Some were alphabetical: Four Laurie Colwin novels shared a shelf with Evan S. Connell’s “Mr. Bridge” and Michael Chabon’s “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.” Other sections must have had a private logic: “The Furies,” by Fernanda Eberstadt, flanked by Bob Woodward’s “State of Denial,” and “On Truth,” by the philosopher Harry Frankfurt. The library of the legendary former Random House publisher Howard Kaminsky, who died last summer, contained books by friends and mysteries he wrote with his wife, Susan, under the pseudonym Brooks Stanwood. In a high, far corner: “The Art of the Deal,” by Donald Trump, which he came to regret publishing. We asked some of Kaminsky’s friends and colleagues to share their thoughts on his collection.
“It’s a weird thing about book obsessives: We’re kind of like thieves, and certainly voyeurs. We go into people’s houses and immediately want to scope out their books, to see what sort of creatures they are. I knew Howard pretty well, but one book or another would still catch me by surprise. As in, Wow, how’d he get hold of that? Like his copy of Joy Williams’s ‘State of Grace’ — the Paris Review edition. Hell, she’s been a dear pal for 40 years, and I’m her publisher, but I don’t have that.”
—GARY FISKETJON, editor of Alfred A. Knopf
“We were often competitive readers. Once I confidently tried to outdo him on plot details in ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ and ‘Crime and Punishment,’ but I should have realized he owned them. He had a phenomonal memory for pretty much every volume on those beautiful mahogany shelves.”
—ALEXANDRA PENNEY, author and journalist
“Howard was a passionate and discerning reader. It was very gratifying to see the specialized books I wrote, starting with ‘Wallace K. Harrison, Architect,’ on his bookshelf alongside volumes by widely read authors such as Robert Caro and Ron Chernow.”
—VICTORIA NEWHOUSE, architectural historian
“He always brought me straight into the library when I arrived at the apartment, and he would often give me a book. I’ve recently been thinking of a Civil War novel he gave me: ‘Andersonville,’ by MacKinlay Kantor. It took him about 45 seconds to find it. He pulled it off the shelf and said, ‘I know you’re going to love this one.’”
—GRIFFIN DUNNE, actor and filmmaker
“Like the rest of us in book publishing, Howard could remember every book he published that made the New York Times best-seller list, and how high it got, so I’m pleased and not at all surprised that he kept a slipcased copy of my book ‘Making the List.’ Otherwise, it looked like my library — no way to tell how and why the books got there and stayed there. Why did he have two copies of ‘In Cold Blood’?”
—MICHAEL KORDA, author and former editor of Simon & Schuster
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