From Dr. Seuss to Truman Capote:
Bennett Cerf, the Publisher Who Changed American Literature
Bennett Cerf didn’t just build Random House. He shaped American literary culture, championing writers from Dr. Seuss to Truman Capote , William Faulkner to Ayn Rand, turning a scrappy upstart into one of the world’s most storied publishing houses.
Author Gayle Feldman has brought Cerf's remarkable life and legacy to the page in Nothing Random, Bennett Cerf and the Publishing House He Built, a biography as compelling as Cerf himself.
Join us on
Wednesday March 18, for a fascinating luncheon with Feldman in conversation with
Kai Bird,Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Prometheus, the biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer.
“Swing open the saloon doors: There is a new ‘Power Broker’ in town. For surely, the story of the publishing behemoth Random House, told through its charismatic co-founder Bennett Cerf, is as worthy of crossing the thousand-page mark as the story of how Robert Moses bulldozed New York.” — New York Times
book critic Alexandra Jacobs.
That’s only one of many rave reviews for the new book by Gayle Feldman, who has written for Publishers Weekly and other outlets for 40 years. The
Washington Post called Nothing Random “a superb work” and the Boston Globe declared it “an intriguing portrait of a conflicted man…exhilarating.”
And while reshaping the literary world, Cerf found time each week to become a witty and beloved household name as a panelist on What’s My Line.
Join us:
Wednesday, Mar. 18, 11:30 a.m-2 p.m.
National Arts Club
15 Gramercy Park S. (20th Street)
- Note: Luncheon events are a perk open exclusively to Siluran members and their guests.
- The Club only honors prepaid reservations—no payment at door.
- Deadline for changes/cancellations: 12 noon, the Wednesday before the luncheon,
- If pre-paying by check, make out and mail to:
The Silurians Press Club
PO Box 2045, Grand Central Station
New York NY 10163 - Checks must be received by
Wed., Mar. 11, 2026
