel, Gay Salisbury, and several others resigned in the following months. Authors of books published by Pantheon, Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
, and other related imprints, including Studs Terkel
Studs Terkel
Louis "Studs" Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for The Good War, and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.-Early...
, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., and Oliver Sacks
Oliver Sacks
Oliver Wolf Sacks, CBE , is a British neurologist and psychologist residing in New York City. He is a professor of neurology and psychiatry at Columbia University, where he also holds the position of Columbia Artist...
, held a protest outside of Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
in March of 1990 during which they argued that the termination of Schiffrin amounted to corporate censorship
Corporate censorship
Corporate censorship is censorship by corporations, the sanctioning of speech by spokespersons, employees, and business associates by threat of monetary loss, loss of employment, or loss of access to the marketplace.- TV Guide debate :...
of the books that would not be printed without him. Novelist E.L. Doctorow used his acceptance speech for a fiction prize at the March 1990 National Book Critics Circle award ceremony to criticize Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
for ousting Schiffrin.
In the week following the protests, forty Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
editors and publishers signed a statement that defended the personnel changes at Pantheon, stating: "like Pantheon, we abhor corporate censorship. We have never experienced it, nor do we believe that Pantheon has ever experienced it. We would not tolerate censorship of any form, and we are offended by any suggestion to the contrary. But, unlike Pantheon, we have preserved our independence and the independence of our authors by supporting the integrity of our publishing programs with fiscal responsibility". Another supporter of Schiffrin's termination wrote that the protests and resignations were "a hilarious specimen of people intoxicated by self-importance. It also is a case study of the descent of intellectuals' leftism into burlesque".
In 1998, Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
made news again when it was bought by Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann AG is a multinational media corporation founded in 1835, based in Gütersloh, Germany. The company operates in 63 countries and employs 102,983 workers , which makes it the most international media corporation in the world. In 2008 the company reported a €16.118 billion consolidated...
. The Authors Guild approached the Fair Trade Commission, arguing that "the $1.4 billion acquisition of Random House by Bantam's parent, Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann AG is a multinational media corporation founded in 1835, based in Gütersloh, Germany. The company operates in 63 countries and employs 102,983 workers , which makes it the most international media corporation in the world. In 2008 the company reported a €16.118 billion consolidated...
A.G., the German media conglomerate, would create a 'new economic behemoth' with the potential to restrict readers' choices and authors' ability to market their works". Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann AG is a multinational media corporation founded in 1835, based in Gütersloh, Germany. The company operates in 63 countries and employs 102,983 workers , which makes it the most international media corporation in the world. In 2008 the company reported a €16.118 billion consolidated...
was allowed to make the purchase, however, making it the largest publisher of English-language trade books. Again, Schiffrin protested, noting that in the eight years since Random House had come under the direction of Vitale, "Random House's 'high end'—the literary translations and books of criticism, cultural history and political analysis that had built the reputation of the Knopf and Pantheon imprints—were being sacrificed" and that concerns for the "bottom line" would outweigh intellectual and social concerns.
Schiffrin published a memoir in 2000, in which he explains his side of the controversies surrounding Pantheon and Random House called The Business of Books: How International Conglomerates Took Over Publishing and Changed the Way We Read, in which he accused Vitale and those with money-making interests of homogenizing the publishing industry by focusing too much on profits and warns, "the resulting control on the spread of ideas is stricter than anyone would have though possible in a free society". In a 2003 interview, former Pantheon editor Tom Englehardt reflects on the Pantheon controversy in light of the acquisition by Bertelsmann: "Pantheon was a very specific place, publishing a very specific kind of book, and we felt that was being wiped out. As it turned out, what happened at Pantheon was the beginning of the gargantuan feasting on the independent publishing house and not-so-independent houses as well"
Pantheon Today
Pantheon continues to publish well-respected fiction and non-fiction, and has more recently expanded further into graphic novelGraphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
s. Pantheon published a graphic-based "for beginners" series in the 1970s and 1980s, and decided to bring the series back in 2003. One of the first graphic novels Pantheon published was the highly acclaimed Maus
Maus
Maus: A Survivor's Tale, by Art Spiegelman, is a biography of the author's father, Vladek Spiegelman, a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. It alternates between descriptions of Vladek's life in Poland before and during the Second World War and Vladek's later life in the Rego Park neighborhood of...
