James Laughlinpoet, ladies' man, heir to a steel fortune, and the founder of New Directionswas still at work on his autobiography when he died at 83. He left behind personal files crammed with memories and memorabilia: in M he is taking Marianne Moore to Yankee games (outings captured here in charming snapshots) to discuss arcane mammals, and in N nearly plunging off a mountain, hunting butterflies with Nabokov ( Volya was a doll in a very severe upper-crust Russian way ).Lavishly illustrated, Laughlin was more than the greatest American publisher of the twentieth century: His press I urge you to read this unforgettable parade of portraits & which changed my life and those of my peers. A selection of glittering fragments punctuated by superb illustrations.
![The Way It Wasn't: From the Files of James Laughlin [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/0/9/3/2_6901694.jpg "The Way It Wasn't: From the Files of James Laughlin [Paperback]")