October 2009
10 posts
Devaluing The Concept of the Book →
The price war between Amazon.com, Wal Mart and Tower heats up even more as the American Bookseller Association joins in the fray, accusing the three companies of “devaluing the very concept of the book.”
Oct 27th
1 note
Nineteenth-Century Dustjackets →
Mark R. Godburn has compiled a beautiful gallery of 19th-century dustjackets. I want them! I want them all! (via)
Oct 23rd
Real Authors "Dispirited" By Celeb-Lit →
I think real readers are ‘dispirited’ too… (via)
Oct 20th
Against Book Clubs →
An article by Adam Sternbergh in which he lambasts book clubs. Not sure I agree with him, but then again I have never joined a book club. Also: Warning: overwrought sexual metaphor for reading.
Oct 20th
The Doctorow Model →
Remember when everyone was discussing the “Radiohead model” of music distribution? Well, here is the book publishing equivalent, and it’s a doozy… (via)
Oct 20th
NYU Begins Digitizing Its Library →
In other news: apparently, there will be an NYU satellite campus in Abu Dhabi! (via)
Oct 20th
Kindle Goes Worldwide!! (Sort of) →
As the Torontoist put it (rather poetically!), “Canada is notorious for being tardy to the technological party.” As with the iPhone and other awesome gadgets, it seems Canadians will lose out for at least a year while Amazon sorts it out. (Blame it all on Rogers, Canada’s favourite telecom monopoly?)
Oct 8th
Frankfurt Book Fair: Electronic Media to Overtake... →
Oct 5th
Carol Loeb Shloss Wins Case Against Joyce Estate →
I have heard some stories about Stephen Joyce…
Oct 5th
A Couple of Links to Make You Worry →
A link which summarizes and links to a couple of articles which wring their hands in worry about the future of books in the era of the internet.  The first one in particular is interesting, likening books to music on the eve of Napster’s arrival. I agree that once ebook readers become widespread, in one form or another, book piracy will become far more common, but I am skeptical that it...
Oct 5th