: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
in 1986. Spiegelman has become somewhat of a comics consultant, advising editor-in-chief Dan Frank. In 2005, Pantheon published The Acme Novelty Library by Chris Ware
Chris Ware
Franklin Christenson Ware , is an American comic book artist and cartoonist, widely known for his Acme Novelty Library series and the graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he resides in the Chicago area, Illinois...
. That same year, Pantheon published The Rabbi's Cat, a graphic novel by Joann Sfar
Joann Sfar
Joann Sfar is a French comics artist, comic book creator and film director.-Life and career:Sfar was born in Nice. He is considered one of the most important artists of the new wave of Franco-Belgian comics. Many of his comics were published by L'Association which was founded in 1990 by...
which "tells the wholly unique story of a rabbi, his daughter, and their talking cat".
Books published by Pantheon in 2007 that are doing well (ranked by number of holdings in libraries according to OCLC Worldcat) are: The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander McCall Smith
Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE, is a Rhodesian-born Scottish writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. In the late 20th century, McCall Smith became a respected expert on medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees...
, The Little Book of Plagiarism by Richard Posner
Richard Posner
Richard Allen Posner is an American jurist, legal theorist, and economist who is currently a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School...
, Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business by David Mamet
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
, and Toussaint Louverture: A Biography by Madison Smartt Bell
Madison Smartt Bell
Madison Smartt Bell is an American novelist. He was raised Nashville, and lived in New York, and London before settling in Baltimore, Maryland....
.
Literature and criticism
- Force and Freedom: Reflections on History by Jacob BurckhardtJacob BurckhardtCarl Jacob Christoph Burckhardt was a historian of art and culture, and an influential figure in the historiography of each field. He is known as one of the major progenitors of cultural history, albeit in a form very different from how cultural history is conceived and studied in academia today...
(1943) - The World is Not EnoughThe World Is Not EnoughThe World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth spy film in the James Bond film series, and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Michael Apted, with the original story and screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein. It...
, A Novel by Zoé OldenbourgZoé OldenbourgZoé Oldenbourg was a Russian-born French historian and novelist who specialized in mediæval French history, in particular the Crusades and Cathars.-Life:...
(1948) - The I Ching; Or, Book of Changes translated by Richard WilhelmRichard WilhelmRichard Wilhelm was a German sinologist, as well as theologian and missionary. He is best remembered for his translations of philosophical works from Chinese into German that in turn have been translated into other major languages of the world, including English...
and Cary F. Baynes (1950)) - Doctor ZhivagoDoctor Zhivago-Original creation:*Doctor Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak, published in 1957**Yuri Andreyevich Zhivago, a fictional character and the main protagonist of the book Doctor Zhivago-Adaptations:There are several adaptations based on the Doctor Zhivago book:...
by Boris PasternakBoris PasternakBoris Leonidovich Pasternak was a Russian language poet, novelist, and literary translator. In his native Russia, Pasternak's anthology My Sister Life, is one of the most influential collections ever published in the Russian language...
(1959) - The Tin DrumThe Tin DrumThe Tin Drum is a 1959 novel by Günter Grass. The novel is the first book of Grass's .- Plot summary :The story revolves around the life of Oskar Matzerath, as narrated by himself when confined in a mental hospital during the years 1952-1954...
by Günter GrassGünter GrassGünter Wilhelm Grass is a Nobel Prize-winning German author, poet, playwright, sculptor and artist.He was born in the Free City of Danzig...
