The Overlook Press is an American publishing house based in

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, that considers itself "a home for distinguished books that had been 'overlooked' by larger houses".

History and operations

It was formed in 1971 by Peter Mayer, who had previously worked at Avon and

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.trade paperbacks. Imprints include Tusk Books, whose format was designed by

Milton Glaser Milton Glaser (June 26, 1929June 26, 2020) was an American graphic designer. His most notable designs include the I Love New York logo, a 1966 poster for Bob Dylan, and the logos for DC Comics, Stony Brook University and Brooklyn Brewery. In 195 ...

. In 2002, Overlook acquired

Ardis Publishing Ardis Publishing (the name of the original company is Ardis Publishers, which is the correct name for the company up until 2002), began in 1971, as the only publishing house outside of Russia dedicated to Russian literature in both English and Rus ...

, a publisher of

Russian literature Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia and its émigrés and to Russian-language literature. The roots of Russian literature can be traced to the Middle Ages, when epics and chronicles in Old East Slavic were composed. By the ...

in English. Overlook also took ownership of the British publishing company

Gerald Duckworth and Company Ltd Duckworth Books, originally Gerald Duckworth and Company, founded in 1898 by Gerald Duckworth, is a British publisher.New York Center for Independent Publishing's Poor Richard Award for outstanding contributions to independent book publishing. After Mayer's death in 2018, The Overlook Press was sold to

Abrams Books Abrams, formerly Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (HNA), is an American publisher of art and illustrated books, children's books, and stationery. The enterprise is a subsidiary of the French publisher La Martinière Groupe. Run by President and CEO Michael ...

, which is part of French publisher

La Martinière Groupe La Martinière Groupe is a French publishing house. It was formed in 1994. Subsidiaries include France's Éditions du Seuil and the United States' Abrams Books. In 2018, La Martinière was acquired by Média-Participations. See also * Books in ...

Authors

Writers whose works were published by Overlook include: *

Elizabeth Abbott Elizabeth Abbott (born 1942) is a Canadian writer, historian and animal rights activist. She is the former dean of women for St. Hilda's College at the University of Toronto and is currently a senior research associate at Trinity College, Univ ...

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as '' The Zoo Story'' (1958), '' The Sandbox'' (1959), '' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), '' A Delicate Balance'' (196 ...

Katie Arnoldi Katie Arnoldi (born February 24, 1959) is an American mainstream fiction writer and former bodybuilder. She has published three novels, ''Chemical Pink'' (Bloomsbury, 2001), ''The Wentworths'' (Overlook, 2008), and ''Point Dume'' (Overlook, 20 ...

Ken Auletta Kenneth B. Auletta (born April 23, 1942) is an American author, a political columnist for the New York Daily News, and media critic for '' The New Yorker''. Early life and education The son of an Italian American father and a Jewish American ...

Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947) is an American writer and film director. His notable works include ''The New York Trilogy'' (1987), '' Moon Palace'' (1989), ''The Music of Chance'' (1990), '' The Book of Illusions'' (2002), '' The B ...

R. Scott Bakker Richard Scott Bakker (born February 2, 1967, Simcoe, Ontario) is a Canadian fantasy author and frequent lecturer in the South Western Ontario university community. He grew up on a tobacco farm in the Simcoe area. In 1986 he attended the Univer ...

Walter R. Brooks Walter Rollin Brooks (January 9, 1886 – August 17, 1958) was an American writer known for his children's books about Freddy the Pig and the other anthropomorphic animal inhabitants of the Bean Farm in upstate New York, and also for his short s ...

Paul Cartledge Paul Anthony Cartledge (born 24 March 1947)"CARTLEDGE, Prof. Paul Anthony", ''Who's Who 2010'', A & C Black, 2010online edition/ref> is a British ancient historian and academic. From 2008 to 2014 he was the A. G. Leventis Professor of Greek C ...

Robert Coover Robert Lowell Coover (born February 4, 1932) is an American novelist, short story writer, and T.B. Stowell Professor Emeritus in Literary Arts at Brown University. He is generally considered a writer of fabulation and metafiction. Background ...

* John Crowley *

David Crystal David Crystal, (born 6 July 1941) is a British linguist, academic, and prolific author best known for his works on linguistics and the English language. Family Crystal was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, on 6 July 1941 after his mother had ...

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

R. J. Ellory Roger Jon Ellory (born 20 June 1965) is an English thriller writer. Personal life Ellory lives in Birmingham, England. He cites Arthur Conan Doyle, Michael Moorcock, J. R. R. Tolkien and Stephen King as people who influenced his writing. He is ...

