Nothing Random: Bennett Cerf and the Publishing House He Built

A biography of Bennett Cerf, founder of Random House, tracing his rise from a driven young man in the 1920s who vowed to become a great publisher to the witty, beloved figure who became a household name as a panelist on the television show What's My Line? in midcentury America. Cerf signed major literary figures including Eugene O'Neill, Gertrude Stein, and William Faulkner, and fought the landmark censorship case that secured Americans' freedom to read James Joyce's Ulysses. Working with his business partner Donald Klopfer and other young Jewish entrepreneurs, Cerf transformed the publishing industry. In 1925, he and Klopfer acquired the Modern Library and later founded Random House, which became home to authors such as Truman Capote, Ralph Ellison, Ayn Rand, Dr. Seuss, Toni Morrison, and James Michener. Beyond publishing, Cerf was a bestselling author and columnist whose television presence amplified his celebrity and influence. He connected books to Broadway, television, Hollywood, and politics, publishing across a wide range of literary levels. The biography draws on interviews with over two hundred individuals, archival research, and previously unavailable letters from private collections.