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The publishing revival of the early 1920s began with the appearance of the Modern Library and other modestly priced reprints. Today, in addition to the immense success of paperbound reprints, paper rationing has accustomed readers to cheaper books, with thinner paper, smaller type, narrower margins. And keen competition in the cheap-book field has been further assured this year by Multimillionaire Marshall Field's purchase of Simon & Schuster (including a 49% interest in Pocket Books), countered by the purchase of the old reprint house of Grosset & Dunlap by a syndicate composed of Random House, Book-of-the-Month Club, and Harper & Bros.
Postwar U.S. readers may get not only more and cheaper books but better ones. Wrote Publisher Bennett Cerf (Random House) in the New York Post last fortnight: "The creation of a great reprint and chain-store market simply means that a deserving book will earn far more than it ever did before. The added bait may even dim the siren song of Hollywood in young authors' ears and persuade them to concentrate, as they did long, long ago, on making their every book the very best that they know, how to write."