(1963) - Madness and CivilizationMadness and CivilizationMadness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason by Michel Foucault, is the English edition of Histoire de la folie à l'âge classique, a 1964 abridged edition of the 1961 Folie et déraison: Histoire de la folie à l'âge classique. An English translation of the complete 1961...
: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason by Michel FoucaultMichel FoucaultMichel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
(1965) - Division Street: America by Studs TerkelStuds TerkelLouis "Studs" Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for The Good War, and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.-Early...
(1967) - American Power and the New MandarinsAmerican Power and the New MandarinsAmerican Power and the New Mandarins is a book by the US academic Noam Chomsky, largely written in 1968, published in 1969. It was his first political book and sets out in detail his opposition to the Vietnam War....
by Noam ChomskyNoam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
(1969) - At War with Asia by Noam ChomskyNoam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
(1970) - Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression by Studs TerkelStuds TerkelLouis "Studs" Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for The Good War, and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.-Early...
(1970) - The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences by Michel FoucaultMichel FoucaultMichel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
(1970) - Problems of Knowledge and Freedom by Noam ChomskyNoam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
(1971) - The Archaeology of Knowledge by Michel FoucaultMichel FoucaultMichel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
(1972) - For Reasons of State by Noam ChomskyNoam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
(1973) - Peace in the Middle East: Reflections on Justice and Nationhood by Noam ChomskyNoam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
(1974) - Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do by Studs TerkelStuds TerkelLouis "Studs" Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for The Good War, and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.-Early...
(1974) - Mississippi: Conflict & Change by James LoewenJames LoewenJames W. Loewen is a sociologist, historian, and author whose best-known work is Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong .-Early life and career:...
and Charles Sallis (1974) - Reflections on Language by Noam ChomskyNoam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
(1975) - Sound Effects: Youth, Leisure, and the Politics of Rock'n'Roll by Simon FrithSimon FrithSimon Frith is a British sociologist, and former rock critic, who specializes in popular music culture. He is currently Tovey Chair of Music at University of Edinburgh.-Background:...
(1981) - When Things of the Spirit Come First: Five Early Tales by Simone de BeauvoirSimone de BeauvoirSimone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir, often shortened to Simone de Beauvoir , was a French existentialist philosopher, public intellectual, and social theorist. She wrote novels, essays, biographies, an autobiography in several volumes, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and...
(1982) - The Empire's Old Clothes: What the Lone Ranger, Babar, and Other Innocent Heroes Do to Our Minds by Ariel DorfmanAriel DorfmanVladimiro Ariel Dorfman is an Argentine-Chilean novelist, playwright, essayist, academic, and human rights activist. A citizen of the United States since 2004, he has been a professor of literature and Latin American Studies at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina since 1985.-Personal...
(1983) - Adieux: A Farewell to Sartre by Simone de BeauvoirSimone de BeauvoirSimone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir, often shortened to Simone de Beauvoir , was a French existentialist philosopher, public intellectual, and social theorist. She wrote novels, essays, biographies, an autobiography in several volumes, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and...
(1984) - After The Second Sex: Conversations with Simone De Beauvoir by Alice SchwarzerAlice SchwarzerAlice Schwarzer is the most prominent contemporary German feminist. She is founder and publisher of the German feminist journal EMMA.-Biography and positions:...
and Simone de BeauvoirSimone de BeauvoirSimone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir, often shortened to Simone de Beauvoir , was a French existentialist philosopher, public intellectual, and social theorist. She wrote novels, essays, biographies, an autobiography in several volumes, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and...
(1984) - The Lover by Marguerite DurasMarguerite DurasMarguerite Donnadieu, better known as Marguerite Duras was a French writer and film director.-Background:...
(1985) - Women Writing About Men by Jane Miller (1986)
- The Woman Destroyed by Simone de BeauvoirSimone de BeauvoirSimone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir, often shortened to Simone de Beauvoir , was a French existentialist philosopher, public intellectual, and social theorist. She wrote novels, essays, biographies, an autobiography in several volumes, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and...
