on the decline of books in papers
Steve Wasserman, ex-editor of the LAT Book Review, reflects on the
decline of books coverage in U.S. newspapers:
http://www.cjr.org/cover_story/goodbye_to_all_that_1.php?page=all
[…]
In this view, only the review (or book) that is immediately
understood by the greatest number of readers can be permitted to see
the light of day. Anything else smacks of “elitism.” This is a coarse
and pernicious dogma—a dogma that is at the center of the anti-
intellectual tradition that is alive and well within America’s
newspapers. It is why most newspapers barely bother with reviews. And
it is why most newspaper reviews are not worth reading. I sought to
subvert this dogma. Of course, ideally I wanted what Otis Chandler in
his heyday had wanted: mass and class. But if it came down to a
choice between the two, I knew I’d go for class every time. In
literary affairs, I was always a closet Leninist: better fewer, but
better.
[…]