In Episode 229, Sarah talks with Laura B. McGrath about her new book, Middlemen, and the behind-the-scenes role literary agents play in publishing. They discuss what agents actually do, how they shape an author’s career, the hype surrounding debut novels, and what Laura learned while researching one of publishing’s least visible professions. Plus, Laura shares her book recommendations.
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Highlights
- Middlemen by Laura B. McGrath (April 28) | Amazon | Bookshop.org
- Why a literary agent’s most important job isn’t what most readers think.
- What agents are really looking for when they decide to represent an author.
- The surprising amount of homework agents do before signing a new client.
- The hype surrounding debut novels — and some of the downsides that come with it.
- Why the publishing industry was initially wary of public book sales data.
Laura’s Book Recommendations
Two OLD Books She Loves
- Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson (1980) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [45:12]
- Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger (1961) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [47:59]
- Other Books Mentioned
Two NEW Books She Loves
- London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe (April 7) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [49:25]
- Discipline by Larissa Pham (Jan 20) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [51:42]
- Other Books Mentioned
- Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe (2018) [50:31]
One Book She DIDN’T Love
- The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke (April 7) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [53:14]
- Other Books Mentioned
- Erasure by Percival Everett (2001) [53:30]
- The Wife by Meg Wolitzer (2003) [53:32]
- And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (1939) [54:16]
- The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie (1947/1952) [54:19]
- Yellowface by R. F. Kuang (2023) [55:34]
One NEW RELEASE She’s Excited About
- Music Against the Night by Yiyun Li (October 13, 2026) | Amazon
| Bookshop.org [57:04]
- Sneak Pick: Miss Lambert Steps Aboard Danger by Kazuo Ishiguro (March 9, 2027) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [57:04]
- Other Books Mentioned
- Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li (2025) [57:39]
- The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro (1995) [58:43]
- The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989) [59:27]
Books From the Discussion
- The Middle Man by Paul R. Reynolds (1972) [3:09]
- Talking at Night by Claire Daverley (2023) [10:40]
- Zone One by Colson Whitehead (2011) [11:20]
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961) [12:36]
- Mila 18 by Leon Uris (1961) [13:33]
- The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead (1999) [14:18]
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (2014) [33:52]
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (2022) [34:28]
- The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (2024) [34:34]
- Long Bright River by Liz Moore (2020) [34:36]
- The Unseen World by Liz Moore (2016) [34:39]
About Laura McGrath
Website | Instagram | Substack
Laura B. McGrath is an author, writer, literary historian, and data scientist. She has written on books, publishing history, and data for The Atlantic, The Nation, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and Public Books.
Laura is an Assistant Professor of English at Temple University and a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow. Prior to joining the faculty at Temple, she was the Associate Director of the Literary Lab at Stanford University. Her academic writing has been published in New Literary History, American Literary History, Post45, CA: The Journal of Cultural Analytics, and the Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Fiction, 1980-2020. She is Special Features editor of CA: The Journal of Cultural Analytics, founding co-editor of the Post45 Data Collective, and the “Culture Industries” section editor at Public Books. A former Kennedy Fellow with the Smithsonian Institute of American History, her work has been supported by the NEH, the Mellon Foundation, ACLS, and the Big Ten.
Next Episode
In two weeks on July 22, Sarah will be joined by Kevin Hazzard, author of No One’s Coming.
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