I was going to just Tweet the link for a June 2nd Nation article The Death and Life of the Book Review the other day but it seems I like to try and get on Twitter about the same time everyone else is and I keep getting the Fail Whale so now the link is here for what that’s worth.
It is an interesting article about why book reviews in newspapers have shrunk to almost nothing. Far from being doom and gloom, the author ultimately suggests that the time is currently ripe for a revitalization of print book reviews. I don’t see any newspapers rushing out to take up the challenge though.
You might say blogs fill in the gaps, but the author of the article disagrees. It is not because he thinks blogs don’t or can’t publish good book reviews, but instead is more related to the nature of the internet, blogs and online reading.
Go take a gander, but finish enjoying your weekend first.
I’m glad you did blog it. I’m one of those curmudgeon’s who refuse to spend my life tweeting…so I only do blogs and facebook. The article looks interesting, and since I don’t have to play with 60011 tweets, I’ll have time to read it. Thanks for the link
Very interesting article…if a bit rambly. It would have been better for a sharp edit. And that IS something that I think is affected by technology – length of articles. We’ve all got used to shorter stuff, so when people write longer work, I feel they are unpracticed at the editing required. But I could be completely wrong.
Tina, can’t blame you for not being on Twitter. I don’t spend much time there and I haven’t been on Facebook in several months. There is only so much time in the day. I hope you found the article interesting.
Litlove, I agree with you. I don’t have a problem with long articles in print but when they are online I am sometimes reluctant to read them. The medium tends to control our expectations and our willingness to take time.
I’m with Tina, thank you for blogging about it. Nothing against Tweeter and FaceBook (I do have a FB page that I never seem to use) but I already feel like I’m always running behind that I can only imagine how much more overwhelmed I would probably feel if I did those. Anyway, I’ll be checking the article!
Iliana, what everyone isn’t on Twitter?
I will keep that in mind and remember to post interesting article links here too and not just on Twitter.
There’s an interesting parallel here to the decline of Food Critics. They are a dying breed the newspapers aren’t replacing because people take to the internet before the newspaper for that type of editorial information. But its quite sad – you’re missing out on the expertise of someone who has made this their passion.
Stacy, that is interesting, an area that I have not thought of considering before!