In this book, bestselling author Michael Legat looks back over his long and distinguished career in publishing and his subsequent achievements as a writer. He reminisces about his first job at The Bodley Head, his long service at Transworld Publishers, and his less-than-happy years at Cassell. They Read Books and Go to Cocktail Parties is liberally laced with humor and a wealth of fascinating anecdotes about such diverse personalities as Claire Rayner, Nicholas Monsarrat, Dr. T. Lobsang Rampa, Jacqueline Susann, and the publishers Stanley Unwin and Victor Gollancz.