The Time Reading Program (TRP) was a

book sales club A book sales club is a subscription-based method of selling and purchasing books. It is more often called simply a book club, a term that is also used to describe a book discussion club, which can cause confusion. Business model Each member of a ...

run by

Time–Life Time Life, Inc. (also habitually represented with a hyphen as Time-Life, Inc., even by the company itself) was an American multi-media conglomerate company formerly known as a prolific production/publishing company and direct marketeer seller ...

, the publisher of ''

Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

'', from 1962 through 1966. ''Time'' was known for its magazines, and nonfiction book series' published under the Time-Life imprint, while the TRP books were reprints of an eclectic set of literature, both classic and contemporary, as well as nonfiction works and topics in history. The books were chosen by

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

judge Max Gissen, the chief book reviewer for ''Time'' from 1947 until the TRP began in 1962. The books themselves were published by

Time Inc. Time Inc. (also referred to as Time & Life, Inc. later on, after their two onetime flagship magazine publications) was an American worldwide mass media corporation founded on November 28, 1922, by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden and based in New ...

and followed a specific format across their widely varying subject matter. The editions were trade paperbacks, with covers constructed of very stiff

plastic-coated paper Coated paper (also known as enamel paper, gloss paper, and thin paper) is paper that has been coated with a mixture of materials or a polymer to impart certain qualities to the paper, including weight, surface gloss, smoothness, or reduced ink ab ...

, for durability. The books were eight inches tall, just less than an inch taller than a standard mass-market or "rack" paperback. Each book had a wraparound cover with a continuous piece of artwork across both covers and the spine, generally a painting by a contemporary artist, commissioned specifically for the TRP edition. The TRP covers attracted a measure of acclaim at the time. According to ''Time'', 19 TRP covers were cited in 1964 for awards from The

American Institute of Graphic Arts The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) is a professional organization for design. Its members practice all forms of communication design, including graphic design, typography, interaction design, user experience, branding and identity. The ...

, '' Commercial Art Magazine'' and the Society of Illustrators guild. Typography and other printing credits were given in a colophon on the end pages, in the manner of sophisticated publishing houses like

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers ...

. The William Addison Dwiggins typeface

Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the forested region in the central and western Scottish Highlands, particularly stretching through parts of what are now Lochaber, Badenoch, Strathspey, and possibly as ...

was typically used. The logo for the series was in format of a

monogram A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...

, "RTP", enclosed in a rounded slightly rectangular box. While not, strictly speaking, original publications, most of the TRP books had unique introductions written by various scholars specifically for the TRP edition. In a few cases, the texts had also been revised by the authors to create a definitive edition, and did not constitute abridgement. Subscribers to the TRP typically received four books a month, though some books arrived as multi-volume sets. Included with shipments was a small newsletter describing the books and why they were chosen. Time revived the program in the early 1980s, with many of the same titles.

Series bibliography

(Books listed by year of reprint publication. Original publication date not given. Authors who provided their own introductions are indicated with an "‡")

1962

*'' The American Character'', D. W. Brogan *'' The Power and the Glory'',

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

‡ *'' Reveille in Washington'', Margaret Leech *'' The Worldly Philosophers'', Robert L. Heilbroner *'' Mister Johnson'', Joyce Cary, introduction by V.S. Pritchett, cover by James Spanfeller *'' King Solomon's Ring'',

Konrad Lorenz Konrad Zacharias Lorenz (Austrian ; 7 November 1903 – 27 February 1989) was an Austrian zoology, zoologist, ethology, ethologist, and ornithologist. He shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Nikolaas Tinbergen and Karl von ...

, foreword by

Julian Huxley Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist and Internationalism (politics), internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentiet ...

*'' The Reason Why'',

Cecil Woodham-Smith Cecil Blanche Woodham-Smith ( Fitzgerald; 29 April 1896 – 16 March 1977) CBE was a British historian and biographer. She wrote four popular history books, each dealing with a different aspect of the Victorian era. Early life Cecil Woodham-Sm ...