(1987) - The Sadeian Woman and the Ideology of Pornography by Angela CarterAngela CarterAngela Carter was an English novelist and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picaresque works...
(1988) - Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Edward S. HermanEdward S. HermanEdward S. Herman is an American economist and media analyst with a specialty in corporate and regulatory issues as well as political economy and the media. He is Professor Emeritus of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He also teaches at Annenberg School for...
and Noam ChomskyNoam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and... - The Death of Rhythm & Blues by Nelson GeorgeNelson GeorgeNelson George is an African American author, columnist, music and culture critic, journalist, and filmmaker. He has been nominated twice for the National Book Critics Circle Award....
(1988) - On Record: Rock, Pop, and the Written Word by Simon FrithSimon FrithSimon Frith is a British sociologist, and former rock critic, who specializes in popular music culture. He is currently Tovey Chair of Music at University of Edinburgh.-Background:...
and Andrew Goodwin (1990) - Stop the Violence: Overcoming Self Destruction by Nelson GeorgeNelson GeorgeNelson George is an African American author, columnist, music and culture critic, journalist, and filmmaker. He has been nominated twice for the National Book Critics Circle Award....
(1990) - The Book of Disquiet by Fernando PessoaFernando PessoaFernando Pessoa, born Fernando António Nogueira de Seabra Pessoa , was a Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic and translator described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century and one of the greatest poets in the Portuguese language.-Early years in Durban:On 13 July...
(1991) - Felix: The Twisted Tale of the World's Most Famous Cat by John CanemakerJohn CanemakerJohn Cannizzaro Jr. , better known as John Canemaker, is an independent animator, animation historian, author, teacher and lecturer. In 1980, he began teaching and developing the animation program at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts', Kanbar Institute of Film and Television Department...
(1991) - Rhythm Oil: A Journey Through the Music of the American South by Stanely Booth (1991)
- Stories of Scottsboro by James Goodman (1994)
- The Birth of the Beat Generation: Visionaries, Rebels, and Hipsters, 1944-1960 by Steven Watson (1995)
- Deep Sightings and Rescue Missions: Fiction, Essays, and Conversations by Toni Cade BambaraToni Cade BambaraToni Cade Bambara, born Miltona Mirkin Cade was an African-American author, documentary film-maker, social activist and college professor.- Biography :...
and Toni MorrisonToni MorrisonToni Morrison is a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved...
(1996) - In the Country of Country: People and Places in American Music by Nicholas DawidoffNicholas DawidoffNicholas Dawidoff is an American writer.Dawidoff was born in New York City, and grew up in New Haven, Connecticut with his mother and sister....
(1997) - Holy Clues: Investigating Life's Mysteries with Sherlock Holmes by Stephen Kendrick (1999)
- Parallels and Paradoxes: Explorations in Music and Society by Daniel BarenboimDaniel BarenboimDaniel Barenboim, KBE is an Argentinian-Israeli pianist and conductor. He has served as music director of several major symphonic and operatic orchestras and made numerous recordings....
, Edward W. Said, and Ara Guzelimian (2002) - Boogaloo: The Quintessence of American Popular Music by Arthur Kempton (2003)
- The End of Blackness: Returning the Souls of Black Folk to Their Rightful Owners by Debra DickersonDebra DickersonDebra J. Dickerson is an American author, editor, writer, and current contributing writer and blogger for Mother Jones magazine. Dickerson has been most prolific as an essayist, writing frequently on race relations and racial identity in the United States.-Early life:She dropped out of Florissant...
(2004) - Give our Regards to the Atomsmashers! Writers on Comics by Sean Howe (2004)
- Shakespeare After All by Marjorie B Garber (2004)
- Tango: The Art History of Love by Robert Farris ThompsonRobert Farris ThompsonRobert Farris Thompson is the Colonel John Trumbull Professor of the History of Art at Yale University....
