Because the plot was not as timely as
it would need to be to succeed in the commercial marketplace, I
will have to pass.
Please do keep me informed of Mr. Hutsko's projects, should he
decide to embark upon writing another ms.
Sincerely,
[Signed]
Brian Tart
Associate Editor
Enc.
- - - - - - - - - -
Give or take a few sentiments, the gist of Mr. Tart's
encouraging but ultimately downer letter was repeated by all of
the top trade publishing houses. A number of enthusiastic editors
- in particular a young editor named John Michel, who pleaded
with his senior editors to acquire the novel first at
HarperCollins, then later when he moved to Crown (and who has
since become a friend, so something good has survived those
battles) - tried their best to acquire the book, and in one case
an offer was extended to my then-agent, but then two days later
the publisher backed out, apologizing that the editor who'd made
the offer was in no position to do so, please forgive the error
in our ways.
The really troubling thing for me was that when I set out to
write my novel, another novel called "The Bonfire of the
Vanities," by Tom Wolfe, had taken the reading population by
storm. Was not Mr. Wolfe's novel inspired by real-life, by the
bond trading schemes that at the time were making front page
news? Readers of fiction turned the book into a best-seller, and
as one of those readers, I cannot say that I would have read the
book were Tom Wolfe to have written it as a non-fiction title.
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