My Back Pages Comments & Responses
Wednesday, 14th June 2023
“Richard Charkin's My Back Pages is an extraordinary exposition of his quite extraordinary career. There is surely no other trade book and academic journal publisher of the last half century so qualified and so competent to describe and evaluate the market's endless and astonishing twists and turns over that time.”
Sir Tim Waterstone“I can really hear your voice throughout, and it’s wonderfully entertaining. Bravo. It really is a joy.”
Patrick Brindle, City University Publishing Course
“A fascinating personal assessment of the rise and growth of publishing by someone who has lived through it and whose experience, knowledge and wisdom is second to none.”
Delia Smith
“A fascinating and hugely entertaining personal history of the last half century of British publishing. A must-read for anyone who cares about books and their unique and fundamental role in our lives.”
William Boyd
“Richard Charkin is a professional’s professional, and no-one knows the book trade better.”
Jeffrey Archer
“Richard Charkin changed UK publishing. He also, thankfully, made it more fun.”
Charlotte Mendelson
“I found it fascinating and full of interest....Your early years in the business are particularly riveting to somebody who joined much later on.”
Antony Topping, Managing Director, Greene & Heaton Literary Agency
“I thoroughly enjoyed this. You have a great eye for the telling details that illuminate the progress (or otherwise) of publishing from the Seventies to now, and you have so many good stories… it is an impressive achievement.”
Nick Clee, Joint Editor and Founder, BookBrunch
“What an amazing career. I can’t think of anyone else who has been active in such a wide range of sorts of publishing. I should think there will be a host of people who know you through the sector of publishing that they are in but will be interested in your experience of all the other sectors that they don’t know about.”
Andrew L Schuller, Publishing Consultant, Formerly Editorial Director Humanities and Social Sciences OUP
Amazon Customer Reviews:
“This is a fascinating journey through the greatest transition in publishing since the invention of the printing press… this is a must-read for anyone in the industry and for his friends and colleagues.”
“There is a real feeling throughout that good things do happen to good people. What a mensch!”
“It’s Charkin’s personal eye view of the social, technological, commercial and geographical developments of the publishing industry. The man’s a force of nature, a character, someone who has made a significant contribution to the profession over the last fifty years, and knows his onions. Read it. Enjoy it. It's for everyone who reads, writes and so on.”
“Well written, well researched and totally absorbing.”
“A compelling read, recommended not just to students of publishing but those interested in books, and the impact of technology… on how the world works.”
“Pleasurable learning is a rare experience and I'm grateful for Richard's commitment to conveying his perspective and experience in an honourable yet entertaining fashion. A proper mensch!”
Critical reception:
Louise Adler, The Sydney Morning Herald
Christopher Gasson, The Bookseller Review
“The Menschiest Man in Publishing”
Stephen Applebaum, the Jewish Chronicle
“His [Richard’s] knowledge of the social and technological shifts in the industry… make this one for writers, insiders and anyone considering a career in publishing.”
Marion Weaver, Hackney Citizen
My Back Pages; “does it work? Undoubtedly.”
Frost Magazine
Kenneth Whyte, SHuSH
Silence Of The Lambs, Bridges Of Madison County & The Publishing Universe
Interview with Alison Jones - The Extraordinary Business Book Club
Readers’ reactions
“Your journey through Pergamon, OUP, Macmillan, Reed and Bloomsbury provides much entertainment. Each had enough heft to take some risks and to push the boundaries of publishing, under your leadership, and you tell that tale well… I like your account of the experiments, successes and failures along the way.”
“…a very important history of the UK publishing industry of the past thirty years written by one of its most venerable veterans.”
“It was not just fun to read about your 50 year career, but was also a really fun and interesting account of all the changes that have taken place in publishing over the last fifty years… Great and engaging writing style!”
“‘My Back Pages’ is a tremendous overview of publishing during this period of massive change.”
“Publishing memoirs, I’d say, don’t usually bring out the best in their authors. This one is a delicious experience for anyone who has worked in publishing of any kind, but should also be an essential induction for those starting out now. It manages to be both shrewdly rooted in an understanding of how change comes over time, but also timeless in its relevance.”
“…it is hard to tell you how much I enjoyed it [MBP]… This industry is all the richer for what you brought to it.”
…it was a refreshing change to read about Maxwell’s talent as well as his fatal flaws…
Altogether, a rattling good read, certain to become a classic in the publishing trade.”
“Fascinating, engaging, tremendously interesting and, above all, brilliantly told.”
“I found your profiles of Robert Maxwell and Paul Hamlyn particularly fascinating. And I liked your optimistic conclusion which I wholeheartedly agree with that publishing is better and more professional than it was forty years ago. ‘My Back Pages’ is a tremendous overview of publishing during this period of massive change.”
“Publishing memoirs… don’t usually bring out the best in their authors. This one is a delicious experience for anyone who has worked in publishing of any kind, but should also be an essential induction for those starting out now. It manages to be both shrewdly rooted in an understanding of how change comes over time, but also timeless in its relevance.”
“Truly informative and wise about what has transpired in publishing during your stories… funny as well. I admire your new venture and the way you are going about it particularly in terms of the rights you are securing for your books… more power to you!”