The June 3, 1996 issue of THE NATION on "The National Entertainment State" was a bit disappointing from a book-lover's point of view. It turns out the corporations included in the much bally-hooed "octopus map" were selected on the basis of ... gurk ... owning the four major television networks. Not quite the decision rule that we book-lovers would prefer; the map omits many of the cable, telecommunications, and publishing giants. What's really needed is a much more comprehensive (and continually updated) Web site on the same theme.
There's a decent article on "The Corporatization of Publishing" by Andre Schiffrin, former managing director of the respected Pantheon imprint at Random House, but it doesn't really break new ground in revealing that most publishing houses are owned by large corporations.
May 1996
The May 13 issue of THE NEW YORKER has two excellent articles of interest to book-lovers. Novelist and smoker Jonathan Franzen (who was, BTW, a year ahead of me at Swarthmore) is kind enough to spare me the overwhelming task of reviewing Richard Kluger's forest-felling new history of the cigarette industry, ASHES TO ASHES. And Ken Auletta provides some fascinating background on Michael Kinsley's experience preparing to start up the new Microsoft on-line magazine, Slate. Must reading for anyone who is fascinated with the subtle challenges of on-line publishing.
April 1996
Good news for book-lovers: according to an April 29 WEB WEEK article on Web search engines, "Arts & Entertainment" is the single most common topic searched on the net, encompassing 18% of all searches. The bad news for book-lovers: the top 10 most common names searched are "Pamela Anderson, Anna Nicole Smith, Jenny McCarthy, Cindy Crawford, Brad Pitt, Sharon Stone, Demi Moore, Jennifer Aniston, Teri Hatcher, Alyssa Milano". Not a novelist among them (and I must say that's a relief).
An interesting article on the future of THE NEW YORK TIMES in the world of the Net by Max Frankel, a distinguished Times editor, appears in the April 21, 1996 issue of THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE. Frankel comes to the sensible conclusion that "value added--a brilliant start alertly responsive to a knowing audience"--will be "the popcorn that keeps our show alive." That's what we're trying to do here.
Editor's Recommendations, Summer 1996In this inaugural edition of IBIC's Featured Books, I'd like to draw your attention to several titles which have helped to shape my life and thinking.
|
Comprehensive Table of Contents | Help
Copyright © 1996 Internet Book Information Center, Inc.
Send a Letter to the Editor