Middlemen. By Laura McGrath. Princeton University Press; 296 pages; $29.95 and £25
《中间人》。劳拉·麦格拉思著。普林斯顿大学出版社；296页；29.95美元/25英镑。
COCKTAIL PARTIES have seen worse pickup attempts(搭讪尝试). In 1989 Andrew Wylie, a literary agent, set his sights on Philip Roth. (“Every time I turned around, there was this guy,” the novelist later said. “I discovered what it was like to be a pretty girl.”) When Mr Wylie made his move(采取行动), he declared that he could get Roth a three-book deal worth $2m.
鸡尾酒会上见过更糟糕的搭讪。1989年，文学经纪人安德鲁·怀利盯上了菲利普·罗斯。（“每次我转身，这小子都在，”这位小说家后来说，“我发现了当漂亮女孩是什么滋味。”）当怀利采取行动时，他宣称自己可以为罗斯争取到一份价值200万美元的三本书合约。
Later, over lunch, he formally wooed(追求；争取) him. Roth was underappreciated by his publisher, Mr Wylie asserted, and his potentially lucrative foreign rights were being neglected. He could handle the rights to Roth’s 14 novels in 30 territories, which amounted to(总计达) 420 contracts renegotiated every seven years. Roth’s revenue could increase by up to 500%. It was an offer the writer—who had a mighty reputation but a puny bank balance—could not refuse.
后来，在一次午餐中，他正式向罗斯示好。怀利断言，罗斯被他的出版商低估了，他潜在的丰厚海外版权被忽视了。他可以处理罗斯14部小说在30个地区的版权，相当于每七年重新谈判420份合同。罗斯的收入最多可以增加500%。这位作家——声名显赫但银行存款微薄——无法拒绝这个提议。