Books published with paper covers had appeared before the 1930s. For instance, in 1929 Charles Boni launched Boni Paper Books, which offered paperbound books first through a mail-order club and then, as Bonibooks, through bookstores. The books were beautifully designed, but the series ended in 1932 because of the Depression. The first books published with stiff covers in perfectbound format in a size close to that of modern paperbacks did not appear until later in the 1930s. The first were Penguin Books, begun in England in 1935. The first American paperback publisher was Pocket Books, started by Robert de Graff in 1939 with Pearl Buck's novel The Good Earth. De Graff followed with such titles as James Hilton's Lost Horizon, Thorne Smith's Topper, and Samuel Butler's The Way of All Flesh. Designed to appeal to readers with limited budgets — they sold for twenty-five cents &mdash...