(2005) - On Michael Jackson by Margo JeffersonMargo JeffersonMargo Lillian Jefferson is a former theatre critic at The New York Times and a notable, full-time professor at Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts....
(2006) - The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall SmithAlexander McCall SmithAlexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE, is a Rhodesian-born Scottish writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. In the late 20th century, McCall Smith became a respected expert on medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees...
(2007) - The Little Book of Plagiarism by Alexander Posner (2007)
- Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business by David MametDavid MametDavid Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
(2007) - Toussant Louverture: A Biography by Madison Smartt BellMadison Smartt BellMadison Smartt Bell is an American novelist. He was raised Nashville, and lived in New York, and London before settling in Baltimore, Maryland....
(2007) - The Father of all Things: A Marine, His Son, and the Legacy of Vietnam by Tom BissellTom BissellTom Bissell is a journalist, critic, and fiction writer, originally from Escanaba, Michigan and currently based in Portland, Oregon.-Life:...
(2007) - "Soon I Will Be InvincibleSoon I Will Be InvincibleSoon I Will Be Invincible is a novel by Austin Grossman. It was published by Pantheon Books and released on June 5, 2007. The novel is uses two alternating first person narratives. One narrative is told from the point-of-view of Fatale, a female cyborg who is recruited by the superhero group The...
: a novel" by Austin GrossmanAustin GrossmanAustin Grossman [b. ] is a writer and game designer who has contributed to the New York Times and a number of video games.He is the author of the novel Soon I Will Be Invincible, which was published by Pantheon Books in 2007....
(2007)
Selections from the Bollingen Series
- Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization, eds. Heinrich Robert Zimmer and Joseph CampbellJoseph CampbellJoseph John Campbell was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience...
(1946) - The I ChingI ChingThe I Ching or "Yì Jīng" , also known as the Classic of Changes, Book of Changes and Zhouyi, is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts...
or Book of Changes, Wilhelm, RRichard WilhelmRichard Wilhelm was a German sinologist, as well as theologian and missionary. He is best remembered for his translations of philosophical works from Chinese into German that in turn have been translated into other major languages of the world, including English...
. and Baynes, C., 1967. With foreword by Carl JungCarl JungCarl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
. 3rd. ed., Bollingen Series XIX. Princeton NJ: Princeton University PressPrinceton University Press-Further reading:* "". Artforum International, 2005.-External links:* * * * *...
(1st ed. 1950). - The Collected Works of C.G. Jung by Carl JungCarl JungCarl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
(1953) - Psychological Reflections: An Anthology of the Writings of C.G. Jung by Carl JungCarl JungCarl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
(1953) - Creative Intuition in Art and Poetry by Jacques MaritainJacques MaritainJacques Maritain was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised as a Protestant, he converted to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive St. Thomas Aquinas for modern times and is a prominent drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights...
(1953) - The Origins and History of Consciousness by Erich NeumannErich NeumannErich Neumann may refer to:*Erich Neumann , Nazi politician*Erich Neumann , Psychologist and writer...
(1954) - Painting and Reality by Étienne GilsonÉtienne GilsonÉtienne Gilson was a French Thomistic philosopher and historian of philosophy...
(1957) - Yoga: Immortality and Freedom by Mircea EliadeMircea EliadeMircea Eliade was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day...
(1958) - Zen and Japanese Culture by Daisetz Teitaro SuzukiDaisetz Teitaro SuzukiDaisetsu Teitaro Suzuki was a Japanese author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in spreading interest in both Zen and Shin to the West. Suzuki was also a prolific translator of Chinese, Japanese, and Sanskrit literature...
(1959) - Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation by E.H. Gombrich (1960)
- Of Divers Arts by Naum GaboNaum GaboNaum Gabo KBE, born Naum Neemia Pevsner was a prominent Russian sculptor in the Constructivism movement and a pioneer of Kinetic Art.-Early life:...
