Barney Rosset's guest appearances

Barney Rosset

On the Media

The Biblio File hosted by Nigel Beale

Quentin Tarantino

Nicholson Baker

Tom Doherty

Bernie Sanders

Aaron Copland

Harlan Coben

Cory Doctorow

Yann Martel

Sydney Smith

George Eliot

Larry Thompson

Alex Ross

Lawrence Krauss

Margaret MacMillan

Lionel Trilling

OwlTail

In 1951, Grove Press was a tiny, almost-defunct independent publisher, with just three titles in its catalog, including Herman Melville’s The Confidence Man. But then Barney Rosset took over and, with a few choice books, helped push America past its Puritanical roots and into the sexual revolution. He died in 2012 and we are re-airing this interview I did with him many years back, to set up this week’s show in which we’ll be trying to unpack the latest round of book banning in America. 

In 1951, Grove Press was a tiny, almost-defunct independent publisher, with just three titles in its catalog, including Herman Melville’s The Confidence Man. But then Barney Rosset took over and, with a few choice books, helped push America past its Puritanical roots and into the sexual revolution. He died in 2012 and we are re-airing this interview I did with him many years back, to set up this week’s show in which we’ll be trying to unpack the latest round of book banning in America.

Barney Rosset Never Backed Down 


John Oakes

'Barnet Lee "Barney" Rosset, Jr. (1922 – 2012) was owner of the  Grove Press publishing house and publisher and editor-in-chief at the Evergreen Review. He led a successful legal battle to publish the uncensored version of D. H. Lawrence's novel Lady Chatterley's Lover, and later was the American publisher of Henry Miller's controversial novel Tropic of Cancer. The right to publish and distribute Miller's novel in the United States was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1964, in a landmark ruling for free speech and the First Amendment.' Under Rosset  Grove introduced American readers to European avant-garde literature and theatre, publishing, among others, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Jean Genet, and Eugène Ionesco. Most importantly, in 1954, Grove started publishing Samuel Beckett John Oakes is the co-founder and 50% owner of OR Books, and  publisher of the Evergreen Review, an online revival of the venerable counter-cultural literary magazine originally published by Grove Press under Barney Rosset whose memoir Rosset: My Life in Publishing and How I Fought Censorship OR Books published in 2017.  I talked with John about Rosset via Zoom. 

'Barnet Lee "Barney" Rosset, Jr. (1922 – 2012) was owner of the  Grove Press publishing house and publisher and editor-in-chief at the Evergreen Review. He led a successful legal battle to publish the uncensored version of D. H. Lawrence's novel Lady Chatterley's Lover, and later was the American publisher of Henry Miller's controversial novel Tropic of Cancer. The right to publish and distribute Miller's novel in the United States was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1964, in a landmark ruling for free speech and the First Amendment.' Under Rosset  Grove introduced American readers to European avant-garde literature and theatre, publishing, among others, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alain_Robbe-Grillet" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Alain Robbe-Grillet</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Genet" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jean Genet</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Ionesco" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Eugène Ionesco</a>. Most importantly, in 1954, Grove started publishing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Beckett" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Samuel Beckett</a> John Oakes is the co-founder and 50% owner of <a href="https://www.orbooks.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OR Books</a>, and  publisher of the <a href="https://evergreenreview.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Evergreen Review,</a> an online revival of the venerable counter-cultural literary magazine originally published by Grove Press under Barney Rosset whose memoir Rosset: My Life in Publishing and How I Fought Censorship OR Books published in 2017.  I talked with John about Rosset via Zoom.

John Oakes on Grove Press Publisher Barney Rosset