A Skeptic Among Scholars

by Frugé, August

• ISBN13: 9780520084261
• ISBN10: 0520084268
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1993-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr on Demand

Summary

When August Frugeacute; joined the University of California Press in 1944, it was part of the University's printing department, publishing a modest number of books a year, mainly monographs by UC faculty members. When he retired as director 32 years later, the Press had been transformed into one of the largest, most distinguished university presses in the country, publishing more than 150 books annually in fields ranging from ancient history to contemporary film criticism, by notable authors from all over the world. August Frugeacute;'s memoir provides an exciting intellectual and topical story of the building of this great press. Along the way, it recalls battles for independence from the University administration, the Press's distinctive early style of book design, and many of the authors and staff who helped shape the Press in its formative years.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Fin de Siecle: End and Beginning	p. 1
Berkeley in the 1950s: The Place and How I Came to Be There	p. 7
The University Press in the 1940s: Recto and Verso	p. 21
An Unavoidable Conflict	p. 37
How We Joined the Editorial Committee	p. 47
A Kind of Metamorphosis	p. 66
Where to Look for Books: Athens in Berkeley	p. 87
Looking to the South: Many Americas	p. 104
Looking West to the East: Pel and the Asian Books	p. 126
Ishi, Don Juan, and the Anthropologists: A Tale of Two Best-Sellers	p. 137
Hollywood and Berkeley: Getting into the Film Business	p. 157
London, 1660 and 1960: The Coded Words of Sam Pepys	p. 167
Nevada in the 1860s: Sam Clemens	p. 185
In Any Language but English: Poetry at the Press	p. 202
The Poetry-Hating Director	p. 216
A Few Pounds of Lit Crit	p. 221
Mega Biblion: Exposing the Press to Art History	p. 229
The Book as Artifact: Design and Printing	p. 245
Anybody Can Write a Book, but...	p. 274
The Bird That Was Overdue for Evolution: And Other Tales of the Financial Wars	p. 289
Waiting for the God from the Machine	p. 314
Earthquakes and Endings	p. 331
Addenda: Alternative Views
God, Swahili, Bandicoots, and Euphoria	p. 333
Publishing The Plan of St. Gall	p. 339
Index	p. 355
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.