Founded in 1926, the Book-of-the-Month Club (BOMC) revolutionized the way Americans bought books—and the way they thought about books as well. Appreciating fine literature had long been reserved for intellectuals and academics, until BOMC and its respected editorial board brought the works of great writers like William Faulkner (1897–1962), Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961), and John Steinbeck (1902–1968) to the masses.

Others had tried to sell books through mail order before, but only Harry Scherman (1887–1969), a writer and book lover from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, hit upon the idea of organizing his customers into a "club" that would be guided in its selections by a board of literary authorities. Club members committed to purchasing a certain number of books in a certain period of time. This not only proved to be a unique way of marketing books but had a major cultural impact as well. Although some complained that marketing books through...