, Introduction by Gordon A. Craig *'' The Crime of Galileo'', Giorgio de Santillana *'' The Ox-Bow Incident'', Walter Van Tilburg Clark *''

Walden ''Walden'' (; first published as ''Walden; or, Life in the Woods'') is an 1854 book by American transcendentalism, transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. T ...

'',

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau; July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon sim ...

, cover by James Spanfeller *'' The River and the Gauntlet'', S. L. A. Marshall *'' Admiral of the Ocean Sea'' a life of Christopher Columbus, vol 1 and 2,

Samuel Eliot Morison Samuel Eliot Morison (July 9, 1887 – May 15, 1976) was an American historian noted for his works of maritime history and American history that were both authoritative and popular. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912, and tau ...

*'' The Plague'',

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the s ...

*''

Burmese Days ''Burmese Days'' is the first novel and second book by English writer George Orwell, published in 1934. Set in British Burma during the waning days of empire, when Burma was ruled from Delhi as part of British India, the novel serves as "a po ...

'',

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

*Shakespeare, Ivor Brown *Notre Dame of Paris, Allan Temko *The Great Crash 1929,

John Kenneth Galbraith John Kenneth Galbraith (October 15, 1908 – April 29, 2006), also known as Ken Galbraith, was a Canadian-American economist, diplomat, public official, and intellectual. His books on economic topics were bestsellers from the 1950s through the ...

*Lanterns and Lances,

James Thurber James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist, and playwright. He was best known for his gag cartoon, cartoons and short stories, published mainly in ''The New Yorker'' an ...

*The Universe and Dr. Einstein, Lincoln Barnett *The Trial of Dr. Adams,

Sybille Bedford Sybille Bedford, OBE (16 March 1911 – 17 February 2006) was a German-born English writer of non-fiction and semi-autobiographical fiction books. She was a recipient of the Golden PEN Award. Early life She was born as Sybille Aleid Elsa vo ...

*Darkness at Noon,

Arthur Koestler Arthur Koestler (, ; ; ; 5 September 1905 – 1 March 1983) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian-born author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest, and was educated in Austria, apart from his early school years. In 1931, Koestler j ...

*The Immense Journey, Loren Eiseley *'' The Story of Philosophy'',

Will Durant William James Durant (; November 5, 1885 – November 7, 1981) was an American historian and philosopher, best known for his eleven-volume work, '' The Story of Civilization'', which contains and details the history of Eastern and Western civil ...

1963

*'' Karl Marx: His Life and Environment'',

Isaiah Berlin Sir Isaiah Berlin (6 June 1909 – 5 November 1997) was a Russian-British social and political theorist, philosopher, and historian of ideas. Although he became increasingly averse to writing for publication, his improvised lectures and talks ...

, introduction by

Robert Heilbroner Robert L. Heilbroner (March 24, 1919 – January 4, 2005) was an American economist and historian of economic thought. The author of some two dozen books, Heilbroner was best known for ''The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times and Ideas of th ...

*''

The Martian Chronicles ''The Martian Chronicles'' is a science fiction fix-up novel, published in 1950, by American writer Ray Bradbury that chronicles the exploration and settlement of Mars, the home of indigenous Martians, by Americans leaving a troubled Earth tha ...

'',

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury ( ; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...

, introduction by

Fred Hoyle Sir Fred Hoyle (24 June 1915 – 20 August 2001) was an English astronomer who formulated the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis and was one of the authors of the influential B2FH paper, B2FH paper. He also held controversial stances on oth ...

*'' Apes, Angels, and Victorians'', William Irvine, introduction by Sir Julian Huxley, cover design by Richard Rosenblum *''

The Late George Apley ''The Late George Apley'' is a 1937 novel by John Phillips Marquand. It is a satire of Boston's upper class in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The title character is a Harvard University-educated WASP living on Beacon Hill in downto ...

