Editors
EDITORS....Andrew Sullivan vents:
The publishing industry is one of the shallowest, dumbest and most archaic in the U.S. No one edits anything. The publishers do not care what is in their books and neither, by and large, do editors.Is this really true? The reason I ask is that in virtually every book I read, the author praises the book's editor in glowing terms. It doesn't usually seem pro forma, either. It sounds genuine and heartfelt.
Of course, we are talking about writers here, and I suppose it's pretty easy for them to fake heartfelt acknowledgments if they want to. Is that what's going on? Are they just sucking up? Or are editors really unsung heroes?
POSTSCRIPT: And what about Andrew himself? It just so happens that I own four copies of The Conservative Soul (don't ask), and turning to the acknowledgments I see that his editor is practically the first person he thanks. Was this heartfelt? Inquiring minds want to know.