The general notion of translating is little better than that of hackneyed writing, an attitude sorely reflected in the renumeration usually granted to translators, who can hardly make a living by it. It is especially the literary translator who suffers from teh low esteem attached to his efforts in comparison to the author, whose international fame relies to a large extent on the translator's talented rendering of his work into another language. The translator usually remains unvisible, also does not even benefit from any share in the royalties. In this article, the author focuses on the translation of American authors. Furthermore he stresses the importance of anthologies as instruments of international transfer.