A Common Reader: Books for Readers with Imagination was an American

mail-order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...

book catalog, established in 1986 by James Mustich Jr., a bookseller, editor, and writer. It was notable among general-interest book catalogs for its eclecticism, with large sections of each issue given over to obscure literary classics. The catalog was named in honor of

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

's two-volume collection of essays, entitled ''The Common Reader'' (1925) and ''The Second Common Reader'' (1932), which collected her lectures and writings about the nature of reading and how best to approach it. A Common Reader's in-house publishing imprint, the Akadine Press, initiated in 1996, republished over 60 out-of-print books by authors such as

Lillian Beckwith Lillian Beckwith (25 April 1916 – 3 January 2004), real name Lillian Comber, was an English writer best known for her series of semi-autobiographical books set on the Outer Hebrides. Born Lilian Lloyd in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, she married E ...

Alice Thomas Ellis Alice Thomas Ellis (born Ann Margaret Lindholm, 9 September 1932 – 8 March 2005) was a British writer and essayist born in Liverpool. She wrote numerous novels and some non-fiction, including cookery books. Life Ellis was born in Liverpool to ...

Barbara Holland Barbara Murray Holland (April 5, 1933 – September 7, 2010) was an American literature, American author who wrote in defense of such modern-day vices as Profanity, cursing, drinking, eating fatty food and smoking cigarettes, as well as a memo ...

Reynolds Price Edward Reynolds Price (February 1, 1933 – January 20, 2011) was an American poet, novelist, dramatist, essayist and James B. Duke Professor of English at Duke University. Apart from English literature, Price had a lifelong interest in Biblical ...

, and

John Ciardi John Anthony Ciardi ( ; ; June 24, 1916 – March 30, 1986) was an American poet, translator, and etymologist. While primarily known as a poet and translator of Dante's ''Divine Comedy'', he also wrote several volumes of children's poetry, pursu ...

. A Common Reader was published up to 17 times a year, with a readership in the tens of thousands. Each edition listed an average of 700 books, accompanied by editorial write-ups. At its peak, A Common Reader sold over 300,000 titles per year. The business closed in January 2006, to the regret of many readers who appreciated its discerning finds and well-written ''précis''.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Common Reader Publications established in 1986 Publications disestablished in 2006 Direct marketing Bookstores of the United States Defunct companies based in New York (state)