STEELWORK (1970)
PANTHEON
From Gilbert Sorrentino: A Descriptive Bibliography, by William McPheron: [Steelwork] was written at night in 1968-69, while GS was working regular hours at Grove Press...André Schiffrin, then [Pantheon's] director, accepted it, but only if Pantheon could also publish Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things, which GS had almost completed by this time. GS agreed to these terms, signed the two-book contract, and received a combined $1250 advance for both novels...the novel sold relatively poorly. In early 1973, after Pantheon could not get a remainder price for either SW or IQAT, the publisher proposed pulping the several thousand copies of each still in their warehouse...[GS arranged] for Pantheon to sell them all in April 1973 for $500 to Peter Howard at Serendipity Books in Berkeley, CA."
Although he was under no obligation to do so, Peter Howard thereafter paid Sorrentino a 10% royalty on net sales.
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PANTHEON
From Gilbert Sorrentino: A Descriptive Bibliography, by William McPheron: [Steelwork] was written at night in 1968-69, while GS was working regular hours at Grove Press...André Schiffrin, then [Pantheon's] director, accepted it, but only if Pantheon could also publish Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things, which GS had almost completed by this time. GS agreed to these terms, signed the two-book contract, and received a combined $1250 advance for both novels...the novel sold relatively poorly. In early 1973, after Pantheon could not get a remainder price for either SW or IQAT, the publisher proposed pulping the several thousand copies of each still in their warehouse...[GS arranged] for Pantheon to sell them all in April 1973 for $500 to Peter Howard at Serendipity Books in Berkeley, CA."
Although he was under no obligation to do so, Peter Howard thereafter paid Sorrentino a 10% royalty on net sales.
Buy the current edition at Bookshop
IndieBound
Amazon
Back to Books