Dutton
Edward Payson Dutton founded a book-selling firm in Boston, in 1852 the eponymous E. P. Dutton, but it wasn't until 1864 when a branch office was set up in New York, that the company began to publish books. Its original focus was on religious titles, and the first bestseller was the two-volume Life of Christ by Frederic Farrar, published in 1874.
1885, John Macrae began working at Dutton as an office boy; he would spend fifty-nine years with the company rising in the ranks. He became President in 1923, and in 1928 he bought the publishing house and shared it with his two sons. During his tenure, E. P. Dutton published notable books such as The Proper Bostonians by Cleveland Amory, Marchette Chute's Shakespeare of London, The Conquest of Everest by John Hunt, Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan, as well as works by Lawrence Durrell, Milton Glaser, and Luigi Pirandello. The company also went on to publish books by John Irving (The World According to Garp), Peter Matthiessen, Jorge Luis Borges, Gavin Maxwell, Joyce Carol Oates, Gail Sheehy (Passages), and Mickey Spillane.
A century and a half after Dutton sold its first book, the publishing house has maintained its ability to get great books into the hands of many readers. In 2006 and 2007 one in every four books published by Dutton hit the New York Times bestseller list. With an eye toward a focused list of titles, Dutton currently publishes 45 hardcovers a year, roughly half fiction and half non-fiction. Dutton is currently home to many #1 New York Times bestselling authors, most notably Harlan Coben, author of Hold Tight, Ken Follett, author of Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, Eckhart Tolle, author of A New Earth, and Al Franken, author of The Truth. Dutton also publishes the New York Times bestselling authors Eric Jerome Dickey, author of Pleasure and Waking with Enemies, Raymond Khoury, author of The Last Templar and The Sanctuary, John Lescroart, author of Betrayal and The Suspect, John Hodgman, author of The Areas of My Expertise and More Information Than You Require, John Jakes, author of Charleston and The Gods of Newport, Jenny McCarthy, author of Baby Laughs and Louder than Words, and Daniel Levitin, author of This is Your Brain on Music and The World in Six Songs.
Dutton is also home to many award-winning authors such as Diane Johnson, author of Le Divorce and Lulu in Marrakech, Daniel Levitin, Timothy Keller, author of The Reason for God and The Prodigal God, Hari Kunzru, author of The Impressionist and My Revolutions, Darin Strauss, author of Chang and Eng and More Than It Hurts You, T. Jefferson Parker, author of L.A. Outlaws, and Jonathan King, author of Blue Edge of Midnight.
