Under the Cover

Clayton Childress is assistant professor of sociology at the University of Toronto.

1 Introduction: The Estrangement of Creation, Production, and Reception 1 I The Field Of Creation 15 2 The Structure of Creativity: Or, Why Jarrettsville Almost Wasn't Called Jarrettsville 17 3 Authorial Careers: Or, How $6,000 Becomes a Middle-Class Income 37 II From Creation To Production 59 4 Literary Agents and Double Duties: Or, Why an Author's Success Is Out of Her Control 61 III The Field Of Production 83 5 Decision Making, Taste, and Financial Commitment to Culture: Or, Why Counterpoint Press Accepted Jarrettsville after Rejecting It 85 6 Industry Structure and the Position and Disposition of Publishers: Or, How Some of the End of Jarrettsville Quite Literally Became the Beginning 107 7 Storytelling and Mythmaking: Or, How a One-Sentence Email Nearly Doubled a Print Run 127 IV From Production To Reception 151 8 Retailers and Reviewers: Or, How Being Placed on the Front Table Could Have Tanked Jarrettsville 153 V The Field Of Reception 183 9 Reading Life into Novels: Or, Why a Misanthropic Thug May Not Be All Bad 185 10 Reading Novels into Life: Or, How a Story about the Past Became a Story about the Present 205 VI Connecting The Circuit 223 11 Conclusion: Reconnecting Creation, Production, and Reception 225 Methodological Appendix: From There to Here 245 Acknowledgments 255 Notes 259 References 283 Index 299