Forum / all the good novelists are at HBO?

  • Trees.thumb
    Carol Reid
    Jul 30, 10:20am

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/7918801/Harry-Mount-v-Michael-Deacon-Whats-gone-wrong-with-the-modern-novel.html

  • Author_photo.thumb
    James Lloyd Davis
    Jul 30, 01:24pm

    Great article, yes, but identifying a problem won't solve it. As long as the publishers seek the lowest common denominator for a sure return ... well, someone needs to open the gates and start acquiring talent and selling good books aggressively. Oy ve, I could go on fore....ver.

    Thanks, Carol!

  • S._tepper--nov--lighter.thumb
    Susan Tepper
    Jul 31, 01:04am

    James you are correct: the lowest common denominator.

    And what I find especially interesting is that while browsing airport bookstores in the US, there are a lot of junk books, whereas the bookstores at Heathrow and Gatwick, for example, are heavy on the literary side, offering many more interesting titles.

    So what does this mean? Is there a cultural message regarding the different product offerings here and abroad? Are the Brits/Europeans more literary/literate readers than we are? Not according to this article.

    Yet they offer many more quality books than the typical US airport. This has always stymied me

  • Trees.thumb
    Carol Reid
    Jul 31, 10:03am

    It's been a decade or so since I visited Heathrow but I was at the Albuquerque Sunport last week and was impressed by the selection of books in the shops there. I'd go back :)

  • You must log in to reply to this thread.