(1962) - The "I" and the "Not-I": A Study in the Development of Consciousness by Mary Esther HardingMary Esther HardingMary Esther Harding was an American Jungian analyst who was the first significant Jungian psychoanalyst in the United States.-Personal life:...
(1965) - Birds by Saint-John PerseSaint-John PerseSaint-John Perse was a French poet, awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1960 "for the soaring flight and evocative imagery of his poetry." He was also a major French diplomat from 1914 to 1940, after which he lived primarily in the USA until 1967.-Biography:Alexis Leger was...
and Georges BraqueGeorges BraqueGeorges Braque[p] was a major 20th century French painter and sculptor who, along with Pablo Picasso, developed the art style known as Cubism.-Early Life:...
(1966) - Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter by Karl KerényiKarl KerényiKároly Kerényi was a Hungarian scholar in classical philology, one of the founders of modern studies in Greek mythology.- Hungary 1897–1943 :...
(1967)
Comics, "...for Beginners" books, and graphic novels
- ...for Beginners
- Lenin for Beginners by Richard Appignanesi and Oscar ZarateOscar ZarateOscar Zarate is an Argentine comic book artist and illustrator. He has drawn for the UK comics magazine Crisis. He is probably best known in the United States as the artist for Alan Moore's graphic novel A Small Killing. He has drawn an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello...
(1978) - Freud for Beginners by Richard Appignanesi and Oscar ZarateOscar ZarateOscar Zarate is an Argentine comic book artist and illustrator. He has drawn for the UK comics magazine Crisis. He is probably best known in the United States as the artist for Alan Moore's graphic novel A Small Killing. He has drawn an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello...
(1979) - Trotsky for Beginners by Tariq AliTariq AliTariq Ali , , is a British Pakistani military historian, novelist, journalist, filmmaker, public intellectual, political campaigner, activist, and commentator...
(1980) - Ecology for Beginners by Stephen Croall and William Rankin (1981)
- Marx's Kapital for Beginners by David N. Smith, and Phil Evans, and Karl MarxKarl MarxKarl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
(1982) - Nuclear Power for Beginners by Stephen Croall and Kaianders Sempler (1983)
- Economists for Beginners by Bernard Canavan (1983)
- Lenin for Beginners by Richard Appignanesi and Oscar Zarate
- Love is Hell by Matt GroeningMatt GroeningMatthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
(1985) - Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds HistoryMausMaus: A Survivor's Tale, by Art Spiegelman, is a biography of the author's father, Vladek Spiegelman, a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. It alternates between descriptions of Vladek's life in Poland before and during the Second World War and Vladek's later life in the Rego Park neighborhood of...
by Art SpiegelmanArt SpiegelmanArt Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
(1986) - Read Yourself RAWRead Yourself RAWRead Yourself RAW is a book collecting most of the non-Maus contents of the first three issues of the magazine RAW, edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly and published by Pantheon Books....
by Art SpiegelmanArt SpiegelmanArt Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
and Françoise MoulyFrançoise MoulyFrançoise Mouly is a Paris-born French artist and designer best known for her work with RAW, a showcase publication for cutting edge comic art, and as art editor of The New Yorker, a position she has held since 1993...
(1987) - School is Hell: A Cartoon Book by Matt GroeningMatt GroeningMatthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
(1987) - Childhood is Hell: A Cartoon Book" by Matt GroeningMatt GroeningMatthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
(1988) - The Big Book of Hell: A Cartoon Book by Matt GroeningMatt GroeningMatthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
(1990) - Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art SpiegelmanArt SpiegelmanArt Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
(1991) - Love is Still Hell: A Cartoon Book by Matt GroeningMatt GroeningMatthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
(1994) - The Jew of New YorkThe Jew of New YorkThe Jew of New York is a graphic novel by Ben Katchor, inspired by Mordecai Manuel Noah's attempt to establish a Jewish homeland in Grand Island, New York in the 1820s. It was originally serialized in the pages of The Forward before being published in book form in 1999.-External links:* by J....
by Ben KatchorBen KatchorBen Katchor is an American cartoonist best known for his comic strip Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer. He has contributed comics and drawings to The New Yorker and The New York Times...