Max Frei Max Frei (russian: Макс Фрай) is the pen name of Svetlana Yuryevna Martynchik (russian: Светла́на Ю́рьевна Марты́нчик; uk, Світлана Юріївна Мартинчик) (born 1965 in Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, ...

* W. F. Hermans *

Susan Hill Dame Susan Hill, Lady Wells, (born 5 February 1942) is an English author of fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels include ''The Woman in Black'', '' The Mist in the Mirror'', and '' I'm the King of the Castle'', for which she received t ...

P. F. Kluge Paul Frederick Kluge (born 1942 in New Jersey) is an American novelist living in Gambier, Ohio. Kluge was raised in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.Zatzariny, Tim"ON THE ROAD AGAIN / 'EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS' MAKES ANOTHER COMEBACK" ''The Press of Atl ...

* Robert Littell *

Raymond Loewy Raymond Loewy ( , ; November 5, 1893 – July 14, 1986) was a French-born American industrial designer who achieved fame for the magnitude of his design efforts across a variety of industries. He was recognized for this by ''Time'' magazi ...

David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and '' Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first gained cri ...

Charles McCarry Charles McCarry (June 14, 1930 – February 26, 2019) was an American writer, primarily of spy fiction, and a former undercover operative for the Central Intelligence Agency. Biography McCarry's family came from The Berkshires area of western M ...

* Joseph McElroy *

Walter Moers Walter Moers (; born 24 May 1957 in Mönchengladbach) is a German comic creator and author. Life and work Moers held odd jobs after leaving school before starting a commercial apprenticeship. He taught himself how to draw, and has been publis ...

* Jim Nisbet *

Mervyn Peake Mervyn Laurence Peake (9 July 1911 – 17 November 1968) was an English writer, artist, poet, and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the '' Gormenghast'' books. The four works were part of what Peake conceived ...

Charles Portis Charles McColl Portis (December 28, 1933 – February 17, 2020) was an American author best known for his novels '' Norwood'' (1966) and the classic Western '' True Grit'' (1968), both adapted as films. The latter also inspired a film sequel and ...

John Cowper Powys John Cowper Powys (; 8 October 187217 June 1963) was an English philosopher, lecturer, novelist, critic and poet born in Shirley, Derbyshire, where his father was vicar of the parish church in 1871–1879. Powys appeared with a volume of verse ...

* Peter Quinn *

Joseph Roth Moses Joseph Roth (2 September 1894 – 27 May 1939) was an Austrian journalist and novelist, best known for his family saga '' Radetzky March'' (1932), about the decline and fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his novel of Jewish life '' Job'' ...

* Tarn Richardson *

Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov-Shchedrin ( rus, Михаи́л Евгра́фович Салтыко́в-Щедри́н, p=mʲɪxɐˈil jɪvˈɡrafəvʲɪtɕ səltɨˈkof ɕːɪˈdrʲin; – ), born Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov and known during ...

* André Schwarz-Bart *

Gerald Seymour Gerald Seymour (born 25 November 1941 in Guildford, Surrey) is a British writer of crime and espionage novels. Early life Gerald Seymour was born to William Kean Seymour and his second wife, Rosalind Wade.Harry Sidebottom *

Alain Silver Alain Silver is a US film producer, director, and screenwriter; music producer; film critic, film historian, DVD commentator, author and editor of books and essays on film topics, especially film noir, the samurai film, and horror films. Filmm ...

Nigel Slater Nigel Slater (born 9 April 1956) is an English food writer, journalist and broadcaster. He has written a column for ''The Observer Magazine'' for over a decade and is the principal writer for the ''Observer Food Monthly'' supplement. Prior to ...

* Ludmila Ulitskaya *

Edgardo Vega Yunqué Edgardo Vega Yunqué (May 20, 1936August 26, 2008) was a Puerto Rican novelist and short story writer, who also used the Americanized pen name Ed Vega. Early years Edgardo Vega Yunqué was born in Ponce, to Alberto Vega, a Baptist minist ...

* Penny Vincenzi * Les Walker *

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

Richard Zimler Richard Zimler (born 1 January 1956 in Roslyn Heights, New York) is a best-selling author. His books, which have earned him a 1994 National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship in Fiction and the 1998 Herodotus Award, have been published in many cou ...

* Brad Gooch

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Overlook Press Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Publishing companies based in New York City Publishing companies established in 1971 1971 establishments in New York City American companies established in 1971