Andre Shiffrin is an American publisher, holder of the Legion of Honor (France), winner of one of the most prestigious literary awards in Italy (Il Premio Grinzane Cavour, 2002). He received awards not only for his publishing activities, but also for this book, which is something between a professional’s memoirs and a pamphlet. Since 1961, A. Shiffrin worked at Pantheon, a division of the publishing giant Random House, which specialized in intellectual literature. In 1990, when the new owners of Random House began to remove from the plans everything that did not correspond to their opinion of the tastes of the mass consumer, the editors of Pantheon tendered their resignations. Having founded the independent publishing house New Press, A. Shiffrin prioritized the quality, not the profitability, of books. Talking in detail about the rise and fall of Pantheon, the author sheds light on the behind-the-scenes life of large commercial publishing houses, and also shows the mechanisms used by concerns in the struggle for the market. But even in such conditions, as A. Shiffrin proves by sharing the experience of New Press, an independent intellectual publishing house is able to survive.