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R E C E N T L Y

The breakdown of consciousness
By Paige Arthur
Confronted by the discoveries of artificial intelligence, some philosophers are questioning the very minds that keep their profession afloat
(11/20/98)

Historiographic revisionism
By Christopher Shea
DNA evidence shows that Jefferson fathered at least one of Sally Hemings' children, and his academic defenders are scurrying to cover their tracks
(11/18/98)

What do Jefferson and Clinton have in common (besides randiness)?
By Christopher Hitchens
Answer: They're both protected by a group of credulous historians
(11/18/98)

Camille on Campus
By Camille Paglia
Allan and Harold Bloom dared to buck the conformity and cowardice of the academy
(11/18/98)

Jane Eyre, to go
By Victoria Olsen
Internet plagiarism: Where the term papers are free and the words are misspelled
(11/13/98)

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E M P O R I U M
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Every year the Radcliffe Publishing Course inducts another group of recent graduates into the glamour and drudgery of publishing.

BY JASON ZINOMAN | Attention liberal arts majors: There is a place, a magical place, where hopeless college graduates become connected media players, where bare-bones résumés become dynamite C.V.s, and where the literati reveal the secrets of their success. This ivy-coated dream factory is the Radcliffe Publishing Course in Cambridge, Mass.

Talk to Lindy Hess, the director of the Radcliffe Publishing Course, for more than a few minutes and you're certain to hear about New York Times editorial writer Frank Rich or talented Esquire editor in chief David Granger or Knopf rising star Jordan Pavlin -- all graduates of her pre-professional summer program. Ask a few more questions and you'll hear references to former speakers: Tom Wolfe, Toni Morrison or Sonny Mehta. And if you're lucky, after a few drinks, you might find out about a great opportunity at Random House or a high-profile editor who is looking for somebody just like you.

A former editor at Doubleday, the middle-aged diva plays an important role in the world of New York media, providing magazines and publishing houses with an annual crop of entry-level applicants and offering anxious English majors a chance to learn the business, make connections and become a part of a clubby, glamorous network of publishers. Last summer, as a newly independent college graduate, I desperately coaxed my parents into loaning me $5,000 to take the six-week course.

Speaking to a class of 100 students, frightfully ill-prepared for the job market, Hess introduced the course by saying, "Don't worry. You're all going to get jobs." An audible sigh fluttered through the room, as if we were a rapt infomercial audience listening to a diet guru unveil her latest product. With everybody's unadulterated attention, she added, "and you're going to love it. Publishing is all about parties."

For the last 51 years, the Radcliffe Publishing Course has taught the business of publishing, turning kids who love books into kids who love to sell books. In rigorous workshops that simulate real magazines and publishing houses, the students write profit and loss statements, churn out ad copy, learn the rudiments of subsidiary rights and discuss the importance of branding. Every aspect of the business is covered -- aspiring editors learn about publicity and aspiring publicists learn about editorial -- and nobody is allowed to ignore the bottom line.

A parade of industry players jet in from New York to deliver the message that precious aesthetes and literary elitism have no place in the big business of books. In my summer of study, Nicholas Callaway, publisher of the wildly popular Miss Spider children's books, angrily bemoaned the "small press mentality" and provoked the students to "believe in the wisdom of the marketplace." An executive from Barnes and Noble Online argued that people who criticize superstores have a "disdain for the average American middle-class reader." And almost every speaker took time to pay respects to the savior of the industry: Oprah.

N E X T_ P A G E .|. Serious lessons, plus some drinking