(1998) - Ethel & ErnestEthel and ErnestEthel and Ernest is a graphic novel by English author and illustrator Raymond Briggs. It tells the story of the lives of Briggs' parents from their first meeting in 1928 to their deaths in 1971.-Story:...
by Raymond BriggsRaymond BriggsRaymond Redvers Briggs is an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist, and author who has achieved critical and popular success among adults and children...
(1998) - David BoringDavid BoringDavid Boring is a comic series and graphic novel by Daniel Clowes. It was originally serialized as issues #19 through 21 of the comic book Eightball before being published in collected form by Pantheon Books in 2000...
by Daniel ClowesDaniel ClowesDaniel Gillespie Clowes is an American author, screenwriter and cartoonist of alternative comic books....
(2000) - Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris WareChris WareFranklin Christenson Ware , is an American comic book artist and cartoonist, widely known for his Acme Novelty Library series and the graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, he resides in the Chicago area, Illinois...
(2000) - Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer: The Beauty Supply DistrictJulius Knipl, Real Estate PhotographerJulius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer is a weekly comic strip written and drawn by Ben Katchor since 1988. It is published in The Forward and various alternative weekly newspapers....
by Ben KatchorBen KatchorBen Katchor is an American cartoonist best known for his comic strip Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer. He has contributed comics and drawings to The New Yorker and The New York Times...
(2000) - In the Floyd Archives: A Psycho-Bestiary by Sarah Boxer (2001)
- Persepolis by Marjane SatrapiMarjane SatrapiMarjane Satrapi is an Iranian-born French contemporary graphic novelist, illustrator, animated film director, and children's book author...
(2003) - In the Shadow of No TowersIn the Shadow of No TowersIn the Shadow of No Towers is a comic by Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic artist Art Spiegelman.-Overview:The comic evolved from Spiegelman's experiences during the September 11 terrorist attacks...
by Art SpiegelmanArt SpiegelmanArt Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
(2004) - Persepolis II by Marjane SatrapiMarjane SatrapiMarjane Satrapi is an Iranian-born French contemporary graphic novelist, illustrator, animated film director, and children's book author...
(2004) - Amy and JordanAmy and JordanAmy and Jordan is a comic book by Mark Beyer, featuring a dysfunctional couple who are victimized by each other and by blind circumstance. The characters Amy and Jordan appear in other works by Beyer, including Agony . It was listed in Time Magazine's "Best Comix of 2004"....
by Mark BeyerMark BeyerMark Beyer is a comic artist known for his bleak storylines, often featuring death, disfigurement, depression, and humiliation, which contrast with his childlike, geometric drawing style. Most of his stories are about the adventures of a codependent yet resentful couple named Amy and Jordan.His...
(2004) - Black HoleBlack Hole (comics)Black Hole was a twelve-issue comic book limited series written and illustrated by Charles Burns and published first by Kitchen Sink Press and then Fantagraphics...
by Charles BurnsCharles Burns (cartoonist)Charles Burns is an American cartoonist, illustrator and film director.-Life:Burns is renowned for his meticulous, high-contrast and creepy artwork and stories. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, painter Susan Moore, and their two daughters Ava and Rae-Rae.His father was an oceanographer for...
(2005) - Embroideries by Marjane SatrapiMarjane SatrapiMarjane Satrapi is an Iranian-born French contemporary graphic novelist, illustrator, animated film director, and children's book author...
(2005) - Epileptic by David BeauchardDavid BeauchardPierre-François "David" Beauchard , who uses the pen name David B., is a French comic book artist and writer, and one of the founders of L'Association.-Biography:...
(2005) - Ice HavenIce HavenIce Haven is a 2005 graphic novel by Daniel Clowes. The book's contents were originally published as the comic book Eightball #22 and were subsequently reformatted to make the hardcover Ice Haven book....
by Daniel ClowesDaniel ClowesDaniel Gillespie Clowes is an American author, screenwriter and cartoonist of alternative comic books....