'', John P. Marquand *'' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'', B. Traven *The Devil in Massachusetts, Marion L. Starkey *The Lost Weekend, Charles Jackson *''

The Bridge of San Luis Rey ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' is American author Thornton Wilder's second novel. It was first published in 1927 to worldwide acclaim. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1928, and was the best-selling work of fiction that year. Premise ''The ...

'',

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'', and a U. ...

*Lions, Harts, Leaping Does and Other Stories, J. F. Powers *The Greek Way, Edith Hamilton *In Defense of Women, H.L. Mencken *The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis *One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn *Out of Africa, Isak Dinesen *The True Believer, Eric Hoffer *''

Brave New World ''Brave New World'' is a dystopian novel by English author Aldous Huxley, written in 1931, and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, whose citizens are environmentally engineered into an intelligence-based social hier ...

'',

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley ( ; 26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...

*A High Wind in Jamaica, Richard Hughes *''

All the King's Men ''All the King's Men'' is a 1946 novel by Robert Penn Warren. The novel tells the story of charismatic populist governor Willie Stark and his political machinations in the Depression-era Deep South. It was inspired by the real-life story of U. ...

'',

Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren (April 24, 1905 – September 15, 1989) was an American poet, novelist, literary critic and professor at Yale University. He was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern ...

*The American Presidency, Clinton Rossiter *

In Flanders Fields "In Flanders Fields" is a war poem in the form of a rondeau, written during the First World War by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend ...

, Leon Wolff

1964

*'' Mistress to an Age: A life of

Madame de Staël Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ( ...

'', J. Christopher Herold *''

Christ Stopped at Eboli ''Christ Stopped at Eboli'' () is a memoir by Carlo Levi, published in 1945, giving an account of his exile from 1935–1936 to Grassano and Aliano, remote towns in Southern Italy, in the region of Lucania which is known today as Basilicata. In ...

'',

Carlo Levi Carlo Levi () (29 November 1902 – 4 January 1975) was an Italian painter, writer, activist, Independent Left (Italy), independent leftist politician, and doctor. He is best known for his book ''Christ Stopped at Eboli (novel), Cristo si è fe ...

*'' The Bridge Over the River Kwai'',

Pierre Boulle Pierre François Marie Louis Boulle (20 February 1912 – 30 January 1994) was a French author. He is best known for two works, '' The Bridge over the River Kwai'' (1952) and '' Planet of the Apes'' (1963), that were both made into award-winning ...

and Xan Fielding *''

Eastern Approaches ''Eastern Approaches'' (1949) is a memoir of the early career of Fitzroy Maclean. It is divided into three parts: his life as a junior diplomat in Moscow and his travels in the Soviet Union, especially the forbidden zones of Central Asia; his e ...

'', Fitzroy Maclean *'' The Big Sky'', A. B. Guthrie *'' Saints and Strangers'', George F. Willison *'' The Sea And The Jungle'', H.M. Tomlinson *The Sword in the Stone, T. H. White *A Preface to Morals, Walter Lippmann *A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce *Memento Mori, Muriel Spark *Murder for Profit, William Bolitho *The Beast of the Haitian Hills, Philippe Thoby-Marcelin and Pierre Marcelin *The Roots of Heaven, Romain Gary *Elizabeth the Great, Elizabeth Jenkins *'' Bend Sinister'',

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov ( ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Rus ...

‡ *The Forest and the Sea, Marston Bates *John Paul Jones, Samuel Eliot Morison *Three Men in a Boat, Jerome K. Jerome *Three Who Made a Revolution, Volume 1, Bertram D. Wolfe *Three Who Made a Revolution, Volume 2, Bertram D. Wolfe *The Education of Henry Adams, Volume 1, Henry Adams *The Education of Henry Adams, Volume 2, Henry Adams *Doctor and the Devils, Dylan Thomas

1965

*'' I, Claudius: From the autobiography of Tiberius Claudius, born B.C. 10, murdered and deified A.D. 54'',

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were b ...

