New York Review of Books.

The New York Review of Books was begun in New York City in February, 1963. Among those primarily responsible for its inception were Robert Silvers, then on the staff of Harper's Magazine, Barbara Epstein and her husband, Jason Epstein, an editor for Random House, and Elizabeth Hardwick, wife of poet Robert Lowell. The immediate reason for its publication was the newspaper strike, which eliminated one of the means by which publishers advertised their new works to the book-buying market and made them eager for some substitute outlet for such publicity. But there was also a longer range reason--belief that a large audience existed for extensive and critical reviews of books which was not being satisfied by the New York Times.Book Review section or the Saturday Review. The strike provided the ideal opportunity to test the demand for and acceptance of such a book reviewing medium.

Many well-known writers and scholars were convinced to write reviews for nothing, and the first issue was financed by sales of advertising space to publishers. This issue was widely acclaimed as a breath of fresh air for the literary world and sold out rapidly. Its success prompted the founders to attempt a second issue, which also met with praise and produced a comparable sales record. The response accorded both issues thus confirmed them in the decision to begin publication on a continuing basis, and the first regular issue appeared in August, 1963. The format was then, as it is now, a bi-monthly tabloid containing articles, extensive and critical book reviews, poetry, advertisements for the book trade, and other items of literary interest.

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