(2005) - The Rabbi's Cat by Joann SfarJoann SfarJoann Sfar is a French comics artist, comic book creator and film director.-Life and career:Sfar was born in Nice. He is considered one of the most important artists of the new wave of Franco-Belgian comics. Many of his comics were published by L'Association which was founded in 1990 by...
(2005) - Chicken with Plums by Marjane SatrapiMarjane SatrapiMarjane Satrapi is an Iranian-born French contemporary graphic novelist, illustrator, animated film director, and children's book author...
(2006) - La PerdidaLa PerdidaLa Perdida is an independent comic book series created by Jessica Abel and published by Pantheon Books.-Content:La Perdida is a story centered on the life of a young American woman , living abroad in Mexico...
by Jessica AbelJessica AbelJessica Abel is an American comic book writer and artist, known as the creator of such works as Life Sucks, Drawing Words & Writing Pictures, Soundtrack, La Perdida, Mirror, Window, Radio: An Illustrated Guide , and the omnibus series Artbabe.Abel has stated that her major work is not...
(2006) - A Scanner DarklyA Scanner Darkly (film)A Scanner Darkly is a 2006 science fiction thriller directed by Richard Linklater based on the novel of the same name by Philip K. Dick. The film tells the story of identity and deception in a near-future dystopia constantly under intrusive high-technology police surveillance in the midst of a drug...
by Philip K. DickPhilip K. DickPhilip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
, adapted by Richard LinklaterRichard Linklater-Early life:Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He studied at Sam Houston State University and left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through...
(2006) - Alias the Cat!Alias the Cat!Alias the Cat is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Kim Deitch, published by Pantheon Books in 2007. It originally appeared as a three-issue comic book in 2002 as The Stuff of Dreams from Fantagraphics Books....
by Kim DeitchKim Deitch-Sources:* at Lambiek's Comiclopedia-External links:* Ford, Jeffrey. *Heller, Steven. **...
(2007) - Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@*! by Art SpiegelmanArt SpiegelmanArt Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
(2008) - My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down by David HeatleyDavid HeatleyDavid Heatley is an American cartoonist, illustrator, graphic designer and musician.- Education :Born in Teaneck, New Jersey, Heatley graduated from Teaneck High School in 1993. He graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2000.-Comics:Though he studied painting and filmmaking at Oberlin,...
(2008) - Asterios PolypAsterios Polyp-Sources:*Shaw, Dash. "TCJ 300 Conversations: David Mazzucchelli & Dash Shaw". The Comics Journal #300. Fantagraphics Books, December 2009. part -External links:* in New York Magazine* in The New York Times...
by David MazzucchelliDavid MazzucchelliDavid Mazzucchelli is an American comic book artist and writer. His latest work is the award-winning graphic novel, Asterios Polyp.-Career:...
(2009) - A.D.: New Orleans After the DelugeA.D.: New Orleans After the DelugeA.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge is a non-fiction graphic novel by cartoonist Josh Neufeld. It tells the stories of a handful of real-life New Orleans residents and their experiences during and after Hurricane Katrina. A.D. was a New York Times best-seller and was nominated for a 2010 Eisner...
by Josh NeufeldJosh NeufeldJosh Neufeld is an alternative cartoonist known for his nonfiction comics on subjects like Hurricane Katrina, international travel, and finance, as well as his collaborations with writers like Harvey Pekar and Brooke Gladstone...
(2009) - The Cardboard ValiseThe Cardboard ValiseThe Cardboard Valise is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Ben Katchor. It was released by Pantheon Books in 2011.The book deals with its characters' obsessive tourism...
by Ben KatchorBen KatchorBen Katchor is an American cartoonist best known for his comic strip Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer. He has contributed comics and drawings to The New Yorker and The New York Times...
(2011)