Books that changed the face of publishing, chosen by our editors

Chosen by Mary Mount, Publisher

There are so many books in the Picador Collection that broke new ground or changed how we view the world or influenced the work of later generations. I could choose Dispatches, the seminal work of reportage on the Vietnam War by Michael Herr which John le Carre described as 'the best book I have ever read on men and war in our time' or so many of V.S. Naipaul's novels which would go on to influence generations of writers that followed; or the poetry of Carol Ann Duffy, in particular The World's Wife which was so groundbreaking (and so delightful) in its feminist spin on the male protagonists of myth and legend. It's truly an impossible task to choose one so I thought I'd pick a novel that might be less familiar to readers now. Trumpet, Jackie Kay's only novel, originally published in 1998, is the story of a jazz trumpeter who, after his death, is revealed to have carried a huge secret (no spoilers) for most of his life. It is an extraordinary novel in both its tender and vivid portrayal of character but also, in the words of Ali Smith, because it is a 'fiercely pioneering work that makes the walls between us come tumbling down. In a love song to our human versatilities, a uniting of many voices into a forgiving set of harmonies; a jazzy call to action, it trumpets subtlety, imagination, generosity, life-force, to the rooftops.'

Chosen by George Morley, Publishing Director

We first published Adam Hochschild’s prize-winning account of the  exploitation of the Belgian Congo in 1998 and it has never been out of print – which is both rare and speaks volumes about the book’s quality.  A bestseller both in the US and the UK, it also won the 1999 Duff Cooper Prize and in 2008, the American Historical Association gave Hochschild its Theodore Roosevelt-Woodrow Wilson Award. A compelling account of Leopold II of Belgium’s brutal colonial regime and of what became one of the world’s earliest human rights protests, it shows that there is a readership for serious, popular history that sheds light on stories we should know but often don't.

What’s more, the fact that we published Adam’s book played a vital part in our acquisition many years later of David Olusoga’s bestselling and prize-winning Black and British. That, too, is a book that changed publishing and brought a history that had been largely ignored to wide public attention. They are both remarkable works of history, compellingly readable, meticulously researched and beautifully written.

Chosen by Rosie Shackles, Editor

Published in 2015, and shortlisted for the Booker Prize, A Little Life quickly gained a cult following. However, almost a decade after publication, it had a massive resurgence on Booktok. There are now instagram pages dedicated to the book, people with tattoos, and readers from all over the world go out of their way to visit iconic Lispenard Street in NYC. A paean to male friendship and queer love, A Little Life is a devastating novel that has proven the power of contemporary literary fiction and the impact of social media and community in the industry. It is now used as a benchmark for 'viral books', and has the reputation of a modern classic.

Chosen by Andrea Henry, Publishing Director 

These days the words ‘mis mem’ can conjure up thoughts of samey ‘sob stories’, uniformly covered with the images of forlorn children designed purely to manipulate the reader’s heartstrings. But before the genre became mightily tired – as publishers went back time and again to the increasingly dry well, draining any power and meaning out of what are, of course, terrible life experiences – there were some extraordinary memoirs which just happened to be miserable. Stories so powerful and so beautifully written they stay with you forever. Think Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes (HarperCollins), Lorna Sage’s Bad Blood (4th Estate) and Picador’s Once in a House on Fire by Andrea Ashworth, a huge bestseller at the time and now one of our core Collection titles. There’s no escaping the poverty, depression and horrific abuse that Andea suffered, and yet this is one of the most uplifting books you’ll ever read. You finish it having been through the mill, but feeling inspired and, yes, even hopeful.