The air in Duke's office, barely a week after the Easy Rider distribution plan was settled, had a couple of guest on it.
David Chen, and George Pimpleton, the Editor-in-Chief of The Paris Review, were seated side to side.
Duke opened the discussion, leaning back, "The Marvel distribution deal is working, George. It's consistent, profitable, and most importantly, the logistics are now working out."
"We're moving hundreds of thousands of units of print product every month, nationwide, through a system that wasn't available to us six months ago."
Chen nodded. "The acquisition is validated, George. We bought Marvel to get the distribution infrastructure. Now, we use the infrastructure to boost all our print properties. However…"
Chen paused, his face tightening into the familiar expression of financial disappointment.
"While distribution is stabilized, the sales figures for The Paris Review are still flat without growth."
"Your branch is not really capitalizing on the distribution network. It's simply pushing the same limited volume through a more efficient pipe."
Duke took over, his voice hardening slightly. "The original idea was to use the volume of the Marvel distribution to help push your sales up."
Pimpleton shifted in his seat, his scholarly air immediately deflating under the weight of the numbers.
"Duke, the value of The Paris Review is not merely commercial. It's intellectual. We are a premier literary magazine. Our Art of Fiction interviews are already collected and are even being taught in universities globally. That value is immense."
"Intangible value doesn't add too much to our current strategy, and I also refuse to let Ithaca carry a prestige asset that operates purely as a cultural vanity project without much reach," Duke countered, his gaze unwavering.
"You gave us prestige, yes. But we are a corporation built on efficiency. Right now, The Paris Review is publishing for the fifty people who can afford a subscription and the tenured academics who assign it."
Duke leaned forward, "The world is changing, George. We need to adapt to the cultural moment. We want to change the demograpic that The Paris Review appeals to."
"We have our fingers on the pulse of the youth culture, the Counterculture and they are the ones we will be appealing in 1969. They buy our records, they fill the drive-ins, and they are hungry for material that validates their worldview."
Duke's tone was now less demanding and more persuasive, painting a picture of a new mission.
"The youth market, they have cash, and they desperately seek intellectual validation. They read and they listen, but they don't see their concerns reflected in the literary world.."
Goldberg, who had been listening with coiled patience, interjected smoothly. This was his territory, the integration of high-brow critique with low-brow, high-impact culture.
(This means when sophisticated analysis (high-brow) is applied to mass-market forms of entertainment or art (low-brow, high-impact))
"Look, George, these kids, the ones we are going to drive to the box office with Easy Rider and came to see Night of the Living Dead they hate the establishment, but they don't hate quality."
"They want to be taken seriously. They want to prove they're not just hippies. They read magazines to prove they're intellectuals, but the magazine needs to give them content that resonates with their lives."
Goldberg explained the synergy. "Easy Rider is going to be a massive distribution. It's going to be our film of the year."
"If, at that exact cultural moment, The Paris Review hits newsstands with an incredibly deep, rigorous 'Art of Screenwriting' interview with Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda not just about the film, but about the politics, the drugs or even the war."
(One of my favorite directors is Billy Wilder, there's an Art of Screeenwriting by him from The Paris Review)
Pimpleton was visibly infuerated. "But that is debasement of my magazine, Duke. That is abandoning our values for cheap, timely sensation! The Paris Review is not Rolling Stone."
"You are absolutely correct. You are not Rolling Stone," Duke agreed sharply.
"Rolling Stone is just a newspapers."
"We should be redefining what is worthy of serious literary consideration, George."
"The rock stars, the new journalists, the drug-cultured novelists, avant-garde screenwriters, these are the figures writing the new American literature, whether tenure-track academics know it yet or not."
Duke gave Pimpleton the first hard assignment. "I want a full, rigorous 'Art of Screenwriting' interview with Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper."
"It needs to be ready to go to press when Easy Rider hits the drive-in circuit the timing must be coordinated with Goldberg, he also has final editorial decision."
Pimpleton sighed, the defeat evident but his spirit still present. "If I do this, we will lose a portion of our traditional readership. Academics will cry foul."
"They will complain, but it doesn't matter," Duke said, dismissively. "Frankly, we lose money on that current readership. You would not be selling out, you will simply be expanding the definition of what would be literary."
(Post modernism was already taking root in france and America by this time)
Duke stood, walking around the table to stand beside Pimpleton, making the confrontation less antagonistic and more collaborative.
"Here is the deal, George, you maintain full, absolute control over the quality and rigor of the magazine."
"If you deem a subject unworthy of your high standards, you kill it. That is your sacred trust, and I will not interfere."
"If Easy Rider is a commercial success, we use the film's earnings and its cultural footprint to drive thousands of new subscriptions."
Duke's tone became harsher. "You can cement The Paris Review's reputation as the one literary institution brave enough to define the new American Canon before everyone else does it."
Pimpleton was silent for a long moment, running a hand over the magazine's current issue.
"Very well, Duke," Pimpleton said, a grudging respect entering his voice. "The rigor remains. The subject changes."
"The Art of Screenwriting with Fonda and Hopper… that will be done. And I will begin exploring new subjects. There is a young writer, Joan Didion, doing something interesting with political upheaval."
"Perfect," Duke affirmed. "That is exactly the kind of subject matter we need. Untraditional, but serious."
Duke turned to Goldberg. "Goldberg, your job is to coordinate the timing. The Easy Rider issue must be a cultural event. I want cross-promotion on the film posters referencing the magazine interview."
"I'll make sure the release date aligns perfectly with our drive-in launch," Goldberg confirmed, already pulling out his calendar and making notes.
"The film will drive them to the newsstand and the magazine will validate their views."
"Good, let's get ready then"
---
Didnt know how to end the chapter, tomorrow my problem ends(hopefully), i'll solve pace and will bring longer chapters after this dont worry