“The conventional wisdom in publishing holds that tough economic times are good for books, because books provide more hours of entertainment per dollar, more life-enhancing education and more grist for post-materialistic soul-searching than any other form of purchasable culture …For the rest, clickety-click here …
“There’s no doubt that escapism pays, especially when there’s plenty to escape from, but great books continue to be published and read, and many of these also provide welcome respite for jittery readers. Remember what it was like to slow down, take the phone off the hook and immerse yourself in a story, true or invented, that made the world around you disappear for hours on end? Or to give yourself the time to understand some important aspect of this world in a deeper and more comprehensive way than any newspaper or magazine can offer?”
As a bookseller, having watched the local economic downturn a few years ago with the Silicon Valley bubble collapse, and having heard the same economic utterances about the cheapness of books, I am quite skeptical of this proclamation. Once upon a time, maybe, people turned to books for solace, not now.
ReplyDeleteThe most optimistic recent news for books is that our super-cool President-elect is a reader. I am amazed how many people wanted to read that fat tome Team of Rivals just because Obama was reading it prior to selecting his cabinet.
People don't read books because times are bad. There's TV, movies, the internet for that. But they do read books because someone they trust/admire/seek to emulate has recommended them.
Actually, I think that's a good and endearing thing about human beings. It just behooves all of us to recommend a hell of a lot more.
What a curiously weightless article, saying nothing, taking no stand, an excuse to fill space as introduction to the author's list of favorite books. Read her first paragraph, then her second. Then tell me what argument she's trying to make and what relevance those paragraphs have to her list.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
Kind of sceptical myself, I have to say ... no facts or stats from the last recession / downturn / market correction to back up the statement. I wonder what book sales were like during the Great Depression, and what kind of books were selling well. Anyone any ideas?
ReplyDeleteCheers, Dec
John, I feel a fierce surge of that typically boastful Canadian chauvinism that you and Sandra Ruttan are two of the bolder thinkers about books and publishing.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/