Legendary publisher Barney Rosset dies aged 89

Legendary publisher Barney Rosset dies aged 89

Feb 22 2012

Legendary publisher Barney Rosset has died aged 89. Rosset bought Grove Press in the 1950s, and championed the works of countless writers, including: Henry Miller, Samuel Beckett, Jack Kerouac, Malcolm X, Pablo Neruda, Kenzaburo Oe, Kathy Acker, and David Mamet.

To quote an article that ran in Newsweek in 2008:

"Rosset's publishing house, Grove Press, was a tiny company operating out of the ground floor of Rosset's brownstone when it published an obscure play called Waiting for Godot in 1954. By the time Beckett had won the Nobel Prize in 1969, Grove had become a force that challenged and changed literature and American culture in deep and lasting ways. Its impact is still evident - from the Che Guevara posters adorning college dorms to the canonical status of the house's once controversial authors. Rosset is less well known - but late in his life he is achieving some wider recognition. Last month, a black-tie crowd gave Rosset a standing ovation when the National Book Foundation awarded him the Literarian Award for 'outstanding service' to American letters.... High literature and low - Rosset pushed and published it all."

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