It wasn't published for years, because Hunter wasn't relying on it for income and he was never confident in it. His heroes were Hemmingway and Stienbeck, so he wouldn't want to put anything out that couldn't stand up to their work. It's not like he shopped it to every publisher around and shown the door.

Not everyone gets to be Babe Ruth. Bernie Williams made a nice career for himself being Bernie. If he had "Babe Ruth or bust" in his head, it would have been a shame.