"A job is a material thing, a book is a material thing—a product—and if we are going to analyze material things we should set forth on the basic understanding that, as a job, bookselling is a victim to much the same trappings as any other job: the exploitation of its workforce." - Public Books
The effect on the B.L. has been traumatic. Its electronic systems are still largely incapacitated. When I visited the library last Monday, the reading rooms were listless and loosely filled. “It’s like a sort of institutional stroke,” Inigo Thomas, a writer for the London Review of Books, told me. - The New Yorker
The bans and the battles over them, writes Laura Miller, might achieve the goal of their wealthy conservative backers (destroy citizens' faith in public schools and libraries so they can be privatized), but they won't, and can't, keep kids from learning about the subject matter. - Slate
New research released by the American Library Association found that more than half of Gen Zers and Millennials surveyed in 2022 had visited a physical library location in the previous year. And of the Gen Zers and Millennials who said that they did not identify as readers, more than half still reported going to the library. - The Atlantic
An author puts a hold on releasing a Russia-set novel, private equity buys one of the big US publishers, controversies break out over the work of two big-name dead writers, book-banners (including a certain governor) on the warpath, people flip out over software … - Literary Hub
Fay Weldon, Russell Banks, Charles Simic, Kenzaburo Oe, Dubravka Ugresic, D.M. Thomas, Martin Amis, Cormac McCarthy, Robert Gottlieb, Milan Kundera, Edith Grossman, Louise Glück, A.S. Byatt, … - Literary Hub
One of the Japan-born ethnic Koreans who emigrated to North Korea in the 1970s, Kim Ju-sŏng lived there for 28 years, working as a novelist for the Korean Workers' Party's propaganda department (the only permitted career path) and getting lousy evaluations before escaping to the South. - The Guardian
Writers not only don’t work alone: they can’t. The key proxy for a vibrant book culture is the little packs they form when things are going well. A literary work of art begins long before the fateful confrontation with the blank page, in the whole life we’ve lived to know what to put upon it. - The Point
"Certain names carry with them the whiff of brimstone. In the world of bibliophiles and booksellers, perhaps no name is more sulphurous than that of Thomas James Wise." - Literary Review (UK)
"When Vladimir Kosarevsky received orders late last year to destroy books referencing same-sex relationships, … (he) knew it was a line he wouldn’t cross. 'I realised that if I did it, I would never ever be able to forgive myself,' (he said) from northern Spain, where he is claiming asylum." - The Guardian
"Despite no known historical connection with the author, Deventer, in the eastern province of Overijssel, now plays host to … 950 volunteers … performing street theatre and selling hot punch." And all because, once shops were allowed to open on Sundays, one store manager decided to make a party of it. - The Guardian
Among the books being flung into the fiery pit this time around: Walter Isaacson’s “dull, insight-free doorstop” biography of Elon Musk; Paris Hilton’s “vapid and vaporous” memoir; Tom Hanks’ “bland busman’s holiday dressed up as literary fiction”; and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “hollow PR exercise.” - LitHub
In 1998, Michelle Tea, who started the first series of events called "Drag Queen Story Hour," published her first novel with Semiotext(e), publisher of William S. Burroughs and Andrea Dworkin. Now Hedi El Kholti, Semiotext(e)'s co-editor (and Colm Tóibín's partner), will host Tea's new imprint, Dopamine. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
One of the big debates which lasted up to the Renaissance was about who invented writing. With both archaeology and chronology all but unknown, what thinkers had to go on was largely the Hebrew Bible and Graeco-Roman writers. - The Conversation
The ratification follows 10 months of negotiations and multiple rejected contracts, including one proposed by Powell's management in August and another in November. - Publishers Weekly