*'' The Edge of Day: A Boyhood In The West of England'', Laurie Lee, drawings by John Ward *'' Attending Marvels: A Patagonian Journal'',

George Gaylord Simpson George Gaylord Simpson (June 16, 1902 – October 6, 1984) was an American paleontologist. Simpson was perhaps the most influential paleontologist of the twentieth century, and a major participant in the modern synthesis, contributing '' Tempo ...

*'' Logbook For Grace:Whaling Brig ''Daisy'' 1912-1913'',

Robert Cushman Murphy file:The American Museum journal (c1900-(1918)) (18156963552).jpg, The whaling ship, ''Daisy'', which Murphy traveled on to the Antarctic Robert Cushman Murphy (April 29, 1887 – March 20, 1973) was an American ornithologist and Lamont Curator of ...

*'' The Wapshot Chronicle'',

John Cheever John William Cheever (May 27, 1912 – June 18, 1982) was an American short story writer and novelist. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs". His fiction is mostly set on the Upper East Side of Manhattan; the Westchester suburbs ...

*'' Three Came Home'', Agnes Newton Keith *'' Napoleon's Russian campaign'', Philippe-Paul Seìoui *Animal Farm, George Orwell * Kabloona, Gontran de Poncins *Disraeli, André Maurois *Bread and Wine, Ignazio Silone *'' Fancies and Goodnights'',

John Collier John Collier may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John Collier (caricaturist) (1708–1786), English caricaturist and satirical poet *John Payne Collier (1789–1883), English Shakespearian critic and forger *John Collier (painter) (1850–1934) ...

*The Member of the Wedding, Carson McCullers *The Great Rehearsal, Carl Van Doren *The Horse's Mouth, Joyce Cary *Delilah, Marcus Goodrich *The Day of the Locust, Nathanael West *The Voice at the Back Door, Elizabeth Spencer *Naked to Mine Enemies: Volume 1, Charles W. Ferguson *Naked to Mine Enemies: Volume 2, Charles W. Ferguson *The Sea of Grass, Conrad Richter *Bring Out Your Dead, J. H. Powell *Wind, Sand and Stars, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry *Man and the Living World, Karl von Frisch *Cider With Rosie, Laurie Lee

1966

*'' The Decline of Pleasure'', Walter Kerr, introduction by Phyllis McGinley *'' The Natural'',

Bernard Malamud Bernard Malamud (April 26, 1914 – March 18, 1986) was an American novelist and short story writer. Along with Saul Bellow, Joseph Heller, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Norman Mailer and Philip Roth, he was one of the best known American Jewish ...

, cover design by Karl W. Stücklen, introduction by Roger Angell *'' Wickford Point'', John P. Marquand, introduction by Edward Weeks *'' Watchers at the Pond'', Franklin Russell, illustrations by Robert W. Arnold, introduction by

Gerald Durrell Gerald Malcolm Durrell Order of the British Empire, OBE (7 January 1925 – 30 January 1995) was a British naturalist, writer, zookeeper, conservation movement, conservationist, and television presenter. He was born in Jamshedpur in British Ind ...

*Till We Have Faces, C. S. Lewis *'' When the Cheering Stopped'': The last years of Woodrow Wilson, Gene Smith *Cross Creek, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings *The Man of the Renaissance, Ralph Roeder *The Financial Expert, R.K. Narayan *Stalingrad, Theodor Plievier *The New Meaning of Treason,

Rebecca West Dame Cecily Isabel Fairfield (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. An author who wrote in many genres, West reviewed books ...

*Richer by Asia, Edmond Taylor *Poet's Choice, edited by Paul Engle and Joseph Langland *In Hazard, Richard Hughes *'' The Leopard'', Giuseppe di Lampedusa *A Coffin for King Charles, C. V. Wedgwood

References

{{reflist

External links

TRP debut announcement at Time.com website
Defunct book publishing companies of the United States Time (magazine) Direct marketing Publishing companies established in 1962 Book clubs Time Life book series