Earlier this year, I enjoyed MAX PERKINS: EDITOR OF GENIUS by A. Scott Berg. I discovered the book while reading about F. Scott Fitzgerald and his trials and tribulations surrounding the completion of THE GREAT GATSBY. Perkins was his editor, and until reading about his life, I had never given much thought to what role an editor plays in the publication of a book. In addition to Fitzgerald, Perkins nurtured the careers of Ernest Hemingway and Thomas Wolfe. Far more than a blue pencil, Perkins served these great writers as an advocate, coach and confessor. Without him in their lives, they might have never achieved the literary successes that mark their lifetimes.

Across the pond in England, Edward Garnett occupied a position in the literary world that was the British bookend to Max Perkins. In the early decades of the 20th century, Garnett nurtured the literary careers of extraordinary writers like Joseph Conrad, Stephen Crane, D. H. Lawrence, E. M. Forster and T. E. Lawrence. AN UNCOMMON READER, the story of Garnett’s life and work, is a superb biography of a man who author Helen Smith estimates may have considered 20,000 novels for publication during his career. Beyond his role in the publication of classic works of literature, Garnett also was a literary trailblazer who promoted a number of controversial novels. Today, many of those books are still found on the shelves of bookstores and are taught in literature classes throughout the world.

"Anyone interested in early 20th-century literature and the writers whose careers crossed paths with Garnett will find this readable biography to be a wonderful book."

Good biographies meet two goals. In addition to chronicling the life of the subject, they offer a perspective on the times during which the subject lived. Garnett’s adult life spanned the end of the 19th century and World War I. It was an era when new European writers were appearing on the continent and in Great Britain. The changing political winds of Europe influenced many of these writers. Garnett had little formal education, departing from the City of London School at the age of 16. He started as a publisher’s reader, working for  several publishers during his lifetime and often clashing with his employers because he cared more about literary quality than the company’s bottom line.

In 1894, the youthful Garnett met Josef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski in London. The writer who would publish under the name “Joseph Conrad” had left his employment as second mate on a steamer and was attempting to find a publisher for his first manuscript. It was a fortuitous meeting for both men. English was Conrad’s third language, and he was a man of fluctuating moods. Garnett corrected Conrad’s language and encouraged the Polish writer to believe in his extraordinary talent. Conrad would credit Garnett years later, observing, “Edward made me go on writing, that is what made me an author.” ALMAYERS FOLLY, Conrad’s first novel, was published in 1895.

Garnett would throw himself into the task of shaping a manuscript into a final publication. D. H. Lawrence’s SONS AND LOVERS would be accepted for publication only if it was substantially edited, which he accomplished. Later, Garnett would undertake a revision of T. E. Lawrence’s SEVEN PILLARS OF WISDOM, cutting the 300,000-word text in half over a period of 10 days only to have the publisher decline to move forward with the final product.

Smith also notes that Garnett missed an occasional classic. Fearing they were not quality efforts, he recommended against publishing H. G. Wells’ THE TIME MACHINE and James Joyce’s A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN. These stories are presented by Smith with skill, warmth and human interest. Anyone interested in early 20th-century literature and the writers whose careers crossed paths with Garnett will find this readable biography to be a wonderful book.