Weekend Beat/ CULTURE & MORE: Publisher of Lessing, Lennon, Roth and Rushdie recalls a stellar career

When Tom Maschler gives a book recommendation, it's a good idea to perk up your ears. During his decades-long publishing career, Maschler has published numerous Nobel Prize winners--including the most recent, Doris Lessing--and founded Britain's most prestigious literary award, the Man Booker Prize.

He was in Tokyo earlier this month on the invitation of the Japanese Literature Publishing and Promotion Center.

During his stay, Maschler spoke at the Kinokuniya Southern Theater in Shinjuku Ward, delivering a speech that was less a lecture and more a series of meandering memories. As someone who has made his life's work choosing compelling stories for publishing, Maschler is an admirable tale-spinner himself. He takes his time telling an anecdote, relishing detail and delivery, telling each story as though for the first time.

Maschler's memoir "Publisher" (Picador, 2005) tells many of the stories he touched on during his recent Tokyo lecture. Though he has read and published many of the 20th-century's finest authors, he doesn't hesitate when asked to name his favorite--Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He describes Marquez's use of magic realism in "One Hundred Years of Solitude" as revolutionary and ingenious.

He's also quick to recommend this year's Nobel Prize laureate and a close personal friend--Doris Lessing. According to Maschler, the prize was almost laughably long overdue, but better late than never.

A good starting point for first-time readers of Lessing would be her first novel, "The Grass Is Singing," but he also recommends the more sophisticated "The Golden Notebook."

Perhaps Maschler's best-known tale was his purchase of Joseph Heller's "Catch 22" for 250 pounds, a book that catapulted his publishing house, Jonathan Cape, to a new level.

Born in 1933 in Berlin, Maschler traveled the world for several years before returning to England, where he had grown up, in his mid-20s. He began working in publishing, and quickly found it to be the perfect job. Not only did he love it, he seemed to possess an uncanny knack for selecting the world's most talented writers.

Maschler insists that quality rather than saleability has been the priority throughout his career. If he thought something was good, he would pursue it, even if he thought its marketing potential dismal. Examples include works by Roland Barthes and Claude Levi-Strauss.

Maschler notes one exception to this over the years. Jeffrey Archer was a best-selling author that Maschler published but considered "real rubbish" compared to true literature.

When Maschler agreed to purchase but refused to say he loved Archer's "Cain and Abel," the book was sold to another publishing company. "It made a fortune, but never mind," Maschler said.

Though he's published the likes of Lessing, Heller, Kurt Vonnegut, Philip Roth, Salman Rushdie, John Lennon and Thomas Pynchon, Maschler considers founding the Man Booker Prize in the 1960s the greatest accomplishment of his career.

Maschler concedes that his career as one of the world's most eminent publishers has consumed him, but he doesn't see his job as separate from life--he describes 95 percent of his time at work as a joy.

Asked what books by Japanese authors he admires, Maschler expressed regret at his lack of exposure to Japanese authors, but sang his praises for Junichiro Tanizaki's "The Makioka Sisters," describing it as a masterpiece on par with the works of Leo Tolstoy.

As for the future, Maschler remains optimistic. Asked if the Internet age poses a threat to good old-fashioned books, he said no. Publishing may have been "healthier and easier" in the past, but there's little chance that true literature will be obliterated by blogs or keitai (cellphone) publishing.

On a personal level, Maschler makes no excuses for his Luddite tendencies. He has no interest in the Internet, and refuses to own a cellphone.(IHT/Asahi: March 29,2008)