“Whereas 10 years ago, there were 10 to 12 stand-alone book sections in the country, today there are only five: The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, The San Diego Union-Tribune and The New York Times. Other large papers, such as the Los Angeles Times, have folded book pages into other sections of the paper. People who read newspapers are also likely book readers. So why do newspaper editors and publishers think that killing one of the few features that readers might — big word here — READ is a smart move in an era of newspaper decline?”
Category: publishing
Librarians – Too NiceTo Be Real?
“Why is it that ‘flatlined’ may be the best term to describe the state of discourse in librarianship? In the traditional library literature one rarely sees an article that takes issue with the research or perspectives of a particular author. There may be a dissenting letter to the editor every so often, but one would be hard pressed to identify a juicy back-and-forth between two camps engaged in academic discourse about a controversial issue. Maybe we’re just too nice to take an intellectual sledgehammer to a colleague’s work, even if it was well deserved.”
Newspaper Book Sections Are Dropping Like Flies
“The truth is that the book and newspaper businesses share the same dreadful fear: that people will stop reading. And the fear may be well-founded. Across the country, newspaper circulations are down — and this is clearly part of the reason for the cuts to book sections. At the same time, the book business increasingly relies on an aging customer base that may not be refueling itself with enough new readers.”
Away From Tragedy – We Need Something Different
“The novel is constantly pushed by the culture towards worthiness, towards Aristotle’s Poetics, towards tragedy. The next great novel will do to the contemporary literary novel what Cervantes did to the chivalric romance. It’s not that contemporary literary novels are bad. Line by line, book by book, they’re often wonderful. But in the same few ways. Who needs more of that?”
Henry James Argues With Himself
“All of his life as a writer, James worried about both the purity of his work and the making of money. It was as though he himself was a married couple. One part of him cared for the fullness of art, and the other part for the fullness of the cupboard. He sought both with stubborn, steadfast zeal. Sometimes when he realised that he could not achieve one without failing the other, he argued with himself. However, he seldom gave up trying to match them.”
America’s Disappearing Book Reviews
One by one America’s newspaper books sections are being hacked to pieces. “By choking off such discussion of books (rumored to have ideas associated with them) we impoverish the public weal and help ensure that they are shipped back to their point of origin after the very briefest of shelf lives. And no one calls that censorship, either.”
What’s Lost When A Book Supplement Is No More
As American newspapers’ book sections disappear one by one, John Freeman makes a plea for their necessity. “Book reviews are one of the few places in a US newspaper one can stop to appreciate the beauty of language, the pleasures of knowledge. They are also footbridges to artistic tradition, however rickety. In a country as plagued by anti-intellectualism as America, where books are frequently banned for even hinting at sex, these are vital byways.”
One’s Library As A Window To One’s Soul — Or Not
“Here’s a great statistic: a third of British adults have lied about what they read in order to appear more intelligent. … Judging character from someone’s reading habits is a favourite game in the media” — and among prospective romantic partners. “But how much can we really deduce from a collection of books?”
Why Your Local Books Section Is Worth Saving
As newspapers across the U.S. continue to gut their already shamefully lackluster books coverage, Scott McLemee says that its time for the nation’s librarians and university presses to speak out against the abandonment of literary engagement. “As far as most civilians are concerned, printed matter is generated by parthenogenesis, then distributed across the land like the spores of a ripe dandelion, transmitted by the wind. We know better.”
Islamic Comic Has Global Backing
“Since October, youngsters throughout the Middle East have been discovering the legend of the Noor Stones in a new monthly comic book called ‘The 99.’ The series is inspired by Islamic culture and history – the title refers to the 99 names and traits attributed to God in the Koran – and aims to spread a universal message of teamwork along with plenty of action, adventure, and ‘kapow!’… What started as a cliché ‘sketch on the back of a napkin’ soon evolved into meetings with former executives of Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Rolling Stone magazine. By the summer of 2004, the project was backed with $6.8 million from 54 investors in eight countries.”